And what did YOU do today?

For all those cynics and naysayers who said nothing of any substance would change on day one of Obama's presidency, here's just a *short* list of executive orders and memoranda inked first thing yesterday/today:

1. Hours after taking office, Obama's office requested a continuance (a 120-day suspension) of the military commission trials slated to go down this week at Gitmo. All of the military judges involved approved the request, and now Obama's administration has put together a special prosecution team (including David Iglesias, the former US Attorney fired by the Bush administration for not prosecuting politically-motivated cases aggressively enough) to review all of the cases and determine how best to proceed with them...CONSTITUTIONALLY.

Iglesias said, "We want to make sure that those terrorists that did commit acts will be brought to justice -- and those that did not will be released."

I'm sorry, what? That sounded reasonable and humane. Oh, it was meant to be? Oh. Well then. Welcome back, habeas corpus. Welcome back.

2. He drafted an order that would close Gitmo within a year. (And tonight Cheney cries wrenching, snarled sobs into his favorite pillow, stuffed with the bones of innocent babes and the rotting flesh of endangered animals.)

3. He froze pay levels for White House senior staff making above $100k at their current levels for as long as the law allows. "Families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington," said President Obama.

4. In the Executive Order on Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel, the President decreed that A) no member of his administration may accept gifts from lobbyists, B) government officials may not move to and from private sector jobs in ways that give that sector undue influence over government, and C) hires will be made based on qualifications, competence and experience...not political connections/affiliations. (Wonder if they'll go after Gonzales, Miers, Sampson, et al for the US Attorney firings?)

Part and parcel with the lobbying rules, he banned members of his administration who were once lobbyists from working on matters for which they once lobbied, and aides who leave his administration are banned from lobbying the administration in the future.

5. He issued a Memorandum on Transparency instructing three senior officials to "produce an Open Government Directive within 120 days directing specific actions to implement the principles in the Memorandum. And the Memorandum on FOIA (The Freedom of Information Act) instructs the Attorney General to, in that same time period, issue new guidelines to the government implementing those same principles of openness and transparency in the FOIA context."

In English, this means the Obama administration isn't just talking the talk about being open and transparent, but they're walking the walk, too.

6. Along those lines, and saving the best for last...he rescinded the executive order that would've allowed Bush's heirs (the twins!? shudder) to continue to claim executive privilege and withhold his records from the public. (Cheney's too...double shudder).

Hell of a first day. Oh, and he also called a few Middle Eastern heads of state, you know, to try to get that whole peace thing going.

At the end of the day, I can't help but wonder what McCain/Palin's first day might have been like. Relocating Homeland Security to Wasilla, where they could better keep an eye on Putin's rearing head? Paving over the Everglades and putting up the nation's largest Hooters? Instituting a commemorative one-day 5% discount on rape kits? (Ooh, crossed the line on that one, didn't I?)

Thankfully, that's left to our imaginations (or 2012...triple shudder).