With less than six months left for the Bush presidency, liberals are pretty elated knowing 'ol W will finally be out of office. At least you'd think that. Actually, they're staring off into an unknown void where they are starting to realize life may not be as sunny as they thought it would be.
This may strike many on the right as particularly surprising, but in all honesty it shouldn't. Liberals have essentially spent the past eight years doing the one thing they're good at: complaining; and with Bush they found the ultimate figure for all their resentment. Instead of actually doing anything, like finding facts for their debates, most liberals would simply say it's Bush's fault and leave it at that.
But now, liberals have been placed into a very awkward and uncertain position. Right now, they are facing a potential Barack Obama administration, and even if he doesn't win, at the very least they are left with Public Enemy #1 out of office. All their arguments, quibbles, and petty pouting always revolved around the fact that Bush was a moron and that's all there is to it.
For a moron, Bush sure had a great deal of control over people's lives. The same people who say Bush is an idiot with the IQ of a third grader are the same people who think he is the mastermind behind the 9/11 conspiracy and was able to fool millions into going into Iraq.
The way liberals tell it, Bush caused everything to go wrong once he took office. Along with leading us into an "unjust" war, he apparently was able to silence all dissenting voices in the entire country (you might not have heard of that one due to the extremely loud dissenting voices coming from all over the country). He also has the superhuman capability of controlling the weather, causing Hurricane Katrina just because he doesn't like black people. He's also blamed for the rise in obesity, high gas prices, the salmonella outbreak, lead-laced toys from China, even dumb Super Bowl commercials (and I wish I were making that part up). Oh, and if you're looking for facts behind the allegations, don't bother.
So the prospect of having Bush out of the White House actually strikes liberals with a good amount of trepidation. How do they respond to problems after he's gone? They can no longer pin everything on him.
And that doesn't even begin to touch upon the other people affected by his departure. Late night comics have gotten by for an entire eight years on Bush jokes. Just one of these days, I'd like to hear a creative one. For the past eight years, all that they've been able to say is "Bush is dumb" and that's all it took. Well, it was kind of funny eight years ago, now it's just old. Freak, Jon Stewart has built up his whole career by calling Bush dumb. Now he must be literally trembling at the thought that Bush won't be around.
A whole host of other bad comics have needed to get by on calling Bush an idiot. In a tough room? Nobody laughing? Just tell a Bush joke, even if it has nothing to do with what you're talking about (so these three guys walk into a bar. Bush has a low IQ. Thank you!). Now, their target is leaving, and the bad comics have nowhere to turn.
Things won't get any better, either. If Obama does become president, he has made it perfectly clear that he won't be made fun of (speaking of silencing dissenting voices). Every comedian (and I use the term loosely) has already admitted that they find it hard to joke about him because he's black.
And Bush is from Texas. What's your point? Can't we have affirmative action for jokes too?
So before you get annoyed by the exuberance shown by liberals as they count down the days, remember that it's a double-edged sword for them as well. It's no secret that a little piece of them wants to see John McCain win. Hey, the old jokes have already started! That should keep them going for another few years at least.
But the question still remains as to why they keep this kind of thing up. It stems from more than just blame-shifting or simple hatred. Stay tuned for my next post to find out the real reason.