He’s Leaving. Really.

[hyphenate]

This is a great article. Humorous, and saying pretty much what we've all pretty much said for a very, very long time. :)
______________________________________________________________________________________________

Op-Ed Columnist
By GAIL COLLINS
Published: January 14, 2009
Tonight President George W. Bush bids adieu to the American people.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/opinion/15collins.html?_r=1&em
Excitement mounts.

The man has been saying goodbye for so long, he’s come to resemble one of those reconstituted rock bands that have been on a farewell tour since 1982. We had exit interviews by the carload and then a final press conference on Monday, in which he reminisced about his arrival on the national stage in 2000. “Just seemed like yesterday,” he said.

I think I speak for the entire nation when I say that the way this transition has been dragging on, even yesterday does not seem like yesterday. And the last time George W. Bush did not factor into our lives feels like around 1066.

So far, the Bush farewell appearances have not drawn a lot of rave reviews. (Most striking, perhaps, was a critique of that final press conference from Ted Anthony of The Associated Press: “It all felt strangely intimate and, occasionally, uncomfortable, in the manner of seeing a plumber wearing jeans that ride too low.”) A Gallup poll did find that his approval rating had risen slightly since they began, but this was probably due to enthusiasm for the part about his going away.

“Sometimes you misunderestimated me,” Bush told the Washington press corps. This is not the first time our president has worried about misunderestimation, so it’s fair to regard this not as a slip of the tongue, but as something the president of the United States thinks is a word. The rhetoric is the one part of the administration we’re surely going to miss. We are about to enter a world in which our commander in chief speaks in full sentences, and I do not know what we’re going to do to divert ourselves on slow days.

<snip>


“My fellow Americans, before I leave you next week I want you to know that ...

A) “Although things have gone very wrong, I take comfort in the realization that Dick Cheney was actually in control from the get-go. Honest, I never even knew half the people in the cabinet.”

B) “Laura and I have come to realize that all things considered, retirement to a mansion in Texas is just totally inappropriate. And so we take our leave to begin a new life as missionaries at a small rescue station in the Gobi desert ...”

C) “Surprise! This has all actually been a bad dream. It’s really still November of 2000 and tomorrow Al Gore is going to be elected president.”

<snip>

[hyphenate]

1. kick

What? No responses? yikes.

[illuminaughty]

2. I think a lot of us are numb from the nightmare.

I should be out beating pots and pans in the driveway, partying like a rock star..sumpin'.

But, I think your title points to our state of mind. He's leaving. Really. It's like we never thought this day would come and now that it's here, it seems a little surreal and hard to believe.

Nice article.