Will you have the courage to book only white men for your cabinet if you decide they are the best people for the job? No blacks, no women, no mixed race?

Sadly I doubt it - even in the unlikely case that they are the best.

Why not? Because the meeeejah would slaughter you. And "it's a good story" rools the world.

And once you've tasted meeejah approval you'll probably do what everyone does (except, thank God, yours truly) and become addicted to praise and allergic to criticism from the only place that matters....

the meeeeeeeeeejah!

Problem is that people will always speculate the reasons why any President picks certain people for certain jobs. With some critics he will never do right. If he did pick all white men he'd be crucified by certain sections of society and media. If he chose a balanced mixture he'd have others coming down on him.

So, we'll never know whether he has the courage because we'll never know the reasons behind his decisions. That's part of being in charge, doing what you think is best and not feeling you have to explain yourself at every corner.

If he screws up the people of America will decide on his future at the next ballot box.

I'm sure you're not the only one who isn't a media sheep, JK.

I think I have more faith in Obama than you JK but my faith maybe misplaced.

He's already indicated some policies he will pursue-shutting down Gitmo asap-withdrawing from Iraq..but I think the one policy-if he can manage it, which will endear him to the US public en masse is if he can manage to implement a sensible health welfare program.

Sadly- he will be up against the most powerful corporations in the USA in this. The private health providors are the ones who backed Bush financially the most, followed by oil companies.

Americans are petrified of socialised medicine for some bizarre reason. I've been chatting to a Canadian friend about a knee replacement I will have at the end of November courtesy of Australia's superb Medicare program ( I could have had it done in the UK...but no thanks..why wait another 5 years !) Medicare has problems but having already had one ( which would cost around $US35K) but is completely free ( OK you pay a weekly tax but at about $2 per week it's so much easier)..my Canadian friend was telling me of Canada's great free medicale welfare system and yet his US friends think it's a dastradly communist plot.! So bizarre.

Once in-welfare medicine will never be given up by the mass of people..and that will be Obama's greatest challenge.