Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A new day for the nation and the world

Today, Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States! I live near Washington, DC and I thought about going down to the Mall to be part of the event.  But it was a regular work day for me and I have a lot to get done by Friday, so I really couldn't afford to take the day off.  And it was cold today, very cold.  I watched the inauguration live on a big screen at work with some coworkers.  I'm so happy that the nation and the world are finally rid of Bush.  I think that future historians will rank GWB as one of the worst, if not THE worst, president in US history.  Back when GWB was reelected in 2004, you could almost hear the groan from the rest of the world.  Today, you can almost hear the relief that he's finally gone.  Bush has left Obama with some huge messes to deal with.

In only eight years, Bush has turned the biggest budget surplus in history to the biggest deficit in history; he's transformed us from the most respected nation in the world to the most despised nation in the world; he's embroiled us in an unnecessary and disastrous war in Iraq; he's bungled the probably necessary war in Afghanistan; in the name of national security, he's trampled on the basic human rights and the very values that used to define what the United States stands for; he's stuck his head in the sand with regard to global warming, which might well turn out to be the biggest crisis to ever face humanity; he's knocked holes in our precious wall of separation between church & state; he's made decisions about climate and medicine based on religious dogma, not on science; and he was asleep at the wheel while the financial industry recklessly binged on price-inflated financial securities to bring about the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.  The list goes on...  Well, done George! In fairness, I will give Bush credit for two accomplishments:  there has not been a successful terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11 and he had done a lot to combat AIDS in Africa.  Except for those two successes, his presidency has been a disaster!  I wish Bush a happy and quiet retirement.

Good luck, President Obama.  You've got your work cut out for you.