Give W. a chance

"We have one country, one Constitution and one future that binds us. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America."

This was George W. Bush in his 2004 victory speech over John Kerry. Sounds awfully like Obama, doesn't he?

Fast forward to 2008. 12, 000 people in San Francisco voted a proposition to name a local sewage plant after the incumbent President.



Jeffery Scott Shapiro in the Wall Street Journal writes, "the president's original Supreme Court choice of Harriet Miers alarmed Republicans, while his final nomination of Samuel Alito angered Democrats. His solutions to reform the immigration system alienated traditional conservatives, while his refusal to retreat in Iraq has enraged liberals who have unrealistic expectations about the challenges we face there."

It really stopped mattering what W. did. People had given their verdict, and he was too good for John Stewart to let go.

W. today addressed his White House staff urging them to smoothen the transition for the President-elect Barack Obama . How unprecedented the smoothening of the transition has been can be seen in contrast to the transition he himself got from the Clinton White House. Ben Feller in the Huffington Post writes, "when W. took office in 2001, some aides found their computer keyboards were missing the W key - a nod to the middle initial in George W. Bush. Staff members of outgoing President Bill Clinton were suspected and criticized for acting immaturely."



W. faced extraordinary challenges during his Presidency. Americans, on the other hand, jumped on to conclusions far too quickly. Let history give its verdict on the President, not Oliver Stone. But as a people, we were to indulge in crass slander, not informed criticism. How many times did we hear, "the guy is an idiot." First things first, he could not have been an idiot to win the American vote in 2000 and 2004.

Yes, the same America that would vote for Barack Obama in 2008.

It is an imperative that the new President is not treated as callously as the old one. Because when late night television dictates how we see our Presidents, the joke is pretty much on us.

In case you were wondering, read the Antifits endorsement of Barack Obama here. (2/1/2008)

Oh! W.

Updated on 09/26/2008:
Apparently, President Bush's bailout did go through a lot of bottleneck on the floor of the Congress on Thursday. And now, Washington is working over the weekend to come to a consensus by Monday. Read the New York Times story here.
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Did anyone watch W. address the nation last night? First things first, with this being dubbed as the "greatest depression", W. could not have kicked things off on a more positive binge.

Didn't anyone else get it? The red tie.



Face it America, he will again get what he wants. Even though if it takes a bipartisan frenzy, no John McCain on the campaign trail and Senator Christopher Dodd looking as someone more important in Washington than he really is. And apart from a certain executive pay clause and the temporary ban on short selling, it will be all on his terms.

"Once this crisis is resolved, there will be time to update our financial regulatory structures. Our 21st-century global economy remains regulated largely by outdated 20th-century laws."

Wow. Anyone who can read between the lines, there would not be anything drastic with regulation after all. So W. calls the democrats for a trillion bucks, gives a certain few like Sen. Christopher Dodd and Sen. Harry Reid a few soundbite on TV, but in real terms, ignores their cherished call for a more stringent regulatory framework.

Though this bailout business did put us through a lot of stress. Specially with an angry Sen. Dodd on TV. Let us give it to him. It is his 15 seconds of fame.

And we thought we would not see him much after the most inconsequntial presidential campaign. Ah! well, these are uncertain times.

"Many borrowers took out loans larger than they could afford, assuming that they could sell or refinance their homes at a higher price later on."

Even if it was a couple of lines camouflaged somewhere in W.'s speech, I cannot help applaud a President, who in a world of John McCain and Barack Obama, can literally tell the Americans that like Wall Street, they fucked up.

Or Wall Street fucked up because the American people fucked up. First.

And this Presidential Election; call it a clusterfuck, or a cute Daniel Radcliffe turning into a naked Daniel Radcliffe. There is only as much as we can take. Asked about whether he would go to Washington, Sen. Obama said:

“If we get consensus and everybody is popping Champagne in Wahington, then I’ll probably go back to campaign with folks who are having a tough time in Ohio and Michigan.”

Spare a minute for folks in Michigan and Ohio. Gail Collins writes of them in the New York Times:

"Since the people of Ohio and Michigan have been visited by a presidential candidate virtually every hour for the last six months, it would seem that they could get by on their own for a day or two."

If the last two weeks on Wall Street should teach you something, just remember that the President matters. Even if just for the next four months. Well, add more than a bit of Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke.

After which with the debt ceiling of the United States at $ 11. 3 trillion, I don't think either President Obama or President Palin in Washington would be wielding much stick.

But with them in Washington, for folks in Michigan and Ohio "change" shall prevail.

Transcript- President Bush's speech on the economy on 09.25.2008 [NY Times]
Bring on the Rubber Chickens- Gail Collins [NYTimes]