First 100 v. Past 8

In the week that Obama passed his first 100 days as the big man (and done a pretty good job according to every major media outlet with the exception of...can you guess?... it starts with F and ends in s....anything yet?...I know, I know, the suspense is killing you....it rhymes with Mox Pews....anything yet?), I started to marvel at the change the US has undergone in such a short period of time.

In just 100 days, significant progress has been made on the saving of the economy (stimulus package and budget), the advancement of stem-cell research, the engaging of DIMPLOMATIC relations with other world leaders - even ones who we're supposed to "hate", the awesome rescue of Capt. Phillips, etc. For the first time since January 2004, more Americans now feel that the country is headed in the right direction than in the wrong direction (48 percent to 44 percent).

There haver been a few missteps, too. He needs to stop cowtowing to the gun freaks in both parties and get serious on some sort of progressive gun control and make ALL involved in the shameful torture accountable.

Then I think about the eight years prior to this 100 days.

The past eight years STILL absolutely beggar belief. I don't even have a huge problem with people who voted for George W. Bush in 2000 (though obviously, I thought then and think now that they were crazy). But to those who voted for his administration again in 2004, that's what I just can't get my head around. Really. After the first four years of W's administration, I can't believe there was even a question. Don't get me wrong, John Kerry was a poor Democratic nominee but the fact is that the Democrats should've won by a landslide with ANYBODY.

It's telling that almost everyone who voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004 were totally convinced they made the right choice and continued to do so until the very end of his second term. I now hear from a lot of them that "Oh, well, he wasn't the greatest President" and "He made mistakes" and "He doesn't speak for most Republicans". So where the fuck was this humility from 2000 to 2007? Will you only admit you were wrong when you stare defeat in the face?

Though I (and other Dems and/or people who didn't vote for Bush in 2000 or especially in 2004) do, admittedly, take a certain smug delight at being proved right, my intent isn't to gloat at Obama's landslide victory and subsequent 69%-of-the-country-approved good job (okay, maybe I want to gloat a little bit). More, it is to seriously question the judgement of those who actually voted for the Bush administration a SECOND time after everything that happened. That his approval ratings plummeted to 23% should tell you something. That 79% of Americans are now (according to last week's poll, and this number keeps rising) glad he's gone should tell you something. That you voted Republican is not the problem. That you voted for THIS Republican AGAIN is something you'll have to forever live with...