Obama and National Security a move to the middle?

The hundreds of thousands of far left anti-war at any price wingnuts who supported Obama out of their sheer hatred of 'Chimpy McBushitler the Warmonger' are starting to get antsy.

For military members who have ever received or perhaps given intelligence briefings this is a welcome site. I imagine the President Elect has many reasons to move to the middle, but not the least of which he now receives briefings about all the people and groups in the world plotting to kill our citizens...every day. That can give even a socialist lefty a little reality slap (IF they aren't brainwashed too deeply to believe in a giant conspiracy of Intel organizations).

What am I talking about?

Democratic officials said they see new signs that President-elect Barack Obama will ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates to stay in his post.

If Gates stays, no reconfirmation hearing would be needed, officials said.

Keeping Gates at the helm would help give Obama political cover for a gradual reduction of U.S. forces in Iraq and would enhance his relationship with Gen. David Petraeus, the former U.S. commander in Iraq and now the head of the U.S. Central Command, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan.

From Powerline

Barack Obama hasn't been sworn in yet, but he already is disappointing his supporters on the Left. Some Republicans are almost giddy at the mainstream appointments Obama has made or is reported to be considering--Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel, Tom Daschle, Bob Gates, and so on. Jennifer Rubin, for example, writes:

Little did we know that "Change we can believe in" really meant "Change that will delight the Right and freak out the Left."

Jennifer posits three possible explanations for Obama's seeming moderation: indifference to national security policy; cynical opportunism; and political calculation. No doubt all three explanations contain a kernel of truth, but, with all due respect, I think that Jennifer and quite a few others are overlooking the obvious.

Throughout the campaign, when Obama talked about "change" what he mostly meant was having an African-American in the White House. His vagueness on this score was often criticized by those who care about policy, but most of his supporters understood perfectly well what he meant. A black man in the Oval Office was change enough for them. Obama's signature issue during the early phase of the campaign was the war in Iraq, but when it became inconvenient to talk about that issue, Obama dropped it without a qualm and his supporters, with relatively few exceptions, didn't hold it against him. Read the rest

Reality doesn't line up with the far left, whether it be their view of America being the problem in the world, or the view that Obama will be able to keep his promises to them. You see other than being 1/2 black, he's nothing new in Washington. He's just a politician.