They say that you should speak no ill of the dead, and so I want to get this out of the way now before our worst president ever passes on to wherever he and Sarah Palin believe one ends up. Seriously: how fucking awful was the Bush presidency? And how much clearer is the awfulness now that a new administration is being cobbled together? To me, the difference is striking. I mean, here we are in the worst economic crisis in many of our memories, and what is the President doing?
The Labor Department is racing to complete a new rule, strenuously opposed by President-elect Barack Obama, that would make it much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job.
And while Bush focuses on the dire threat posed by safety regulations, the President-elect is busy actually leading. Obama has already assembled economic and national security teams, and the markets leap, rather than crash,* every time he announces more of his plan. And do you notice the consensus surrounding these guys, rather than the controversy and sense of foreboding that surrounded Bush’s appointments in 2000 (I’m thinking of Ashcroft in particular, but basically everyone but Powell was a joke).
I’m torn between excitement about having the grownups back in charge, and sadness at how much ruination our terrible choices in 2000 and 2004 have wrought.
And: I’m back to blogging.
* – Severe cherry-picking warning
