But even if the Obama appointees seem more centrist than expected, we must recognize that Obama will be the boss, not the individuals in his Cabinet. People are raving about Obama choosing Robert Gates to continue as defense secretary, but they forget that when Bush chose him, many of us were surprised because Gates was in the "Iraq Surrender Group," which had sharply criticized Bush's policies in Iraq. But Bush did not soften his policies just because Gates came on board. He followed his own counsel, just as we should expect will be the case with Obama.

You should note that President Bush received no accolades from the press for choosing centrists such as Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. In Bush's case, it was just assumed they would do his bidding and not the other way around.

Even if I'm completely wrong about Obama's appointments, I believe it is exceedingly premature to conclude that Obama will govern as a centrist.

I just wonder what some of the people now rushing to applaud Obama as a centrist will say if and when he tries to: implement nationalized health care; drastically disarm our nuclear capacity -- unilaterally; sign into law card-check legislation, which would permit unions to undo secret balloting; appoint very left-wing activist judges; close Gitmo and relax our tough interrogation techniques; further open our borders to illegals; inaugurate a gargantuan "new" New Deal upward of $1 trillion in forced government spending, euphemized as a stimulus package; impose Draconian measures against our economy and liberties under the pretense of ameliorating man-made global warming; or radically alter the tax code to punish the "wealthy."

The liberals inside and outside the mainstream media will say he had to do it to get us out of the economic doldrums, which will be a lie. What will you conservatives say?