Assignment #1 J. Norman

Walking back from the inauguration, Thomas L. Friedman saw an african american man wearing a shirt that read "Mission Accomplished". Seeing this inspired him to write the article "Radical in the White House". Friedman is responding to how many Americans feel that the change has come simply by electing Barack Obama as president. What he is trying to relay to his audience is that what Obama wants to change must be set in motion in order for that change to occur. Obama promised the American people many changes regarding immigration reform, national healthcare, repair of our banking system, etc. What Friedman is saying is that not all this can be done at once. Obama will have to work very hard to accomplish all these goals over the next four years. He mentions Roosevelt and Johnson who were very successful in bringing change to America. Obama is quite capable of doing this as well but he has a lot to recover. George W. Bush's response to 9/11 has put us in very deep holes as Friedman describes. Obama has said that the time to put off difficult decisions is past. So, if Obama is successful over the next four years, we will have change.