a poll was released today that put gw bush's final approval rating at 22%
a poll was released today that put gw bush's final approval rating at 22%, the lowest of his presidency(and possibly the lowest approval rating of any president at the end of their presidency...even nixon had a higher approval rating after he was impeached). ow.
to put it in perspective, both ronald reagan and bill clinton had 68% approval ratings at the end of their presidencies. even gw's daddy had an approval rating of 54% when he left office. 22% approval rating at the end of an 8 year presidency. ow.
it's of course possible that gw bush isn't a bad guy. i mean, he was a terrible president. an egregiously terrible president. and what he did as president, driven by his unique mixture of arrogance and ineptitude, is kind of unforgiveable. but i'm pretty sure that he'd be fun to play softball with. well, maybe not. i guess i'm just trying to be charitable. he'd probably say 'boo ya motherfucker! in your FACE!' from about 2 inches away if he won, and 'oh well, softball is a girls game anyway' if he lost.
in any case, the 8 years of bush and republican rule are coming to an end. the remainder of bush's term can be measured in hours. tick tock tick tock. i mean, it's almost done. 8 years of bush and cheney and tom delay and donald rumsfeld and trent lott and etc etc. almost done. america is still crazy, and could theoretically still elect a dangerously arrogant and incompetent president in the future. most americans still employ the 'he seems like a fun guy to have a beer with' criteria when voting and are invariably less discriminating in choosing a president than they are in choosing a plumber (i mean, would anyone pick a plumber based on the 'he seems like a fun guy to have a beer with' criteria?). but maybe we've learned. i doubt it, but it's possible that enough people have learned and there'll be a reasonable and reasonably informed majority who will at least try to make informed and educated choices when they vote. who knows what will happen in 2 and 4 years when america votes again. in the meantime it's 96 hours until regime change.
moby
Re: A poll was released today...
Dear Moby,
Once again I marvel at how positive, hopeful and forgiving a soul you are. I'm not there just yet. I am very much hoping that the new administration will live up to it's promises, but the cynic in me still has to refrain from hoping too much until obama proves to me that he is more than "a good politician". I lean towards the positive, but I'm still keeping an arms length away from full committment.
I could almost feel sorry for GWB. Even though he'll never know it, he's brought his final rating upon himself. He will probably always feel misunderstood and I'll bet he's waiting for the day that obama falls on his face. Personally, I hope that day never comes.
I can celebrate obama's inauguration, just not too much. I don't want to overdo it now out of the fear that I'll be overly disappointed later. However, I will be overjoyed to be absolutely wrong about being so cynical. In fact, I can't wait.
Enjoy your time in dc. Let us all know how it went. Best regards to you. Dee
a long strange asinine trip
On the eve of the White House being once again inhabited by grown-ups, I thought I'd check in, which I don't do often enough....
I commiserated with you Moby(in a virtual sense, through your journal) during the GWB regimes I & II, and now I want to share my excitement that we as a country might be on the verge of starting to improve things again, to be part of the solution, not the problem, as they say.
I was shocked a couple of times recently by an unfamiliar feeling, one that I hardly recognized: Hope. At 45, I barely recognized it-- what a sad notion! Cynicism slyly takes up residence and one day you find yourself with nowhere to sit down.... pitiful. Wasn't GWB's fault; it was my fault, but these things happen less readily in the presence of a bright light source... a light like the one from which I think we are about to benefit.
Anyway, I'll be feeling VERY VERY real indeed in <2 days!
Just a shout-out, friend. I shook your hand once long ago and I'll tell you again what I said then: Thanks.
FYI Darling: Your Website System Posted This Journal Twice
don't think I've ever felt like a US President was in office for far way too long, until Bush came along. It felt like time was standing still and especially the last year was torture.....I felt like the day when his reign would end would never end up coming. I think of the journals you wrote in early 2007 and how from then until the debates felt like a ten year period....I'm not kidding you Sweetheart, his Presidency was so long and drawn out with so many mistakes and little effort on his part to effectively make things right. I understand that he is human and will inevitably make mistakes, but he really 'didn't do enough' to correct the huge mess ups he caused.
Hallelujiah that we will soon a have Barack Obama as our reigning President!!!!
I Love You Mo,xo
Rachelle LaDelle' Geisheker
"Be True to Love & Love Will Be True To You."
See my myspace page at: www.myspace.com/rachellelovesmoby