President Swap

Matt Yglesias muses that perhaps things would be more ideal if Obama & Biden could have swapped their presidencies (I don't pay for this bullshit so all you're getting is a screengrab, fucking sue me):

"But Xmastime", you say in the voice of Craig “Ironhead” Heyward from those soap commercials (RIP), “didn't you do the exact same thing back in 2008 but with even MORE presidents?!?!!??"

Sigh. Yes I did, faithful readers, YES I did:

Obviously W is easy; we can place him in Clinton’s years. Bush arrived at the White House assuming he would just coast on the existing peace and prosperity, simply doling out jobs and contracts to his good ol’ boy buddies and rolling along. 9/11 of course fucked that all up for him, and at a moment when the country needed true greatness, we were stuck with him. In the relative tranquility of the 90’s his inability to lead and intellectual non-curiosity could’ve been hidden easily.

I'd put Clinton into Bush 41’s years – his natural divisiveness and lightning-rod personality would be a seeming fit for the burgeoning era of vitriol. And looking at Bush’s worldliness/WWII and CIA experience et al I see him fitting in more during his son’s tenure. A seasoned, calm, worldly veteran to guide us through stormy times.

I also unfortunately, however brilliantly 😔, laid out the future of the fucking two parties 😡:

That’s probably my highest hope right now for Obama - mending fences and us no longer being a laughingstock. These are the chores of whoever follows Dubya - hopefully Obama's time and service will not be misplaced as our last few presidents' have been.