Stark Contrast

It's a lonely feeling I was expecting, which is why I did my best to avoid the news yesterday. But there is no avoiding the over-the-top giddiness of the media over the inauguration. The messiah is King, and anyone not celebrating the fact should be ashamed.

The things I noticed were the stark contrasts between previous presidential transitions and this one.

Even the leftist media have acknowledged that the efforts made by the outgoing Bush administration to transfer information and assist the incoming Obama administration in every possible way were admirable. President Bush was gracious and open, wished Obama well, and smoothed the way. George and Laura Bush exemplified class in their gracious exit into a private life. The Senate Republicans are offering little to no resistance in confirmations of Obama's cabinet, despite publicly aired ethical, legal, and competence issues with key appointees.

Contrast this with the transition of Bush into the White House replacing Bill Clinton. The Clintons reportedly were not only cool to the Republican president, but did very little to assist in the transition. Their staff famously looted the White House on their way out, stealing everything that wasn't nailed down. The Democrat Senate blocked and delayed and fought nearly every Bush appointment for apparently no reason other than spite. Appointees with the most minor past issues had to withdraw and be replaced.

Bush left with a relatively small number of pardons and clemencies, none that can be seriously challenged as self-serving or ethically questionable. The Clintons left office with a record number of pardons, with some shamelessly self-serving and quid-pro-quo (Marc Rich and FALN).

Most telling was the disrespectful behavior of the partying crowds as they mocked, booed, and chanted obscenities at the departing Bush family. Was there a single conservative singing "Na Na Na Na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye" at Clinton during Bush's inauguration? And that was one of the milder classless offenses by the Obama crowds.

Bush took office with hordes of Democrats hating him. Personally. Hear any hatred of Obama from the right?

Finally, a group of congresspeople including the Speaker of the House are determined to hound the Bushes and members of their administration for the foreseeable future in an endless series of investigations designed to make their lives miserable and hoped to uncover some justification for jailing them. Simply out of spite.

When called on by some conservatives to investigate the many obvious legal and ethical lapses by the Clintons, Bush declined. There was nothing to be gained, in his opinion, by investigating past corruption.

I don't hate the new president. I simply disagree with nearly every policy he has promised to implement. Even if I'm the only person left who hasn't succumbed to the national infection that is Obamamania. It's easier to understand how someone like Hitler could ascend to power in Germany. Not that Obama is another Hitler. Vladimir Lenin or Hugo Chavez maybe, but not Hitler.