A guy I worked with at Siemens commented on the inaugural, "Let see what you're saying over the next 4 years..." As in, "you're overfreakingjoyed now, but just wait."
My first thought was, Who cares? Sure are a lot of people who agree that George Walker Bush was the single worse president in American history.
But don't take their (or my) word for it: Google it yourself.
Like Obama, George II went to Harvard (his application to UT Law School was rejected). But unlike Obama, up into his forties George was just another hard-partying trust fund baby. George senior put him in charge of some of his oil businesses, which paid him huge salaries before they failed. Then he bought a baseball team. When his father lost the presidential election, his family forced him to run for Texas governor. Karl Rove ran the campaign, defeating Ann Richards 53%-46%. Over the next 16 years, as the puppet of racketeers, sycophants, and war profiteers, he drove the most powerful nation on Earth over a cliff, down into our worse economic crisis since the depression.
Our current president has a JD from Harvard, was president of the Harvard Law Review, taught constitutional law for 12 years at the U of Chicago Law School, was a civil rights attorney, and served on the board of directors of the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Before serving in the senate, he and his wife aimed their careers at addressing poverty, unfunded public education, and job creation.
We just lived through the last days of Nixon's zombies, surrounded by National Lampoon frat boys running amok. Do you really think someone like Obama will make things worse? Really? Not really. Living in Austin, I know people who know the Bushes personally. They love 'em. George is certainly a fool, but I'm probably a fool too for thinking something extraordinary just happened - foolish for not being cynical about my very young daughters' looming future.
To mangle Blake, "If a fool shouts his foolishness long and loud enough, he becomes wise."
Obamanos.
