I find it very useful to think in terms of the "ideal". Since politics is typically a domain of horrendous compromise, it serves us well to imagine politics without compromise.
Barack Obama's election has given many people renewed hope in the future of this country and the world. I share some of that optimism, but am also gravely familiar with everything that could go wrong. We are already hearing various names that may be under consideration for Obama's cabinet. These names include Republicans such as Chuck Hagel, Dick Lugar, Robert Gates and Colin Powell. They also include members of Clinton's cabinet such as Robert Rubin and Larry Summers. This latter pair are directly responsible for much of the deregulation that occurred in the Clinton administration and which paved the way for the current financial crisis.
I hope these names are unfounded in reality, otherwise somebody ought to take Obama to one side and explain to him what "change" means. It certainly does not mean retaining elements of the Bush administration and the most culpable members of Clinton's cabinet.
So what does "change" mean? I have put together a cabinet that would, I think, engender the greatest positive change for the country. You'll note that there are no Republicans in this cabinet, and you might say therefore that this is unrealistic, as we know Obama will have Republicans in his cabinet. I'm not interested in trying to guess Obama's cabinet - this is not a parlor game. The netroots should properly engage with who should be in the cabinet and immediately start applying pressure to that end.
