Matt Yglesias

Change: But How Much

The Washington Post reports that corporate crooks are rushing to cut deals with the Bush Justice Department in order to avoid the looming Wrath of Barack. Kevin Drum remarks:

This is good news. It means that real corporations, with real money at stake, think that Obama’s unity talk isn’t worth banking on. When push comes to shove, they really do think he’s going to drive a harder bargain than the Bush administration when it comes to dealing with charges of corruption, pollution, and overcharging.

Fair enough, but “not as bad as Bush” is a pretty low bar to cross. Meanwhile, Bush has done enormous harm to the country. One could be a decent president who mostly improves things and still leave us below where we were when Bush took over in the first place. There’s never been any doubt in my mind that Obama could improve on the Bush record. But mere improvement isn’t, to coin a phrase, the change we need.