so long, farewell

Watching CNN always puts me in a slight state of angst. But tonight, watching any sort of news-based television brought on the same feeling of nostalgia, mixed with regret, with a slight dose of anger. Bush has less than 12 hours left to screw up something else in our country, and he’s done more than a handful of things that make me shake my fist in disapproval: taking aid money away from pro-abortion agencies, No Child Left Behind, bans on stem cell research, a city abandoned and left to the breached levies, and just a general trample on the reputation of politically active Christians.

But on the other hand, I can’t help but think that things could’ve been a lot worse. I honestly don’t really connect the current state of the economy with the Bush administration, at least not directly. Sure, financing a complicated war on two fronts didn’t help the deficit. But a lot of analysts actually blame the crash on Clinton’s policies, and point to more long-term decisions that Bush honestly wouldn’t have had time to make.

And I get a little discouraged that the trade off for a free society is that we not only elect our leaders, but we also feel entitled to criticize their every move. At some level, I don’t believe Bush was sworn in eight years ago and decided, “Hey, I think I want to leave a legacy of the worst approval rating in presidential history.” I look forward to the change, at least in attitude, that will come with tomorrow’s inauguration.