Thoughts from a Day of Rest

As someone who practically lived on the Toronto Transit Commission from fifth-grade to my first year of marriage, I was amused to read about the TTC Anagram Map. I am going to have to see if I can remember the names of the stations without having to resort to the regular map.

In his column in the March 2006 issue of Vanity Fair magazine, contributing editor James Wolcott writes about George W. Bush’s predilection for appearing in front of military audiences, oftentimes dressed in some sort of military-esque jacket, his “Mission Accomplished” stunt notwithstanding. Wolcott iterates our veteran Presidents of the recent past and their post-military appearances as Commander and chief (the ellipses represent my edits to mainly remove Wolcott’s asides):

…Dwight D Eisenhower, the chief of Allied forces in Western Europe in World War II…took extra caution to comport himself as a retired general, not someone itching to climb back into the jeep….. Jack Kennedy, decorated for heroism as a PT-boat commander in the Pacific theater, wore a presidential seal on his sailing jacket, a jaunty touch that no one mistook for a naval insignia. Richard Nixon, another veteran of the Pacific campaign…. Conducted his entire public life as if he had been born in a mortician’s suit. Former navy Lieutenant Jimmy Carter…. kept his dress whites in the closet while in office, and Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, a bomber pilot who flew nearly 60 combat missions during World War II and earned four medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, managed to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait without pimping himself as a War President.

My thoughts turn away from George W’s dress-up antics to the ever-increasing cult of the Presidency which has been slowly emerging over the course of the 20th century, seeming to kick into high gear during the Reagan presidency, taking a brief hiatus during Bush 1, and coming back with a vengeance (and venom) during the Clinton presidency. I wonder how the evolution of the cult of the Executive has been fueled by the 24-hour news cycle, with the concurrent rise of super-commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and a thousand mini-Rushes of both political stripes around the country. Is there any country in the world whose citizens are so over-alerted and yet so ill-informed?

I also wonder about Bill Clinton and George W Bush being the first two baby-boomer candidates of the United States, and the similarities, rather than the differences, in their Executive styles. Both appeared to be more interested in creating the appearance of doing a good job rather than actually doing one. Both were collegiate party-animals who “settled down” when adulthood came along (although one could debate the successful ’settling down’ of either). Both seem to be in love with the Office of the Presidency: Bill Clinton using his office for chasing interns, trying to change the world, and raising money; George W Bush for keeping out of trouble, trying to change the US, and raising money.

The 14 years between 1992 and 2006 have seen two two-term presidents, one Democratic, one Republican. This has not happened since the term-limiting 22nd Amendment was passed. The double-term allows each president to get really settled into his seat and general have a long-term impact on both the office itself and the general political landscape. (One may argue that Kennedy-Johnson from 1960-68 and Nixon-Ford from 1968-1976 represent the same type of system, except for the wide personality differences between the President and his Vice President). Eight years in power can create an environment where the Executive sees itself as the chief force for Good in the country, while eight years in opposition leads the other side to demonize the Executive and gird itself for a right holy battle once that second term is up. Given how high the stakes have become in the political game, I loathe having to live in New Hampshire in 2007-2008 with both candidacies up for grabs.

Are Bill Clinton and George W Bush left- and right-wing sides of the same “Me Generation” coin? And if so, what do we have to look forward to for the next crop of presidents? Mind you, I don’t hold out a lot of hope for a Generation-X president either; that Executive would probably be busy blaming past Presidents for the mess they made and rushing cabinet meetings to try to get in a half-hour of Xbox970000 before having to meet with the House Majority Leader over nachos and wings.

Ended my evening watching Million Dollar Baby. What a kick in the damn teeth. Quite clear as to why this movie won almost every Oscar category it was nominated in. I would link to the IMDB site for the movie, but IMDB appears to have latched on to the new generation of Flash ads that do not close when you click on the “close” button.

Finally, another plug for 43 Folders. I was listening to one of Merlin’s podcasts where he talked about going on a media diet. I think I already do this to a certain extent right now. I don’t watch or listen to a lot of news any more, and my life hasn’t ended. I spend my time when I do consume media listening to or reading things that either truly inform me, educate me, or entertain me. I guess it is part of the whole idea of narrowing your focus slightly and spending time working on doing that reduced set of things better.