Things I Learned from the President

Nixon:

• It’s possible to proclaim innocence too much.
• Clean air and water are good things.
• Chinese food is tasty!

Ford:

• Be Careful!
• Sometimes success is stepping up when you happen to be in the right place at the right time.

Carter:

• It’s possible to be a good man and not-so-good a President.
• Telling people the obvious won’t make you popular. Sometimes they just don’t want to hear it.
• Being too diplomatic can backfire.

Reagan:

• Sometimes a pithy one liner is the best “argument.”
• Don’t lose track of reality when you are negotiating.
• Call it “supply side” or call it “trickle down,” it still doesn’t work.
• Tell an outlandish enough lie, and somebody will call you on it.

Bush 41:

• Don’t make a pithy one liner you can’t keep.
• It doesn’t pay to lose track of the little people and their concerns.
• If you feel sick, you shouldn’t go out.
• It takes a lot of skill to pretend to not know something that theoretically should have been discussed with you in the room.
• You’re never too old to do something fun just because you want to on your birthday.
• All your sons can’t grow up to be “the smart one.”

Clinton:

• Take credit for things you do — or good things that happen when you’re in charge.
• Do your dry cleaning promptly.
• Sex with the help is a bad idea.
• If someone wants to hurt you bad enough, they will find a way.
• Just because you walked to McDonald’s doesn’t mean a cheeseburger is good for you.
• Repeating one meme over and over is almost as good as a pithy one liner.
• Don’t lose track of the important stuff. Stand your ground when it’s important.

Bush 43:

• There are no Illuminati.
• People will do almost anything if it’s for “safety” and “security.”

Obama:

• We can elect a black man President and still have a big race problem.
• “Liberal” and “Conservative” have changed so much that we call Mr. Obama a Liberal despite the fact that he’s well to the right of Mr. Nixon.
• We really do have a plutocracy.

Technically I was alive during the Johnson Administration. I don’t remember any of it.

In Closing: death penalty; Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill isn’t over yet; Hurricanado; Women’s Equality Day; the sad state of humans when it comes to searching; terrorism since 9/11; this could be part of the illegal worker problem; school quality; why The Steve resigned now; debt; decoding book reviews; the role of metabolism in weight loss; Cheney takes credit (bet he never travels outside the country again); and Chemistry.