Listening to the howls of some on the left about Obama's centrist cabinet appointments, I've come to some conclusions:

 First, it seems like some of these lefties weren't listening to the President-elect during the last few months of the campaign.  By the time it became clear that he'd secured the Democratic nomination, Obama had already begun "tacking" hard to the center.  I only put "tacking" in quotations because, while his lofty rhetoric and anti-Iraq War stance allowed him to attack Hillary Clinton and the other primary candidates from the left, his main approach was always a return to rationality in government (this was the "change we can believe in").

 Secondly, Obama will not be the same weak-willed "decider" as Still-President Bush.   It seems pretty clear that the tenor of the new administration will be set from the top down.  Hopefully, everyone involved realizes this isn't the time for grandstanding and that their reputations and political careers hinge on actually accomplishing something instead of besting each other in bureaucratic infighting.  Hillary Clinton wouldn't have consented to joining the new administration if she wasn't willing to follow Obama's orders.  Robert Gates wouldn't have stayed on unless he believed that Obama wanted a reasonable withdrawal from Iraq instead.  Clearly, Gates isn't buying into the "cut-and-run" B.S. that has dominated discussions about leaving our Middle-Eastern quagmire.

 The same goes for the appointment of Rahm Emmanuel as chief-of-staff.  The man has brass balls and knows Congress as well as anyone his age can.  His ties to the Clintons put some off, but as has been mentioned pretty much everywhere, Rahmbo is Chicago boys with Bams and is absolutely foaming at the mouth to be unleashed as Field Marshall for the Hope-ocracy.  

 Obviously, Barack Obama is a liberal.  But he isn't a knee-jerk leftist.  People on all sides of the spectrum (excluding the fringe elements) are dying to work with him.  The man is smart and reasonable.  Let's just trust his judgement for about five minutes before we start harping on him