Obama calls for smooth transition for new president, hopefully no glue on computers

Speaking at a news conference in Richmond, Va., Sen. Barack Obama said a smooth transition is essential no matter who wins the presidency. Most of us agree with Obama on that point; a haphazard transition would put the U.S. at risk during very troubled times at home and abroad. A repeat of the 2001 transition would be a disaster—few remember the chaos as President George W. Bush and his team arrived in Washington, and I’m not just talking about the recount.

When Bush finally moved into the Oval Office after the 2000 recount shenanigans that began in West Palm Beach, Fla., a Democratic Party controlled zone, the U.S. was more at risk than we realized. Al Qaida was fine tuning the September 11 attack as the Democratic team exited and the Republican administration came on board. And a lot of adults on the Democratic team were acting like children.

As the Bush team entered, there were various news reports about Clinton team members trashing staff offices and removing files. Some media like CNN disputed the extent of the damage, but NewsMax has a feature in the November, 2008 (print) issue, and according to the General Services Administration, the Clintonites cost us taxpayers $250,000. Desks were vandalized and key papers were missing. And the vandals had a juvenile sense of humor—“Ws had been pried off computer keyboards, and super glue had rendered others inoperable.”

Sandy Berger, Clinton’s National Security Advisor, was tried and sentenced for stealing classified documents from the National Archives. No one but Berger knows how much he really stole or what was in the documents. Real Clear Politics said, “[W]e know his last visit focused on a memorandum called the Millennium Alert After Action Report (MAAAR).” Berger got a wrist tap for his theft and his national security clearance was suspended for 3 years. It’s my opinion this man should go nowhere near anything to do with national security. He should never again receive a clearance—he put party interests above the interests of our country—your interests and mine. Berger is to put it bluntly a liar and a thief.

The NewsMax feature focuses on what must be done for our next president. Whoever wins the Oval Office [and despite media’s obsession with polls, we don’t have a winner yet], I hope there will be a smooth transition with national security in mind. I have little faith in the ability of Sen. Joe Biden when it comes to foreign relations, and I have less in Obama’s ability. That’s a personal opinion, of course, and I’m aware many will disagree. After all, the sanctions the UN put in place against Al Qaida had no impact. Clinton used a scalpel when he needed a hatchet. The most ironic sanction: a travel ban for Al Qaida.

When Bush took office for his first term, the delay caused by the recount and by the Clinton team’s unruly exit cut the transition period in half. We can’t afford this kind of delay this go ‘round. As the magazine reminds us, and as Biden's puzzling statement in Seattle Sunday indicates, our enemies are watching. This election all boils down to who can handle what our enemies are planning.