A quick glance back at the last eight years or so to see if we were as stark raving loony over George Bush as the legions of teabaggers, birthers, and other right wing hysterics seem to be towards Obama.
I need not look into my crystal ball to see the Sunday pundits getting their licks in on Obama's inability to bring the Olympics to Chicago. Obama's failure to secure the Olympics will be further proof of a presidency in trouble; not faltering, mind you, but seriously in peril. The discourse will no doubt take into account the symbolism and importance of the President's humiliating defeat at the hands of the International Olympic Committee (which is filled with European Socialists, so why get one's undies into a twist anyway?)
The Wingnuts are already prancing about with this story. On Facebook, they came out of the woodwork, lockstep in snide condescension. I don't unfriend former acquaintances of mine on Facebook. I use them as a barometer to see what Wingnuttia is capable of. At the same time, I find myself asking, "Were we this hysterical with George Bush?" And after a couple of days of reflection, I feel the answer is... "no."
Our anger, frustration, and occasional rage came as a result of tangible transgressions and failures on the part of the Bush (non)Administration. Bush/Cheney recklessly led our nation into a war of aggression in Iraq, created a huge deficit, allowed New Orleans to perish, outed a CIA agent for sport, allowed the wealthiest two percent of America to enjoy a three trillion dollar tax cut orgy, left America's prestige in tatters with Guantanamo Bay Prison, bludgeoned an already besieged middle class, walked away from environmental issues of every variety, nurtured the crassest form of cronyism, and eventually made the Republican Party, which I have little respect for anyway, into a laughable product brand reduced for quick sale.
Comparing "us" to "them," I ask myself, "What has Obama done to pique the ire of the bombastic Wingnuts?"
He has worked on restoring America's tarnished image abroad. He has exerted a tremendous amount of energy on Health Care Reform so that forty one million of our fellow citizens can have some semblance of medical coverage that doesn't result in catastrophic medical bills. He spent a mere seven hundred and fifty billion dollars on an economic recovery program which is in the same ballpark as George Bush's bailout of Wall Street one year ago, and on and on. In short, he has worked on behalf of the majority of Americans, and not for an entrenched elite.
Has team Obama allowed a major terrorist event to happen on its watch? Has Obama started another war of aggression? Has he bumbled through a series of press conferences with vague references to The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again?" Has he allowed his Vice President Joe Biden to step in to run the White House, while he heads to a ranch to chop wood?
Hate to say it Winguttia, but the truth's on our side with this particular administration. Your faux outrage is about as lame as those Flip Flop toting Stepford Wives at the 2004 National Convention, seated next to the Purple Heart Band Aid crowd. Your acting skills are as pathetic as Glenn Beck's Revolutionary War attire. And your Faux News outrage is about as convincing as Rula Lenska's (thanks Adamantius!) VO5 adverts in the late 70's (now, that's really going back for some of you.) So, bring on the Sunday pundits. I've got Brown Sugar Pop Tarts and good Costa Rican coffee ready for the freak show.