Never really liked George Dubya Bush all that much until he started getting beaten on. Then of course I felt compelled to defend him as the saint he clearly was.
He’s rich and he’s got a powerful dad, true. This isn’t his fault though. Privilege carries it’s own pitfalls and he certainly fell into them.In this he’s similar to JFK who was a bit of N’er do well in his younger days.
In his personal life, you got to give him credit for facing up to his misspent youth and his drinking problem, for being open about it, and having the strength to (so far) beat it. It’s certainly commendable.
As for his misspent youth, and poor grades, well that goes back to the child of privilege thing. Not everybody is lucky enough to have life present them enough challenges to strengthen their character. Too few challenges, and you become a rich wimp. Too many, and they can break you. Few of us are fortunate to meet adversity in the proper proportion. So, I don’t blame him for that too much either.
He’s too overtly religious for my tastes. I want to pawn this off as one of the handles he’s had to grasp to beat his alcohol problem, but I’m not sure how well that fits.
While I think it would be untrue to call him stupid, he’s not blindingly intelligent either. I’d have to think both Gore and Clinton were smarter.
But, this might be a good thing. I’ve known people like him. Experience has taught them that they’re not smart enough to get away with lying or pulling a fast one, so they stop trying.
On the other hand I always felt that Gore and Clinton thought they were pretty smart, and thought we weren’t, and were used to getting away with things.
So, I was kind of voting for George, with the idea that it’s be a return to the Reagan era, except the Wonder Years version.
It would be like eating chili the third time around. With Reagan it was fresh out of the pot and too spicy. The next time around with George Sr. was like leftovers from the fridge when the spices mellow, just right. George jr. would be that third day, where it’s weak and bland and overfamiliar. This of course is the last edible day. No second term, scoop it into the dog dish and cook something else.
And, if I was a Gore fan, I’d be real pissed. All year long we’re thinking how easy this is gonna be. “Who’s this George kid?” “Ahhh, don’t worry about it, he’s worse than Dukakis ever was.”
With George winning you’d have to feel like I would feel if Dukakis had won. “That guy beat our guy?”
Of course Gore makes this teensy little error and decides to divorce himself as much as possible from Clinton because he’s afraid some of the Lewinsky stink will rub off.
Big big mistake. Nobody in recent memory campaigns like Clinton. You want him in your corner. Shouldn’t matter though. Gore’ll win easy.
But wait there’s a problem. What state is it in? Florida? Doesn’t George’s brother hang out down their? Isn’t he Governor?
NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
And these freakin’ Chads!
What is this, some kind of curse?
So, it seemed like fate was conspiring to keep Gore out of the House. And it didn’t seem fair at all, and the worst part was that there was nobody to blame it on.
So this big-eared, snot in the nose, Texas, Bible thumping rich rednecked kid, gets into Gore’s White House not on a fluke, but on a string of 'em, and the first thing he does is stick his tounge in his cheek and repeal all the last minute executive orders that Clinton did as if to say:
“Nyahhhh, Nyahhhh, Nyyyyahhh.!”
Yeah, we know all those orders weren’t such a great idea but to rub it in like that?
You couldn’t help but be pissed.
So, you settle in for four years of this cracker, figuring he’ll hamstring himself pretty quick, or maybe we’ll help him along in that regard when all of a sudden…
We get the worst International and Domestic Crises in 60 years.
Let’s face it. This does a lot of good for Bush’s credibility. It’s pretty clear cut. We have to pick up the pieces and go kick some ass, and George is there on a fluke and he gets to do it, and he’s gonna get the credit, and don’t tell me that in this clear cut a situation Elmer Fudd wouldn’t be able to see what the right course of action is.
Because he’s gonna get to look so good doing it, and playing Superman he’s gonna get to get a lot of other stuff done too that he’d never otherwise be able to pull off in a million billion years. We’d never let 'em. But right now. In these circumstances. The surreal has come alive and anything is possible.
And it’s not really fair because Gore could do it just as well, if not better, and our guy’d be the hero and he’d get all the credit, and he’d be able to get all of his programs and other impossibilities actualized.
Another Fluke.
Not only must Gore be cursed, it’s like Bush just blunders blindly into perfect opportunity, like a fucking leprechaun with a drawl. It’s just not fair.
And it’s gonna happen, too. Bush will be more effective and things will change more than they would otherwise and the GOP led by this grinning idiot will make lasting effect on the political landscape for no good reason other than blindingly dumb luck.
So, yeah. I’d be really pissed.
To make it even worse, this whole big economic disaster occured at the end of Clinton’s term and everybody’s probably gonna blame that on the Democrats and forget about the wonderful prosperity we enjoyed all through the Clinton years and don’t you know it, it’s all probably gonna get a lot better in the 2nd half of Shrub’s term through no doing of his own, and not only is he gonna get the credit for the making the world safe for Democracy and oil interests, he’s probably gonna take credit for the coming recovery, and that juuuuuuuuuusssssssst might be enough to kick him over into a second term.
I’d be really pissed. I’d hate him.
I feel your pain.
But consider this. Kennedy wasn’t so hot either at the outset. His brother Bobby was a better man, I think. JFK was kinda fast and loose. But, I firmly beleive that we needed a JFK right then, and somehow we got him when we needed him. His weaknesses and character flaws were the right ones for the times.
The old college essay on Shakespeare contains an interesting idea. Consider Hamlet and Othello. They were both ok guys with major flaws. Hamlet was too wishy-washy and Othello acted too quickly, and circumstances and their own failings brought them to tragedy.
The neat thing though, is that put Hamlet in Othello’s shoes, and lickety split, problem solved. Give Othello, Hamlet’s problems and he’d run his father in law through with a sword in about five seconds flat, end of story.
So, I understand how pissed I’d be if I was a Democrat, but History has an odd habit of putting the right guy in the right place at the right time. Or, maybe, it creates him.
Maybe the shrub will grow into a mighty hedge.
