Basically he is doing exactly what the system demands.
the stimulus package works,(it didn't in UK), Obama will simply be re-setting the system......with the tax dollars of those who have already been ripped off by the financial industry.

Guantanamo would have had to close no matter who was in power, it had become a big negative politically.

He did not re-define America's position on torture.
His spokesmen say that his administration will prevent charges being brought against CIA torturers; and Mr Obama has issued executive orders, under which the CIA still retain authority to "render" prisoners,(the secret abduction and transfer of prisoners to foreign countries which support the USA.)

"One solution for dealing with Guantanamo detainees upon its closure, as ordered by President Obama to occur within a year, would be to render them to foreign governments to be held in prisons there, or possibly transfer to other U.S. military detention centers, such as at Bagram Air Force base in Afghanistan, where court rulings such as the Supreme Court's restoration of habeas corpus do not apply."(NYT)

Ethics??? don't make me laugh....he's a politician isn't he?....Ake