It is so refreshing to hear/see a leader who can articulate a plan rather than bumble/stumble and butcher the English language.

Number one, I think it's important to get a national security team in place because transition periods are potentially times of vulnerability to a terrorist attack. We want to make sure that there is as seamless a transition on national security as possible.

If only the previous administration had felt the same way.

A national college football playoff would extend the season several weeks and might be great for local economies. I know for certain it would be good for the economy in Tennessee (if we ever get a winning Vols team again).

If Obama had talked more about a playoff during the campaign, I'll bet he would have won an even bigger landslide.

I have a couple of comments. First, listen to Naomi Klein on DemocracyNow! today. She is so sharp and makes her points so clearly and cogently.

My wife and I didn't think that Steve Kroft made any sort of equivilancy between bringing a dog into the WH and having Ms. Robinson move in as well. The questions came in sequence and there has certainly been more interest by the public in the future dog. It seemed to us that the banter between Pres-elect Obama and Kroft on that questioning was quite lighthearted and intended to be teasing.

I know that if Obama threw his weight around on the NCAA playoff, my Republican dad would give him serious props.

Ms Robinson needs to be vetted, along with the children. Right now there is a perception that they are all liberal. You can easily understand why conservatives are unhappy. Perhaps they could hire Joe the plumber to take care of the dog, which should be white.

I think I misunderappreciated the spoken verbiage of a leader of trueness these last eight brush-cuttin, huntin' dog years. heh, heh, heh. That's like, what, um, 56-years to Yale Graduate?

The physical intensity of a college football playoff system will lead to career-ending injuries for some of the top NFL prospects.

If you prefer college football to the NFL, then this probably is not a big issue. But for NFL fans like myself, and also for these college kids who worked their asses off their entire lives to get to the NFL, it is.

But this is one of the few issues where Obama and I disagree.

papjijo: Most major programs already play 14 games a year, including the Spring game. If they were scaled back to 10 or 11, the play-off system would be no more onerous than it is already. The artificiality of the BCS system leads conferences to essentially cheat for their best programs on and off the field. It is time to make major changes--damn the Rose Bowl.

I agree with the first poster. It was just such a relief to listen to a soon to be president who was thoughtful and spoke well. I am so tired of cringing whenever our President opened his mouth.

Even if Obama ends up being nothing I have hoped for, at least he'll do it coherently. Sometimes I think that's all you can expect from a politician.

PapaJijo @ 9:44:
What evidence are you using that a BCS playoff system would lead to more "career-ending" injuries? Has it happened in Div. II (now Championship Subdivision) or Div. III? Has it happened in the other sports like baseball or basketball? Your reason of not having a playoff is akin to people who don't want to rewrite certain state constitutions to remove racist language for fear of "rogue federal judges" forcing new interpretations on the people. In other words, something that is a bogeyman hypothetical with no evidence to back it up.

I was troubled by Obama's torture comments, because he said, "I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture." I guess I wonder if he means that in the sense that "America the ideal does not torture, despite what Bush has done" or if he is saying that we do not actually torture -- if he is accepting Bush's semantic games to give himself some wiggle room.

This, to me, is the big test for him and his claims to "change." We need to expose the extralegal Bush system to sunlight. If Obama doesn't do that, we've been duped.

"I was troubled by Obama's torture comments, because he said, "I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture." I guess I wonder if he means that in the sense that "America the ideal does not torture, despite what Bush has done" or if he is saying that we do not actually torture -- if he is accepting Bush's semantic games to give himself some wiggle room."

Oh...my...God....just make it stop.

Obviously since a Division I playoff system hasn't been tried yet, I have no actual evidence to compare. But wouldn't less regular season games make the top 8 picks more controversial?

And the comparison to baseball and basketball are unfair. They are not nearly as physical as football. And neither is the physical level in Division II and III football. I played Division III -- it's not the same.

See my original point. If the ability to more clearly determine the best Division I college team is that important to you, then the (yes, possibly slight, but we don't that) risk of more injuries to star players means little. For people like myself, who love the NFL but don't really care about determining the best Division I college team, it means more.

But thanks for comparing me to a racist. You got me there.

Obama gave up on the dog and adopted a hypo-allergenic mini-Bigfoot.

http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/election-08/obamas-new-pet/

Oh please, PapaJijo, I didn't compare you to a racist. I compared your hypothetical based on no evidence to another hypothetical without evidence. The people in Alabama who were against removing that language in their state constitution weren't racists, but were lured into being scared of what "might" happen if that language was removed based on the proclamations of Roy Moore. What the two criticisms have in common is that they are both "bogeymen" types of hypotheticals in that they are designed to keep people from doing something that would seemingly be the wise thing to do were it not for these scary things that might result (but probably wouldn't). If the fear of injuries is the biggest criticism you can come up with for being against the playoff system, that's a pretty weak retort indeed.

Getting a college football play-off would do a great deal for his stature within the demographic that Obama struggles, uneducated white guys.

On the football thing.

A couple of weeks before the election, ESPN.com posted a Rick Reilly piece on the Obama/Reilly fantasy football team. My uber-Republican boss read it and and said, "Hey, he's funny. He seems like a regular guy."

Republicans, be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3653401

How many other presidential couples have you seen in an interview willing to quibble openly but lovingly with another? What a refreshing sight to behold! And the witty jokes were a delight too.

She didn't seem to notice too many changes yet, while he outright disagreed. He can't even go to his barber anymore, he take a walk now, and Michelle conceded she doesn't walk and wouldn't walk anyway with him. "I know' he said lightly.

On a more serious note, I was also refreshed by his candor re: the loneliness he anticipates and already admits feeling by being President.

He is sort of Lincoln like in many ways...although he is clearly not as profoundly depressed as Lincoln was, and he has many pleasures, such as basketball...but he seems as serious and reflective and bright and forthcoming as Lincoln was.

Another thing that struck me is there strong desire to keep things as normal as possible with the move--especially for the girls.

I think that is very commendable, but there is no way this transition won't affect the girls. Security following them everywhere, living in the White House...but that said, if anyone will do right by their kids, I gotta feeling it'll be this 44th President and Mom in Chief who is bright and ambitious in her own right. Sounds like they might even go with a D.C. public school, which makes sense--the two private schools they visited are likely quite sterile to their likings, a bit too elitist...but we'll see if they can find a decent enough public school...

I really liked learning of the humble digs he enjoyed as Senator---I didn't know...

I think that the most impressive thing about the interview was the tone that Obama set of careful deliberation, weighting FACTS and making INFORMED decisions based on deliberations... We have been in right wing ideological hell where facts and science just didnt matter...We are back in reality and how wonderful it feels!

Also, we are now having modeled again, mature and poised leadership instead of frat boy antics and reactionary hyper-machoism. I think seeing that over and over will help overall political discourse as we unconsciously mimic his tone and approach --- at least to some extent...No one is going to want to be seen as raving and extreme in comparison to his smooth poised delivery...

If Obama got a college football playoff system through, we might see the first three-term POTUS since FDR. The GOP could pretty much hang it up. I knew the guy was savvy, but damn what amazing political instincts he has!

if obama can bring about a playoff system for college football, he deserves to be added to mt. rushmore. actually, expanding rushmore might be an easier accomplishment than getting the ncaa to accept a playoff system.

I'm glad to hear that Obama is taking the threat of an attack seriously because I think the terrorists perceive a weakness in the system when we change administrations. We experienced the two World Trade Center attacks within the first year of both the Clinton (Feb 1993) and BushII (Sept.01) administrations. It's important, too, to let everyone know that we're thinking about it.

I missed it on TV, so found it on the CBS' site and watched it there (40 minutes, once the ads were removed.) And then sent the URL to a few of my international friends who, I knew, were interested in our elections. I was flabbergasted to hear, from as far as South Africa: "oh, but we *did* see it on our TV; what America does has real consequences for us, too."

Me, what I liked most was their holding hands; and Michelle's talking about the kids running in the halls and popping into the Oval Office to see their Dad. It'll be *so* nice to have a *real*, functional, loving family in the White House...

And I liked the stories of the cruddy DC apartment and the car with "air conditioned" floor. Can you imagine anything like that about either Bush or McCain?

"And I liked the stories of the cruddy DC apartment and the car with "air conditioned" floor. Can you imagine anything like that about either Bush or McCain?"

Yeah, my wife and I found that to be the part that we connected with a lot also. I would guess that most couples have done the same type of things when starting out. Crappy car ? Check. Crappy apartment ? Check. Best time of your life and great sex ? Check.

I think we best be getting on with the promise of making America energy independent.Iran just asked OPEC to reduce production by yet another 1.5 million barrels per day.This past year and the record gas prices played a huge part in our economic meltdown and seriously damaged our society.We keep planning to spend BILLIONS on bailouts and stimulus plans.Bail us out of our dependence on foreign oil. Make electric plug in car technology more affordable. It cost the equivalent of 60 cents a gallon to drive an electric plug in car. The electric could be generated from wind or solar. Get with it! Utilize free sources such as wind and solar. Stop throwing away money on things that don't work. Invest in America and it's energy independence. Create cheap clean energy, create millions of badly needed green collar jobs. Put America back to work. It is a win-win situation. We have to become more poractive citizens, educate ourselves and demand our elected officials move this country forward into the era of energy independence. Jeff Wilson's new book The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW outlines a plan for America to wean itself off oil. We need a plan and we need it now! www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com