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The Obama presidency is shaping up and, as the saying goes, are we ever in for it. The pretense of Barack Obama’s credibility—especially honesty—is gone. During the campaign, Obama practically (and rightly) denounced Sen. Hillary Clinton as a liar when she falsely—and repeatedly—claimed she was under fire in Kosovo. He pointed out that she routinely substituted being First Lady for foreign policy experience—and now he has designated the woman who all but declared him unfit for the presidency as his secretary of state. You want change? His appointments are Clinton/Bush retreads, unmasking his change theme as a fraud less than a month after he was elected.

His campaign was predicated on pulling troops out of Iraq—a disastrous military deployment by Bush—only to reverse himself and name Bush’s Defense Secretary as his own and back off pulling troops out of Iraq. Clearly, President-elect Obama offers more of the same of what Leonard Peikoff dubbed “Clinbush” on the airwaves. But Obama’s having some relatively positive impact: suddenly, silent Bush head-nodders are denouncing socialism—never mind that Bush and Republicans were shoving it down our throats for the last eight years—after not lifting a finger to oppose Bush’s bailouts, Medicare drug subsidies and aid to Africa.

And the nation—in overwhelming opposition to our government—appears united in the people’s shared contempt for a bailout of failed corporations that make cars that not enough people want to buy to keep them in business—while they’re shackled by regulations that force them to pay outrageous wages and benefits to workers who make cars that nobody wants to buy. The tide is turning against socialism; we shall see how (actually, whether) the people respond (actually, whether they resist) when Obama/Pelosi/Reid/McCain/Clinton invoke total National Socialism. Even NPR liberals and their conservative, eco-religious brethren may not cotton to mandatory solar panels on the roof, nationalized banks and car companies and the Eco-Police coming to take their kids to mandatory Peace Corps camp in the Rain Forest.

On the upside, Obama has signaled that he may lift the ban on embryonic stem cell research, defend the right to an abortion via judicial appointments, pursue nuclear power development and attack Moslem Pakistan—none of which would happen under a Judeo-Christian administration. Also, Republicans, for the first time since Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater’s historic defeat in the 1964 presidential election, are questioning their philosophy instead of making excuses for religious welfare-statism.

But there is an intriguing difference between the first Obama press rollout of cabinet appointments and his latest Hillary-fest; the designees were standing together around Obama in the photo frame at the first event—not so in the second, where Obama stood alone and tried to charm everyone with the sort of cheap, hammy mugging that liberals used to tag on Ronald Reagan, a model by Obama’s admission.

It’s all about Obama, all the time, which is not arrogance as much as superficiality and an ominous sign of what the man feels he needs in order to govern: adulation. An astonishingly honest appraisal of the incoming administration came from a Democratic congressman appearing recently on MSNBC—his name escapes me—in which he praised Obama, twice, for an ability to “make the trains run on time.” Either this moron does not know that this infamous phrase is widely associated with dictatorship—originally, I believe, from a comment by Italian fascist and Nazi ally Benito Mussolini; later associated with Nazi Germany—or, more ominously, he knows exactly the source.

On a sad note, Maryland businessman, real estate developer and Korean War veteran Leon Trager died at the age of 80. Mr. Trager was not a friend, but in my few encounters with him over 15 years as a journalist, he was selfish, generous and principled (thanks for the link, Jack).

Good news comes from John Lewis, Ph.D., who, at the invitation of a member of Israel’s Knesset, is scheduled to address a conference this month in Israel, Facing Jihad, described as “a summit of European lawmakers who are united in their shared belief that Islam today poses a serious threat to Western civilization.” Professor Lewis is among my favorite teachers; he is writing, teaching a business course at Duke University, and he’s slated to teach a course at the upcoming Objectivist Conference 2009 in Boston. Dr. Lewis tells me that his lecture, “The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism: A Proper Policy,” is intended to urge lawmakers to make policy on a proper identification of the West’s enemy.

The Facing Jihad conference also features a screening of the Dutch short film, Fitna, and an address by its creator. I wrote about the outrageous Network Solutions ban on Fitna earlier this year [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/features/?id=2471&p=s.htm (scroll down and read “World Wide Web”)] so it’s good to see the filmmaker get an audience.

I can’t truly say the same about a number of recent motion pictures—and I know I’m behind on reviews—though I promise I’m on the lookout for quality movies and I’m excited about seeing some upcoming movies, such as Milk and Frost/Nixon.

Yes Man was better in concept than in practice—more exactly, the idea of a comedy about a man who says ‘yes’ to everything was not properly executed—and both Body of Lies (with DiCaprio and Crowe) and Pride and Glory were disappointing in spite of Russell Crowe and Edward Norton, respectively, two of Tinseltown’s best actors. The scripts were terrible as usual and Leonardo DiCaprio was awful, unlike his performance in Blood Diamond.

Quantum of Solace and Changeling were excruciatingly dull but both benefitted from low expectations and were mildly interesting in spots. I admit I hate the new thuggish, brain-dead Bond—I hated Casino Royale, Sony’s first Bond re-hatch—but Judi Dench can read the McDonald’s menu and make it sound fascinating.

Lippy Angelina Jolie in Changeling, Clint Eastwood’s stylish Los Angeles crime saga, shows she can act, though any honest person can’t help but notice the glaring double-standard about the non-reaction to this picture—with boys being caged, molested and mutilated—and the outrage over the Dakota Fanning rape scene in the Christian-killed Hounddog. Hollywood apparently scotches anything the religionists object to if it involves sexual abuse and girls. But both Hollywood and the religionists share an extremely high tolerance for sexual and physical torture of boys.

Not as atrocious as I figured it would be—and Reese Witherspoon can do no wrong—is Four Christmases, though Vince Vaughan still looks (and sounds) like he needs a few weeks of detoxification. The movie is moderately foul as these things go. Jon Voight, Sissy Spacek and Robert Duvall are wasted as usual. I do recommend the innocuous yet infectious High School Musical 3 and an interesting documentary called Dear Zachary which will break your heart, but more on those later. Best thing about Hollywood’s Christmas season so far: Mamma Mia! coming out on DVD.