the road ahead for shinseki

Here's another New York Times story on General Eric K. Shinseki, President-elect Barack Obama's nominee to head the Department of Veterans Affairs -- the second-largest bureaucracy in the government, behind the Pentagon: A Second Act for General Shinseki. He's got a hell of a task ahead of him.

When he retired in June 2003 after 38 years as a soldier, Shinseki was the highest-ranking Asian-American in United States military history. This week, at a hearing before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, he pledged to transform the Department of Veterans Affairs to better fulfill the nation's promises to those who have served in uniform.