Barack Obama has been really busy since being inaugurated on Tuesday.  Sure he had to find time to retake the swearing in oath, but when that was out of the way, he went to work. He has made it painfully clear that the Bush era is over by announcing the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison, a ban on harsh interrogation and the end of CIA prisons.

This is completely right for a first few days at the office. Reclaim Americas moral high ground by banning the cowboy cultures that got to grow for eight years, and restore some of the faith the world lost in what so many call ‘the world’s greatest economy’. Mr. Obama said that America now would be “willing to observe core standards of conduct not just when it’s easy, but also when it’s hard”.

Guantanamo Bay is for many the biggest symbol of Mr. Bush’s ‘war on terror’. With that being closed within a year, and with the CIA no longer being able to use torture, America is well on the way of becoming a Western democracy once again. A democracy that fights with diplomacy, aid, intelligence and financial power is a democracy we can once again admire. And this democracy has, once again, a president we can admire. Hail to the Chief!