MORNING READ

With President-elect Barack Obama set to announce his national security team this morning, bloggers debate whether national security will look much different under the new administration. Others, meanwhile, debate President Bush’s potential legacy as Iraq’s liberator.

A sea change in national security policy is on the way with Obama’s new team, Political Animal’s Steve Benen asserts, citing a report in today’s New York Times. The new team, which reportedly will include Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, will recommit the U.S. to diplomacy, emphasize prevention, and cut back Pentagon spending, Benen declares. But any new priorities won’t replace the basic need for a robust military, Jennifer Rubin writes at contentions, accusing the left of wishful thinking in its predictions of sweeping change.

Though Bush said in a recent interviewer that he wants to be remembered as Iraq’s liberator, his legacy in Iraq is nothing to be proud of, Firedoglake’s Attaturk asserts. Iraq is still dangerous for many who live there, the blogger notes, while Power Line’s Scott Johnson contends that while we will have to wait for history’s verdict on him, Bush invaded Iraq with a clear conscience.

Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, might damage their public opinion standings if they challenge Obama too early in his presidency, Matthew Continetti predicts at The Weekly Standard. A New Deal-esque stimulus plan is not what the country needs, Continetti asserts, but the weakened GOP may not be in a position to fight Democrats’ agenda according to the blogger.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Jim Martin #2 and #3 – Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Messages from Mumbai – Michael Medved, Townhall.com
3 A.M. – Kathryn Jean Lopez, The Corner
The Stimulus – Matthew Continette, The Weekly Standard
The National Security Team – Jed Lewison, The Jed Report
Michael Steele for RNC Chair – Matt Stoller, Open Left
It’s Honeymoon Time – Paul Mirengoff, Power Line
The Liberationator – Attaturk, Firedoglake
In Which I Eat My Hat – Kevin Drum
The Governor Is Missing – Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
A Handpicked Team for a Shift in Foreign Policy – NY Times
Pentagon to Detail Troops for Domestic Security – Washington Post
Decisions Made on Two Other Top Jobs – Chicago Tribune