Putting Dick Cheney on the vice-presidential ticket does present some problem since his health is in question. But I suspect that if we find an ultra-light extension cord and run a 220-volt line to his pacemaker he will be good to go for at least four more years. (It might be good if his hunting license was also quietly suspended.)
There are many reasons for reelecting the president. We are in a war against terror. Ameri?cans in wartime do not change horses in the middle of the stream?neither in the Civil War nor in World War II.
(And since the war on terror might go on for a while, it is a clear justification for electing Bush for a fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh term, maybe, even president for life.)
Even critics of the president, myself included, have some reason to support him for reelection.
My favorite story is of a tourist who went to the La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy, and heard a fat lady just mangle the aria she was singing. But rather than booing, the audience kept screaming, ?Encore, encore.?
?Why are you asking her to sing this again? She was terrible,? he whispered to his seatmate.
?We are demanding the old girl sing it until she gets it right,? the Italian muttered.
Now granted there is a considerable amount of murmuring by some Americans about the current president. But even Moses had to put up with murmuring by the children of Israel in his 40-year march to the Promised Land.
The current crowd of Republican wing nuts running in the primaries do not murmur against the president. They do not speak his name at all.
Most believe they are running to succeed Ronald Reagan?and they certainly do display symptoms of the Reagan early onset senility by not being able to remember the name of the incumbent president.
Bush can mop the floor with these current ungrateful upstarts with their trophy wives. (The rule of thumb in politics is that Republicans have many wives, while Democrats have just one marriage?often unusual.)
The Republican candidates are Johnny One Notes harping about their favorite causes, anti-Mexican, anti-abortion, anti-government or simply how much they learned from being in New York City during 9-11.
We must heed the wise words of Colin Powell: ?You broke it, and you own it.?
The president has turned the Middle East into a scene that looks worse than a moody teenagers bedroom. Messy room problems are not solved by adopting a new child. They are solved by firmly saying, ?You march right back there and clean that mess up!?
Indeed, if any Democrat wins the White House in 2008, he or she will be forced to listen to years of sniping on problems like Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, ?Well, if you had just done it our way everything would have turned out just fine.?
There is one problem with repealing the 22nd Amendment and allowing third-term candidates.
It would also allow Bill Clinton to run for the office.
But that could lead to a marvelous presidential debate: Which is worse, what Clinton did to a White House intern, or the current president doing something similar to the entire United States and, in particular, the Middle East?
