Can of Worms

Boy, yesterday's post sure opened a can of worms. In response to this quote:

  > "In America, anybody can be president.
  > That's one of the risks you take."
  > -Adlai Stevenson

Derek said: Risk is right--look at our current President. Yikes.

Then Curtis said: And in responce to Derek * ...and the last one. Double yikes. (* I do sort of agree with Derek, but if the choice is a Bush or a Clinton, I'll take a Bush every time.)

And then Derek said: Help us, Ralph Nader. You're our only hope.

Good observations, both of you, but I'll go you one better. It seems to me that we could say "Yikes!" about every U.S. President in our lifetimes.

Face it, to whom should we look for exemplary leadership? LBJ? Tricky Dick? Gerald 'Appointed, not Elected' Ford? True, Jimmy Carter was a good and decent human being, but not much of a President (maybe because he was a good and decent human being). Ronald Reagan was respected and well-liked at the time, but now that he's dead, even his staunchest former supporters have nasty things to say about his administration and his policies. And while George Bush v1.0 handled Operation Desert Storm okay - mostly by staying out of the way of those who knew what they were doing, unlike LBJ - he couldn't do much with the economy or domestic issues. And that brings us up to the two aforementioned individuals.

Maybe the lesson here is that the people of the United States find a way to keep the country going in spite of, not because of, who's in the White House....