Did anyone else take one look at all those people freezing their butts off out there on the mall and think of March of the Penguins? I kept wanting to urge them to huddle closer together for warmth and I was a little worried about the people on the fringes, I mean we know that not every penguin makes it, right?
And seeing all those people out on the mall introduces a new question: where did all the penguin poop go? I don't remember seeing any. Not that I saw people poop out there but, seriously, there was so much discussion of the port-a-potty situation that it was impossible not to worry just a little.
Okay, so that's not exactly the most relevant thing I could say about last Tuesday. I could say all kinds of hopeful, heartwarming, and happy things about getting a new president, and even more importantly, getting rid of the old president.
Now that the old president isn't president anymore, I think it's probably okay for me to ask the question that's been burning in me since, oh, say, somewhere around 2002: why didn't the one of the initial agencies take him out of the game? Was it the veep? Is that what kept him safe? I've thought this over from every angle and that's the only reasonable answer I can manage.
Think about all the suffering, money, and more importantly (at least to me) the embarrassment we could have saved ourselves. As the clock wound down on the last few days of the last administration, I kept expecting it to happen. I thought W might even fake his own death as a last ditch attempt to save his legacy and, quite possibly, avoid being tried as a war criminal in four years when the public gets access to all his files.
Do you think they destroyed the files? Maybe. I'm not even sure they were the kind of people who keep records, not so much because of the potential for self-incrimination, so much as all that writing and thinking stuff can be so tedious and, well, since they don't read reports themselves, they probably don't see the use in them.
But enough about them, let's talk about me. I am so ready to move forward in peace and dignity. Maybe only a modicum of dignity. Or maybe only relative dignity. But dignity none-the-less. And, I am glad to say, in all likelihood with at least a smidge less dignity than the man I am now proud to call my president.
Sweet Pete. I have so been looking forward to being less dignified and well-spoken than the president. It has been a long time since I have felt that the world wouldn't be at least a little better off if I were in charge. What a lovely change of pace.
i think a burden has been lifted from all of our shoulders.
Posted by: White Rabbit | January 25, 2009 at 10:51 AM
ah, it's a beautiful thing! i cheered like a crazed sports fan when bush left in his helicopter. if i never have to see another press conference or speech by that man for the rest of my life, it will be too soon.
and i thought it was hilarious how the crowd at the national mall sang, "na na na na, hey hey, goodbye," as he left. rude? maybe, but i don't find myself caring much. it's about the least he ought to have to endure for what we've endured at his expense.
goodbye and good riddance to that ninny.
Posted by: The Dol | January 26, 2009 at 02:45 PM
Dol - did you go?? I had a friend with tickets but she wrote me after and said it was a disaster in her assigned area and had sound problems, not I"m not so sad I missed it
Posted by: Alice | January 28, 2009 at 06:13 PM
I didn't go. As it happened, I scored a ticket about two weeks before, so I gave it to a friend who had been planning to go for months but didn't have a ticket. Several friends of mine were there, and most of them did fine as far as getting good spots, with one (I think) getting stuck in the Purple Tunnel of Doom.
I'm not big on fighting crowds or standing in the frigid cold for hours on end, so I knew this one wasn't going to to be up my alley.
I was more than happy to watch it at a friend's house with a bunch of other lady friends. We were warm, we had a lovely breakfast, and didn't have to use portapotties. :-) That's the way to do it, in my book.
Posted by: The Dol | January 30, 2009 at 09:51 AM
totally off topic but saw this and thought of you...
http://www.observer.com/2009/media/amazon-now-taking-submissions-second-annual-breakthrough-novel-contest
Posted by: j | February 02, 2009 at 09:28 AM