January 20th can't come soon enough

[Cyrano]

We are still giddy over the election results. But, (as Rachel Maddow reminds us every night), lame-duck-Bush is still here.

Every single day, the agents of the dark side are still undermining international law, the well being of our national and financial security, and the lowering of industrial safety standards -- standards which protect our lives.

The Founding Fathers originally set the day for transfer of presidential power on March 4th because of the distances that information had to be communicated and people had to travel. In 1937, the 20th amendment to the Constitution changed the inauguration date to January 20th.

I suppose that no one could have foreseen or expected the animosity, destructiveness and hostility toward a sane government that is the hallmark of the Bush/Cheney administration. But as of this very moment, the forces of insanity are still in power. And the damage they are doing daily -- through signing statements, edicts, etc. -- will take a long time to repair.

President elect Barack Obama (Jeez, you just gotta love that phrase) cannot reverse the destruction of the Bush/Cheney years overnight. (And that doesn’t even take into consideration the damage done since the onset of Saint Ronnie’s war on progress.) It will take Obama’s first term, and perhaps his second, just to get us back to even.

But in the meantime, there is so much we expect of Obama and only so much he can do. January 20th seems so, so far away and, when it arrives, we’re going to need a lot of patience. However, I really don’t believe that Obama needs to be prodded on the issues that almost all of us believe to be our highest priorities.

So here are my questions: What are your priorities for President Obama? And what do you think needs his most urgent attention?