Barack Obama and President George W. Bush are set to meet this morning. It will be an awkward meeting at best. But I was surprised to learn from Fox News of all places that their first encounter was horrible.
Four years ago, Obama and the newly elected members of the Senate were invited to the White House for a breakfast meeting with Bush. He pulled Barack Obama aside to introduce to his wife. The two men shook hands and then, according to Barack Obama, Bush turned to an aide, "who squired a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the president's hand." Bush then offered some to Obama, who recalled "Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt."Bush then offered some to Obama, who recalled: "Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt."
The president then led Obama off to one side of the room, where Bush said: "I hope you don't mind me giving you a piece of advice.""Not at all, Mr. President," Obama told the commander-in-chie"You've got a bright future," Bush said presciently. "Very bright. But I've been in this town awhile and, let me tell you, it can be tough. When you get a lot of attention like you've been getting, people start gunnin' for ya. And it won't necessarily just be coming from my side, you understand. From yours, too. Everybody'll be waiting for you to slip, know what I mean? So watch yourself."
Bush then noted that he and Obama had something in common."We both had to debate Alan Keyes," the president said. "That guy's a piece of work, isn't he?" Obama laughed and even "put my arm around his shoulder as we talked," he recalled, although he added the gesture "might have made many of my friends, not to mention the Secret Service agents in the room, more than a little uneasy."
Despite this display of bonhomie, Obama said the president's demeanor turned downright frightening when he laid out his agenda to the freshly minted lawmakers."Suddenly it felt as if somebody in a back room had flipped a switch," Obama wrote. "The president's eyes became fixed; his voice took on the agitated, rapid tone of someone neither accustomed to nor welcoming interruption; his easy affability was replaced by an almost messianic certainty. As I watched my mostly Republican Senate colleagues hang on his every word, I was reminded of the dangerous isolation that power can bring, and appreciated the Founders' wisdom in designating a system to keep power in check."
Wow, that was deep. Considering that Barack Obama made President Bush foibles his major campaign platform, and rightly so, it will be an awkward meeting, at best. But, President Bush does deserve to squirm. We have been squirming for eight years.President George Bush will go down in history as one of the worst presidents in American history. He has outdone his father, to say the least. Too bad the Congress took impeachment off the table.
The difference between both men is stark. You see,Obama seems to have usurped Bush when it comes to commanding authority on the important issues of the day, according to the Christian Science Monitor:
Barack Obama speaks, and the world listens - more intently, at this point, than it does to the actual president of the United States. President-elect Obama can inspire and alarm, calm markets or add to jitters. And with the nation in economic crisis, he seems keenly aware of that... Yes, he has the most important tool of the presidency in his grip already--the bully pit. He has the power to inspire and reassure, which President Bush lost somewhere after September 11, 2001.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire