In style, anyway. We'll see what happens when people want to look into his affairs, or when they want a detailed accounting of the proposed $1 trillion Obama bailout.

edit: okay, those changes have some (mostly symbolic) substance to them. But there is not enough light in the world to illuminate all the caves in Mordor. I am not going to bet the house on the age of secrecy being over in Washington

edit edit: This is priceless. Rules without teeth, now that is change you can believe in!

"The Republican National Committee criticized that requirement and said the new administration was already violating it. Mr. Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of defense, William Lynn, has been a lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon, and his nominee for deputy secretary of health and human services, William V. Corr, lobbied for stricter tobacco regulations as an official with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

A senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, conceded the two nominees did not adhere to the new rules. But he said that Mr. Lynn had the support of Republicans and Democrats, and would receive a waiver under the policy, and that Mr.Corr did not need a waiver because he had agreed to recuse himself from tobacco issues.

“When you set very tough rules, you need to have a mechanism for the occasional exception,” this official said, adding, “We wanted to be really tough, but at the same time we didn’t want to hamstring the new administration or turn the town upside down.”"

No. Not just in style. A day after inauguration he has already issued substantive decisions that are in keeping with his rhetoric (not to mention a total repudiation of the un-American nightmare the country can hopefully now move beyond).

Besides, Obama's style goes far beyond what politicians who are merely posing are capable of. It indicates a cast of mind and is not so easy to fake. Compare it to Clinton who was obviously faking, but who did it so well that people liked him.

I don't expect that Obama can or will fix everything. But I stand by what I said: he thinks like I do. On nearly every topic in his speech yesterday, he said what I hoped he would say. I never imagined such a thing could happen.

Edit: by the way, though your first proposed test is pretty vague, your second -- a detailed accounting of spending -- is one that I feel pretty confident about. I'd be very surprised if that didn't happen, and happen in a way that is clearly new. (Especially since Obama already championed it as a senator.)

Edit 2: people come up with all sorts of straw men. You'd have to be an idiot to think that Obama is going to usher in a kingdom of light, or do anything that goes against human nature. What we're talking about here is incremental improvement. That happens to matter. If you disagree, I give you the past 8 years.

> I don't expect that Obama can or will fix everything. But I stand by what I said: he thinks like I do. On nearly every topic in his speech yesterday, he said what I hoped he would say. I never imagined such a thing could happen.

Lucky you. Not all of us are so fortunate.

Heh. It did occur to me that it is luck, or at least the law of averages (I've gone a long time without seeing anyone in office I could admire). Be patient, I guess, and your turn will come :)

Awesome! So when/how can I view Obama's records as well...?