Thursday, January 27, 2005
Everybody Duck
Cast your memory back into the misty realms of history, to a half-forgotten era, when the world was a far different place than it is today. A colossus of a man stood astride it, and basked in the adulation of millions as he spoke in bold and lofty terms of mission and calling, promising that the world that was would be transformed, through hard work and steadfast belief, into the better, brighter world that will be.
Remember that time?
One week ago?
This morning, the AP's lead political writer, Ron Fournier, writes that "after setting lofty second-term goals, President Bush is suddenly lowering expectations." Even taking into account, as Fournier's piece does, that other presidents have done the same thing as reality catches up with rhetoric, this is quite amazing. And fairly stupid politically, if you think about it. Although we tend to think of the second Bush term as four more years of hell, it's really only about 18 months of hell, because he'll be able to accomplish precious little in the months before the 2006 elections, and not much at all once his lame-duck status becomes a primary factor after that. But by scaling back expectations so drastically, it's as if he's accepting his lame-duck status one week into his second term.
Not that I'm complaining or anything. The less he tries to do, the less trouble he'll get us into. But it seems pretty strange that the very man whose supporters act as if he were FDR, Patton, and Jesus rolled into one doesn't buy his own hype.
Milestone: Based on the web counter at the bottom of the right-hand column, we will most likely go over the 10,000-visit mark sometime today, and we're close to reaching 15,000 page views. Honesty compels me to report that's about as many people as read Kos or Wonkette in an hour, so this is one of the less-populated corners of the Internet. But I am grateful to the intrepid explorers who have hacked their way through the underbrush in order to find this oasis.
Cast your memory back into the misty realms of history, to a half-forgotten era, when the world was a far different place than it is today. A colossus of a man stood astride it, and basked in the adulation of millions as he spoke in bold and lofty terms of mission and calling, promising that the world that was would be transformed, through hard work and steadfast belief, into the better, brighter world that will be.
Remember that time?
One week ago?
This morning, the AP's lead political writer, Ron Fournier, writes that "after setting lofty second-term goals, President Bush is suddenly lowering expectations." Even taking into account, as Fournier's piece does, that other presidents have done the same thing as reality catches up with rhetoric, this is quite amazing. And fairly stupid politically, if you think about it. Although we tend to think of the second Bush term as four more years of hell, it's really only about 18 months of hell, because he'll be able to accomplish precious little in the months before the 2006 elections, and not much at all once his lame-duck status becomes a primary factor after that. But by scaling back expectations so drastically, it's as if he's accepting his lame-duck status one week into his second term.
Not that I'm complaining or anything. The less he tries to do, the less trouble he'll get us into. But it seems pretty strange that the very man whose supporters act as if he were FDR, Patton, and Jesus rolled into one doesn't buy his own hype.
Milestone: Based on the web counter at the bottom of the right-hand column, we will most likely go over the 10,000-visit mark sometime today, and we're close to reaching 15,000 page views. Honesty compels me to report that's about as many people as read Kos or Wonkette in an hour, so this is one of the less-populated corners of the Internet. But I am grateful to the intrepid explorers who have hacked their way through the underbrush in order to find this oasis.
