1/21/09- The Whole Delivery Is Back, As President Obama Has His First Day In Office

Photo from Ron Edmonds of the AP

Yes, TW to the D is back ladies and gentleman.

In the midst of a long weekend of performing for shows and adjusting back to school life in my final semester at school, The Whole Delivery was painfully the same damn thing for the last few days, even on inauguration day. But the stagnation had to end soon, and with that, here's the relaunch of the website once again.

Over the next few days, TWD will get it's television network back pumping with the soundbites of the day, as well as its sports, music, and other threads that make this site literally The Whole Delivery .

And as TWD comes back, it couldn't hit the grounding running again at a more auspicious time with the new President, Barack Obama, now in office. Just me writing that in such a cliche' fashion is sufficient enough for me.

It was, as expected, a work laden first day that is still ongoing as we speak. And lobbyists in the nation's capital should have know that the 44th President wasn't fudging when it came to diminishing their influence:

U.S. President Barack Obama used his first full day in office Wednesday to implement new ethics rules for lobbyists, freeze the pay of some White House employees and pledge increased transparency in government.

And that vow to make transparency a common practice in his Administration? Not forgotten at all.

He also announced a change in policy that will require each federal agency and department to give full attention to freedom of information requests and said he expects members of his administration to be responsive to such pleas.

"There is too much secrecy in this city. Every agency should know … this administration stands on the side of those who seek to make information known."

"Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this administration," Obama said.

Helping to stabilize the Middle East was also an integral part of his stated goals, and he exhibited that today:

Earlier Wednesday, Obama phoned key Mideast leaders to pledge active involvement in peace efforts, the White House said Wednesday.

Obama called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

"He used this opportunity on his first day in office to communicate his commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term, and to express his hope for their continued co-operation and leadership," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

Gibbs already making his mark in the aftermath of the mess left by Dana Perino.

And finally, on Gitmo:

His aides also circulated a draft executive order that would close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay within a year.

Other than that (and this is not including the current discussions going with the National Security Council and U.S. military commanders about Irag and Afghanistan), a pretty routine, easy going first day in office.