Signs of a transformed government
By
Nick Wakeman
As the clock struck noon today, the first signs of a new way of government appeared on WhiteHouse.gov.
The first signs that the new administration will govern in a different way appeared within seconds of Barack Obama becoming the 44th president of the United States. The new WhiteHouse.gov Web site launched.
It is a pretty site. A quick tour I took showed that it is user friendly. There will be a blog -- probably not by the president. There also are RSS feeds and e-mail alerts that you can sign up for.
Nothing groundbreaking there, but there is a different tone to the site. Maybe it is the blog, but the site seems more conversational, more engaging on a one-to-one basis.
More than other administrations, this one has the tools and know-how to speak directly to the American people, not just through speeches and the bully pulpit, but through this Web site and other Web 2.0 means. Certain agencies -- the Environmental Protection Agency in particular -- have already embraced some of these tools. The adoption is going to accelerate as the Obama nominees take their places.
As Obama said in his speech there is a lot of work ahead and we must stick to the values and principles that made our country great. But as Obama showed in his campaign and through this transition period, there are new tools and new ways of fulfilling those values and principles.
He's taken step one today and there is more to come.
Overall, I thought President Obama gave a powerful speech. It struck the right balance of challenging the nation and lifting us up, in much the same way that Ronald Reagan would speak when he was president.
But let me know what you thought of the inaugration and what you see ahead.