Presidential Catastrophe!

Presidential Catastrophe!

A cranky opinion for

CRANKY OPINION SATURDAY

The following is the opinion of a cranky old man with but a vague grip on the facts.  Opposing opinions are welcome, but wrong.  As always, please no name calling, and that means you, you big stupid head!

I’ve promised myself to stay away from politics on this blog.  It is hard for me to do, I like discussing politics.  The problem is, blogging is a poor venue for discussions.  Comments generally become hit and run last word stuff that is the squeaky chalk on my blackboard. 

I will not try and sway anyone’s vote in this upcoming election.  I don’t think I could, and I’m pretty firm in my position so let’s not piss each other off and just agree to cancel out each other’s vote.

I have made this observation so far; I’ve seen not a single election bumper sticker or front lawn sign.  Maybe it is still early, or maybe people are just afraid of all the haters out there that to voice an opinion is to invite graffiti scratches on your car or egg bombing of your house…or worse…lots worse.  I have never seen so much hate for the candidates from both sides of the aisle.

If I have a message for everyone it is this, “Relax everyone, we will survive whoever is elected as we have always survived our presidential choices.” 

Each party is claiming that if the other person is elected it will be a “CATASTROPHE.”  Relax, no it won’t.  Our system of government will help us through a bad president and there is a very good chance we will elect a bad President.  Both candidates have some strengths and both have some major question marks.  I question the motivation of both candidates to win this election. 

For the life of me I do not understand why anyone would want this position.

It may be that I have watched too many episodes of “The Bachelor” but I question if either candidate is running for “The right reason.”

So while everyone is wringing their hands and claiming we are headed for CATASTROPHE I look back to previous presidents we have had in my cognizant lifetime.

Dwight Eisenhower – How could you not Like Ike?  Well many said he was a do nothing boring President. I remember not having any wars, the development of interstate roads, a stable if not exciting economy and an era of stability.  Of course I also remember seeing 12-year-old black kids picking cotton in Mississippi, segregated schools, restaurants, rest rooms and water fountains, so it may not have been a great era for black folks.  However, clearly not a CATASTROPHE!

John F Kennedy – Maybe the greatest President ever…possibly one of the worst.  Who’s to say, he never had a chance.  According to my 9^th grade homeroom teacher we could not have a Catholic President as he would have to take orders from the Pope. He did make the Russians blink, pushed for lower taxes under the now conservative theory that spending and lower taxes would stimulate the economy (a theory that in my opinion depends on many variables.  In some economies a good idea, in others a bad idea.)  If nothing else Kennedy just made us feel good about ourselves and the future. Not a CATASTROPHE.

Lyndon Johnson – Probably the most corrupt President in my lifetime.  Helped create a welfare state which has in the long term probably done the most to keep the poor but proud…simply poor.  He pushed us into a stupid war that Kennedy probably would have avoided, but the war suited Johnson economically and politically. Still not a CATASTROPHE (but close.)

Richard Nixon – Maybe not as bad a President as everyone wants to remember, but one with a fatal flaw of insecurity that ruined any good he may have done.  Also his wage and price freeze was a stupid sophomoric idea, like trying to change the weather by mandating the temperature. Close, but no CATASTROPHE.

Gerald Ford – Really nice man, decent legislator who probably never wanted to be President and was not particularly qualified…Hell the number one qualification should be to actually want the job.  He tried to solve the problem of inflation with a button and a slogan.  Weak and unqualified, but not a CATASTROPHE.

Jimmy Carter – Maybe the smartest, nicest person to hold the office.  He was extremely hands on and as a result very ineffective.  He gave us “Stagflation,” an economic condition of high inflation and stagnant growth which made everyone feel helpless and to which there seemed no way out.  Internationally his weakness made us an easy target for humiliation.  Close, but not a CATASTROPHE.

Ronald Reagan – Bumbling, slow and inexperienced, the ex-actor was sure to be a CATASTROPHE.  It was easy to make fun of his “Reaganomics” which somehow ended “Stagflation” and set the stage for years of strong economic growth.  Internationally he slapped Iran like a baby, shut Libya’s Gaddafi the F up and his policies forced Russia to draw back the iron curtain.  There are those who still claim he was a CATASTROPHE.  If nothing else much like JFK he made people feel good about themselves and have hope for the future. CASASTROPHE? Magic eight ball says, “no flippin way!”

George H.W. Bush – Apparently out of touch because he did not know what a price code scanner was (This is now how we tend to rate our politicians, knowing about new technology, knowing who the leader of Uzbekistan is and how to spell potato…important shit.) He stopped Suddam Hussain in Kuwait.  He raised taxes after claiming that would never happen when Democrats threatened to shut down Government.  Instead of letting Government shut down he caved and never lived it down. Not the greatest, not a CATASTROPHE.

Bill Clinton – The most morally corrupt President in history, and yet likable and a political genius…thus the name “slick Willy.”  All in all, a good President.  He managed to not get in the way of a surging economy and he set the tone for long needed social progressive changes.  For all his moral short comings he is the one President I would most like to play golf with. No CATASTROPHE here.

George W. Bush – President during a very difficult time.  Widely regarded as a horrible and ignorant President because he could not properly pronounce Nuclear.  History has not made its final determination.  His Presidency marks the height of the practice of the other party doing whatever possible to derail any proposal which continued under our next and current President.  Flawed, treated unfairly…not a CATASTROPHE.

Barrack Obama – Perhaps the least experienced President ever, it is also too early to comment on his legacy.  He inherited a weak economy, the result of banking practices under George W. Bush and pushed intensely by a Democratic Congress.  The recovery of this economy seems to have been the slowest and weakest recovery in history.  Internationally whether his fault or not he is leaving a world in tremendous turmoil; domestically, the country is as divided economically and racially as it was when he took office. History may yet prove him to have been a great President…that has happened before.  Flawed, treated unfairly…not a CATASTROPHE.

The point is we have had many Presidents in my lifetime, few have been truly great, none have been a CATASTROPHE.  We will be fine.  If we get a bad President we will be fine, if we get a great President we will be even finer.

Relax!

The preceding was the opinion of a cranky old man and not necessarily that of management…Mrs. Cranky.