President's Day

Today is President's Day. When I was growing up, we seemed to look up to our president. Even when he was tripping down the tarmac. Yeah, Gerald Ford. I don't know much about him, but I know there was no blue dress in his presidency. He did pardon Tricky Dick, and he was the only president never elected¹ (four points on the history quiz for that one).

But if someone was invited to a Gerald Ford dinner, they would feel honored. With GW and Clinton, there are people who would spit on their face, and I don't think it is just because people are angrier and bolder than in the seventies and eighties. I remember, years later and before his death, when someone talked about Ronald Reagan. They said that he would never take his coat off in the Oval Office, out of respect to the office. In this “results always” world we now live in, lots of us could care less if the President wore flip flops and a tank top in the Oval Office, but part of me likes the fact that Ronald Reagan felt reverence for the office. Now, at the time, Reagan was not my favorite person – he ousted a Georgian from the White House, you know – but in time and when I grew older (I was but a teenager when he was in office), I grew to like him for what I learned about him. My parents were not real Reagan fans, and you know, many young people just parrot what their parents think.

When I was in elementary school, most of the boys and some of the girls wanted to be President. Not sure that is the case now-a-days. Personally, I would rather be Queen of North America – well, I would start out as Queen of the United States, and then in my bold first few years, invade Canada and Mexico. Well, it was my fantasy, not based in reality at all. Plus I figure most of these presidents are bought and paid for by big business, so I could not do much worse.

I guess that brings me back to my lament. I used to look up to presidents – Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy, and many others. Perhaps, though, it is what you learn and when you learn it. In forth grade, we did not know that Jefferson owned slaves. But in high school, we not only knew that Jefferson owned slaves, but he probably fathered a child by one. And I would not really want to look up to a man who abandoned a child of his just because it is not presidential.

I don’t know who will win the next presidential race, but the primaries are interesting. I have seen Hillary go from grand sorceress, expert in all things political, to someone who made many mistakes since South Carolina. She has gone from “woman with experience” to outsider and change-agent. Funny thing is that the Hillary supporters point to her experience in the White House. I guess Monica Lewinsky also has experience in the White House, but I am not sure Monica would make a good President. I guess I don’t like Hillary either, something that doesn’t seem particularly important, but you know, I think this lack of likability may keep her from the White House. Obama is extremely likable – so is Huckabee. I feel compelled to vote for Obama but I really don’t know too much of what he stands for. He is attractive, well-spoken and probably would keep his jacket on while in the Oval Office. With Hillary Clinton, I can just picture Huma Abedin’s bra hanging from a knob in the Lincoln bedroom. Perhaps we get the politicians we deserve because of the reasons we have for choosing them. Me, I want to just climb back in bed this morning. The next Super Tuesday (and the only one before this year) is tomorrow, huh? Looks like Hillary will be in the lead after Tuesday. If she did not have such a high bitch factor, I am sure many would not mind seeing her win with Huma Abedin by her side.

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¹Spiro Agnew ran as Richard Nixon's Vice President, and resigned for tax evasion. The IRS got Capone and Spiro Agnew. And Willie Nelson. They scare the crap out of me.