Obama, The First 100 Days: Top 5 Accomplishments

It's been a whirlwind first few months and, love him or hate him, one has to agree that the new president is not one for sitting around and doing nothing.  Here's a list of the top 5 accomplishments of the still very new Obama administration:

1. Closing Guantanamo Bay--Obviously this hasn't actually happened yet, but moving quickly and announcing that America would indeed soon close this notorious gulag, this blemish on the flag, was a crucial move by Obama and showed the world that his presidency would, indeed, be all about change.
   
2. Setting a Firm Date to Exit Iraq--Iraq has been an American quagmire for the better half of a decade: sucking lives, dollars, and diminishing the country's international reputation for over six years now.  The war was a huge mistake, launched on a pack of lies, and has made the country less safe.  Again, it's impossible to just 'leave'--the problem has become too complex and we are in too deep; but by setting a firm timetable for exit, Obama has indicated that it's time to move on.  Finally.
   
3. Pumping Billions into American Rail Travel--The United States of America, the world's richest country by far, has the rail infrastructure of a backwater, third world banana republic.  It is, put simply, a national embarrassment.  The reasons are too numerous to list here, but in a nutshell it's all derived from an over reliance on the automobile due to the fact that the early automotive tycoons successfully bankrupted the rail companies using graft, corruption, etc.  Cars and highways pollute, are inefficient, and our reliance on Middle Eastern oil has been a disaster for our foreign relations.  Kudos to Obama for moving to fix this yawning problem.  He's said publicly that he wants to be known as The High Speed Rail President...
   
4. Ending the ban on Stem Cell Research--The previous administration had imposed the ban as a nod to the religious conservatives who make up a large portion of the Republican base.  Never mind the fact that this critical research saves lives, and that America had been losing to other countries in the advancement and development of these technologies.
   
5. Ending raids on Medical Marijuana Clubs--It was always extremely hypocritical for an ostensibly 'states rights' Republican administration to override states like California, which had legalized medical marijuana, and have the federal government randomly raid these clubs and arrest their owners.  Not to mention that it was stupid and inefficient, as well.  Make no mistake about it, the fact that these raids have ended is the high point so far in the legalize marijuana movement.  There is no logical reason whatsoever for booze to be legal and marijuana illegal.
   

So there you have it, a back of the envelope list of five major accomplishments in Obama's first 100 days.  Odds are that Obama will be a two term president, especially with the woeful condition the Republican party finds itself in these days.  If his first 100 days are any indication, America stands to be a very different place after his reign ends....