On the Presidents

I wonder what George W. Bush was feeling as he was exiting the White House for the final time. That would have to be about the best feeling in the world. Knowing you don't have that job anymore. I've always said the President of the US must be the most difficult job in the world. So if you've been doing it for 8 years (albeit poorly), I have to think that not having the job anymore would be quite a relief. Like, right after Obama was sworn in, that must have been such a feeling of weight off the shoulders. There could be another 9/11, and it would not be his problem. And what about when you first get home? Just flop down on the recliner and be like "AAahhhh..." I almost envy that.

Anyway, Obama's term is going about as expected, I suppose. There does seem to be a bit of a normalness to the hole thing, which is a bit disappointing. But not too surprising. Democrats and Republicans argue. That's business as usual. I really don't many people thought all that much would change overnight, but it was still fun to daydream. But I've never thought the biggest change would be in policy, really. I've always thought that the biggest, most observable and quantifiable change would be in our image throughout the world. Both in how other world leaders view our leader and how other citizens view US citizens.
There's another thing, though, that I hadn't thought about during the election, that I think could be the biggest or most important change, as least in the area of race. There's been a lot of talk about what Obama can do on race-related issues. Again, I think there's general consensus that he does not and cannot just make things perfect over night. There's no one policy he can just flip a switch on, and everything will be good. But just by being president alone, he changes things. If you think about what a huge role model he is. And not just for struggling teenagers. Think about all the kids who are around 4 years old right now. Right when they are first starting to make lasting memories. When they are 12 (if all goes according to plan), the only president they will have known will have been a black president. Or how about 10 year olds? In another 8 years they will be voting for the first time, and in their world, a black president is literally commonplace. So that, I think, is the most important thing Obama can do for race issues--just be president. That alone will have effects on people of all races, even if we wont see them for years, even decades down the line.

On another note, assuming Obama does a reasonalby good job, you would think they would have to put his face on some piece of currency, right? The first black president? I think that merits a face on some cash. What do you think they'll give him? Here's my idea: a 5 dollar coin. All the bills that anyone would use commonly are taken. And we've made at least a couple 1 dollar coins that never got used that much--I'm thinking it's because no one cares about a dollar if it's change. But if it was 5 dollars, people would care about their change, and they would use it. Plus Lincoln is on the 5 dollar bill, so you could make another Lincoln/Obama connection that people love doing.