Last Night

Bush just gave his last public speech, a brief, gracious fifteen minutes of farewell. He warned of continuing threat, but said he was confident of America's success because he was confident of American character. I notice he didn't say he was confident of the character of our congress, or the character of any of our leaders. He did say something to the effect: "I, as all Americans, pray for the success of our next President." I am very much going to miss this President, he's a good man to the core. I do not gladly welcome our next President, and I do not wish him success.

To hope and to pray that our next President will be a success is of course just an American piety; it contains the assumption that he will follow policies that are wise and good, that his success will be of benefit to America. I don't operate within that piety. Men are good or bad, and I do not pray for the success of a bad man.

This might be a good time to post a comment I made to another blog just a few days after the election, where the argument was made that we should be proud that America had elected its first black President:

Why should Americans be proud that they've elected an inexperienced black man to be our President? I feel shame. I had hoped that at some point some black governor of centrist orientation and proven competence would become our President on the basis of merit. Instead we've elected a black man purely on the basis of image.

This has been a deeply racial election, it will be a deeply racial administration; and since I expect it will be powerfully leftist I deeply hope it will fail.

It is interesting, that if I get my wish, that a leftist administration is defeated, it won't be because the right successfully parried the left, it will be because "racist" whites destroyed a black man. The black man who in the street today can say: "Now we have no excuse not to make something of our lives," instead, after the crumbling of the Obama administration, will say: "See, we don't stand a chance. Even if you're President the white racists will destroy you." I presume a century of racial hatred following a failed Obama presidency.

Of course, if the man proves himself wise, he could succeed. I don't expect it. If he proves himself clever, he might change the nature of our liberties. I don't want that.

I fear our first black President is the worst black President possible. I fear the consequences will be enduring.

I'm immensely skeptical of this young fellow. I see nothing in him of command or capacity, love of America, or the fundamental decency of George Bush. I have no idea how he will govern, I just fear that none of his instincts will be the same as mine. --I do note that so far there has been very little criticism that the critics of Obama are racist, but then the critics of Obama so far are simply ignored, barely noted; and there hasn't been much criticism anyway, probably for the very good reason that he's not yet President and nothing he says very much matters.

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Just spotted this on Drudge:

OBAMA SKIPPED BUSH GOODBYE?

At 8 pm, just as pres bush began his farewell speech peotus obama left blair house for the 30 second drive to equinox restaurant on connecticut and I st.

Pool is holding outside... DEVELOPING...

As I said, the instincts of the peotus and mine are not the same. "Peotus", by the way, is a Drudge coinage, it's the first time I've seen it. Very good.

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And guess I will close with this, a quotation from Henry Adams that I just spotted last night:

Power is a poison. Its effect on Presidents had been always tragic, chiefly as an almost insane excitement at first, and a worse reaction afterwards: but also because no mind is so well balanced as to bear the strain of seizing unlimited force without habit or knowledge of it; and finding it disputed with him by hungry packs of wolves and hounds whose lives depend on snatching the carrion.

And more directly to the point:

The effect of power and publicity on all men is the aggravation of self, a sort of tumor that ends by killing the victim's sympathies.

Check. It appears that the young man not only does not respect the man who is still his President, but went out of his way to show a discourtesy. The tumor of insensitivity seems already to have claimed its victim... and he's still just peotus.