OR

Anyone who has suffered a painful breakup will understand the concept of "transition girlfriend/boyfriend." This is the person who shows up in your life right after you have been crushed by the love of your life and you feel as though you will never be loved again. The transition relationship is supposed to get you to the next place: The Love Of Your Life. It is not supposed to go on and on, as Celine Dion might suggest. I am sad to say that I believe that Barack Obama may be our transition President.
Please understand that this breaks my heart, since I can't remember liking a President as much as I like Obama. He's smart, pragmatic, scholarly, a great orator, and he likes Springsteen. But I was imagining life on Earth 2 yesterday morning, the one where John McCain won the election. Not by a landslide, but enough to put him in the Oval Office with his vice-president Miss Maverick just down the hall. Given the climate of the country in the past couple of years, it is hard to imagine that either reality would allow things to continue as they had. This also assumes the Democratic super-majority in Congress, creating a check for the Executive Branch. Back here on Earth 1, we continue to struggle getting things done in spite of the fact that Democrats control the world. Or at least they should. Maybe the challenge they are facing is that there is no friction. Politicians are so very keen on debate that even when they are confronted with a direct path to what they say they want, it will still be a matter of endless discussion and acrimony as they make endless twists and turns on that straight path. There is no one with whom they can argue, and so they argue amongst themselves.
Back on Earth 2, President McCain is forced to surrender to the wishes of the people, enforced by the legislative branch, led by Senators Obama and Clinton. The stimulus package that was passed at the end of Pinhead's administration continues to revive the economy from the coma it was in for eight years. Health Care is presented as a common concern by a united front, and though it faces a veto from President Curmudgeon, there are more than enough votes to override it. And the wars? Back on Earth 1, President Obama feels the need to appease the Hawks while consoling the Doves. Earth 2 has a clear choice: Follow the Republican path of war, or listen to the public's cries for peace. The compromise is made explicit by the split between Us and Them.
Here on Earth 1, we're stuck making deals. Sure, things are getting better, but anything would be better than the past eight. What made Bill Clinton such a breath of fresh air was the four years of Pinhead Senior. He had a ninny for a vice-president, and when all was said and done, the fresh air felt like the Winds Of Change. Pinhead Senior was our last transition president. He helped soften the blow after the Reagan dynasty.
I know that there are still great things ahead of us in the Obama administration. I will always treasure the feeling I had a year ago, when everything changed. I wonder if we can get that feeling back again.