The Adjunct

While this is a little (okay, a lot) of a jeer against Bush, I hope you will also view this as a cheer for academics. The former President liked to deflect criticism by saying that history shall be the only judgement that matters. Well, the historians have made a statement, and it is not in Bush’s favor.

From CNN

(CNN) – Former President Bush has only been out of office for less than a month, but historians have already delivered an early verdict on his presidency.

In a survey of over 60 historians conducted by C-SPAN, the 43rd president ranks the seventh worst (and 36th overall) in the nation’s history, just edging out Millard Fillmore.

That’s pretty harsh. Fillmore is ridiculously unfunny, as seen below.

Oh, Millard Fillmore. He was the last member of the Whig Party, wasn’t he? Good for him! Fuck Andrew Jackson, right?

Continuing…

At the top of the list, the historians rank Abraham Lincoln as the best president in the nation’s history, edging out George Washington and Franklin Roosevelt.

If only we could have a President who followed the writings of Abraham Lincoln, and tried to save our nation with policies modeled after Franklin Roosevelt’s.

Oh, wait.

I get it now.

The duck’s name is Mallard Fillmore, not Millard, and he’s a Republican.

Happy President’s Day!

I would like to call a ceasefire in the Spin War.

It is a destructive war that will have no winner. Everyone suffers, our people and theirs. Let us move beyond this Spin War and into a new era, Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, Greens and Libertarians, the faithful and the non-believers. Let us put aside the Spin, and replace it with respectful discussion, and productive debate. Let us not seek the power of our party, nor the destruction of our opposing party, but instead try and find what answers shall truly elevate this nation and its peoples.

After reading the title of my previous post, my wife asked me, “So, when are we going to start being dated by Seinfeld references?”

“I think we already are,” I told her.

Oh. I’m getting old.

Much of what I write on this website, in fact anything that I write anywhere, should be considered for the most part tongue-in-cheek. I have always enjoyed sharp banter and acidic wit, and this has culminated in my personal writings often being what I call sharp-witted but what most other people call snarky or, even more often, assholish*. Know please that no offense is intended, nor do I mean to convey a true superior attitude even though in jest my writings claim one. The key word in that previous sentence was jest.

Yes it is all a joke. Or, at least, it is written jokingly. I do not really feel that I know any answers, nor do I think myself particularly superior to anyone else, least of all tenured faculty or my students. I just happen to find that style of humor very amusing, and it creeps out in my more casual writings.

So please, before you jump to the conclusion that I am a pompous asshole, snarkily sneering at all that you hold dear, remind yourself that there is light humor in my writing. I feel the overall essence of my arguments and commentary is valid, but the manner in which I present it is more often than not, to be taken with a grain of salt, and a smile.

* Which I feel compelled to constantly remind them is not a word.

Our month of January is named after Janus, the Roman god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings.

As January 2009 comes to a close, I find it significant how many things are both ending and beginning this month, in particular the end of George W. Bush’s Presidency and the beginning of Barack H. Obama’s.

More than just the 44th peaceful change of power for my country, this January sees both an end and new beginning to American policies, philosophy, diplomacy, and concepts of race, religion, and political will. The party that had loudly wielded power for so long now struggles to survive, while the once weak opposing party now speaks softly while carrying a big stick.

I mean this as more than just a celebration of my own political ideology taking control, although celebrate I did, but instead am simply amazed at how endings are indeed gateways to new beginnings, and vice versa.

No wonder Janus and his divine counterpart Jana, worshipped as the sun and moon, were once regarded as the highest of the gods.

How seldom we marvel at the power of a doorway, serving as exit and entrance, containing such power and symbolism. What new beginnings will comes to us all this year? What must end in order for them to do so?