In our deep blue city of Seattle it is heresy to say this, but we owe George W. Bush a thank you. Because of his deeply flawed presidency, a thoughtful and globally-aware black man with a foreign-sounding name will be our next president.
That's right; you heard it here first. But it never would have been possible without the maelstrom of lies and all-around incompetence of the Bush-Cheney regime during the past eight years.
It's true that John McCain is not George Bush. Given what he knows now, it's possible that even George Bush, were he running for president today, would not be George Bush - at least not the smirking know-it-all whose inattention and poor judgment led the country into so many trainwrecks, the near-meltdown of our financial system being but the latest.
I imagine it requires something close to madness to want to be president. But to be chief executive of the most potent economic and military power on the globe should require more than ambition, a daddy fixation, and an imagined special relationship with the Almighty.
Unfortunately, that is what we got and we are paying for it with blood and money. It led to us going from a nation with an annual surplus to one nearly $10 trillion in debt - debt that's growing by $1.3 million every 60 seconds, thanks to an unnecessary war financed on credit. It led to tens of thousands of lives - American and foreign - lost and ruined. It led to a dollar that's one-half its initial value against the euro. America has been on a binge, and we're all suffering from the DTs.
Why did an astonishing 200,000 people turn out in Berlin in July to welcome Barack Hussein Obama, a skinny first-term senator with ears that stick out? It's because most Americans, and our friends overseas as well, want the United States to resume a role of world leadership - not by unilateralism and brute force, but by smarts and cooperation. There's excitement everywhere about the prospect of the most fundamental presidential change this country has ever seen.
Last week's debate showed Obama's opponent, John McCain, to be a feisty bulldog, determined to control the agenda. I don't believe a McCain administration would be the equivalent of a third Bush term, as Obama has been saying. I fear it could be worse.
The McCain of 2008 is not the maverick who ran against Bush in 2000 and was vaporized by Rove-ish smears in the primaries. This year's McCain has pandered shamelessly to the conservative base of the Republican party in order to win the nomination and keep their support. So desperate is this 72 year-old four-time victim of melanoma, a virulent form of cancer, that he chose as his running mate a charismatic but shockingly inexperienced unknown.
As Alaska's Governor and Mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin practiced cronyism and wielded a stick as fiercely as any Chicago pol. She's flip-flopped on her willingness to cooperate with the Alaska Legislature's investigation of Troopergate, and simply lied about not seeking earmarked funds for Alaska. She may be, as she claims, a pit bull in lipstick.
McCain's selection of Palin, alone, disqualifies him from serving as president. It reveals his tendency to act rashly, without vital information. He put politics above the country's good. Palin's embarrassing performance before a softball tosser like Katie Couric has even thoughtful conservatives suggesting that Palin step down. She can give a rip roarin' speech, but she's a lightweight who's seriously out of her league. McCain can't even get the politics right.
Obama is not without flaws, in spite of having low body fat and a fair jump shot. But unlike McCain, he's a 21st century man clearly able to make judgments about technology and the economy - areas where McCain admits ignorance. McCain thinks the middle class are people who earn less than $5 million a year. He doesn't do e-mail, and doesn't know how many residences (9) or cars (13) he owns. He's out of touch.
Obama will get U.S. troops out of Iraq on the short timetable Iraq has asked for. McCain demands victory but isn't clear about what would define it. Clue: His running mate said we've already achieved it.
Without George W. Bush's abysmally failed presidency an Obama presidency would have been impossible. Racism is on the wane in the U.S., but there's no way Obama could have won the Democratic nomination without a tsunami of support for change. For that we can afford to blow George and Laura a kiss as they close the door and turn out the lights January 20.[[In-content Ad]]
