Presidents in Helicopter or Don't Eat the Peanut Butter

I’ve watched two presidents leave the White House via helicopter. Two presidents leave Washington with a sour taste. Two presidents fly off into exile.

The first was Richard Nixon after his resignation on August 8th 1974. And then on Tuesday I watched George Bush make that long walk to Marine One.

For eight years George did his best and worked toward goals that those around him told him were important and worthy. And then on his final day as president he got to see two million Americans scream for his replacement. Two million Americans wave goodbye. Sasha and Malia Obama were received with more good will than George Bush has seen in his final two years as president.

In time if the issues of economy, Iraq and terrorism come to resolution then George Bush, like Jimmy Carter, will have his record burnished, feel a sense of redemption, and fill his library with scholars. If any one of these issues linger or sour then he’ll be Hooverized into the bottom 10% of our presidents.

Is George’s punishment deserved? I hope not. For the sake of 250 million Americans I hope that George W. was right. I hope that George W. made decisions that we just didn’t have enough information to understand and that short-term history will smile on his presidency.

Seeing George W. and how he’s aged over the last eight years made me realize that I’m happy not to be in charge of absolutely everything.

It’s hard to find a dark-comedy twist but I heard through a confidential internet source that George W left a gift basket for the Obama’s filled with peanut butter cookies, peanut butter crackers, a giant commercial can of peanut butter paste and for good measure, a large box of peanut butter flavored dog snacks.