Obama Should Not Thank Bush at the Inauguration

Do not be surprised if Barack Obama thanks George W. Bush for his service to the nation at the start of his inaugural address. Since Jimmy Carter, every incoming president has given a shout-out from the podium to his predecessor. But if one looks at history, one finds that this courtesy is more the exception than the rule.

It began in 1797, with John Adams' well-deserved (and characteristically long-winded) encomium to George Washington, "a citizen who, by a long course of great actions, regulated by prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, conducting a people inspired with the same virtues and animated with the same ardent patriotism and love of liberty to independence and peace, to increasing wealth and unexampled prosperity, has merited the gratitude of fellow citizens, commanded the highest praises of foreign nations, and secured immortal glory with posterity." Four years later, Thomas Jefferson defeated Adams in a brutally divisive election. Still smarting, Adams skipped town the night before Jefferson's swearing-in. Next day, Jefferson omitted any mention of Adams.

Four of the next five presidents acknowledged their predecessors. Between 1841-1973, however, only two references were made to outgoing chief executives: in 1909, when William Howard Taft devoted a paragraph to Teddy Roosevelt's reforms; and in 1929, when Herbert Hoover cited Calvin Coolidge's "wise guidance in this great period of recovery" (this was the first time a predecessor was acknowledged by name).

FDR ignored Hoover, Eisenhower did the same to Truman, JFK never brought up Eisenhower, Nixon thought it best to leave LBJ out of his speech. Carter revived the tradition when he thanked Gerald Ford "for all he had done to heal our land," after the Watergate crisis and the end of the Vietnam War. Subsequent presidents played nice with one another too. But for all their faults, Reagan, Bush I, and Clinton didn't cause as much damage to the United States as George W. Bush. The litany of mistakes and crimes is searing: 9/11, Katrina, the Wall Street meltdown, torture, illegal wiretapping, the treasonous outing of a CIA agent, the wanton politicization of the Justice Department, an ideological war on science and reason, Terri Schiavo, an abysmal environmental record, the failure to capture or kill Osama bin Laden... Feel free to add anything I've left out. And in the months to come, who knows what other maggots will wriggle out of this fetid corpse. Seymour Hersh, the investigative reporter for The New Yorker, claims that several officials are waiting for Bush to leave office so they can give the real skinny on the administration.

If Obama thanks this incompetent wretch, I won't be angry. I've decided not to criticize our new president for a year. Whenever I thought he was screwing up during the election, he turned out to be right; so I'm going to trust his instincts. But if he doesn't thank Bush, it will be a sign that change has come to Washington. Of course Fox News and right-wing talk radio will scream about this act of "disrespect". But Obama will be telling future presidents that if they behave like Bush, they won't get a ceremonial pat on the back. It isn't much. I'd prefer a perp walk. But I'll take what I can get.

(One last thing: My support for Obama has limits. If he also thanks Cheney, all bets are off!)

Comments

[TommyMcCarthy]

Perfectly in character that Jimmy Carter would be noted as beginning a new trdition ofcourtesy.

A great American
tm

[SethBLiNK]

Thanking him was the courteous thing to do, and while that is not always the President's job it was today. Being in any way ungracious to the outgoing President would have gone against everything we know about our new President.

However, along with the praise came some hard words that were pointed at the failings of the past administration and that even W couldn't have missed. I'm especially glad he said those.

[siegfried]

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

[Sundialsvc4]

You can be diplomatic and traditional ... just don't allow a high-criminal to go unpunished.

There was plenty of rhetoric in the inaugural speech to emphasize the notion (couched in properly diplomatic language) that crime for the sake of the gain of a privileged few, is not to be the order of the day. Whether or not this is actually true, and the extent to which it may be true, all remains to be seen.

Like so many others, "I'll believe it only when I see it."

There are hundreds of criminals in the Beltway now, and most of them still remain. DC is utterly drenched in corruption ... always has been ... but it may be that only in the last eight years (particularly the last four) that we have all seen first-hand just how destructive High Crime can be. We've seen how it really IS "real crime." Even though (e.g.) a two-faced Nancy Pelosi will knife her former Boss in the back even as she sucks-up to the new one, she's secure that she is still in office; therefore, still in power. Some government officials serve "at the pleasure of the President," but many others do not.

If a true change is to occur, it will and must be a "sea change." And it will be a test of executive leadership, not only at the very-top but at many other levels, to see that such a change actually occurs.

[davedave]

we get to be pissed, he NEEDS to be effective.­...

lets see how this shakes out.

d

[Chris]

Fi you go after Bush's polcies, would you in turn have to go after all the congressmen and senators that supported those polcies at one time or another? That would include going after his VP and SOS.

[pm247]

Maybe he could just thank Bush for his National Guard service and leave it at that.

BTW were his "missing" military records ever found?

[JulieSA]

Is this the new unity I keep hearing about? Hope and Change.

[AlwaysaLiberal]

Who cares if he thanks him? I don't get why it matters. Sorry.

[siegfried]

It doesn't if he arrests him.

[affidavit]

I will be okay if he thanks him and then has the DOJ arrest him for crimes against humanity.

[Denmark2]

Words are cheap, it is actual policy that counts. adawg, you were probably living in another universe if you think Bush and co. (probably as much co.) did an even average job. The depth of criminality beggars belief and the data as the founders would say, are self evident. Shredding the Bill of Rights, wiretapping, meaningless wars, Pentagon corruption, crony capitalism, TARP fund mismanagem­ent...I could go on. Many Dems were asleep at the switch in Congress and I am just as furious with them. But the Repubs are irredemably bankrupt in every sphere. The few thougtful people are now gone, so it is a struggle for an independant like me.
I am holding my breath on Obama and the first 2 years should give us a sense of his direction. I dont expect him to solve much but a philosophical change is the last chance to clean the mess in say 20 years.

[Luvial]

"Shredding the Bill of Rights, wiretapping, meaningless wars, Pentagon corruption, crony capitalism, TARP fund mismanagement"

I am not holding my breath, but I will be very surprised if many of Bush's policies are changed by the Democrats that supported all of them in the last 8 years. Will Obama risk fighting with his own party (assuming he actually differs with them)? I doubt it. E.g., I read yesterday that Obama favors the government snooping in our library records. He wants to "close" Gitmo by moving the prisoners to other military facilities. Is change just a mirage? We'll see soon. After today the Iraqi, Afghani, Palestinians deaths are on Obama's scorecard, not Bush's. Will I have to leave my "Stop the War in Iraq, No War in Iran, Impeach? sign out? It seems so.

[Savojah]

I guess you don't know Obama as well as you think you do. Obama, being the gentleman, a gracious statesman that he is, will have no problem acknowledging the former president at all. Any president deserves thanks for holding the office, since it is the most difficult and most powerful office in the world.

Obama has shown, and rightfully so, will continue some of his policies, because the forme president was force to make some of these decision by some advisors in the bureaucracy. And recently, he has stated that he thinks Bush is a good man, knows that he is a patriot, and did what he felt was right for the country. By thanking him will not excuse Bush from the mistakes that were made. And Obama is going to give a powerful speech, condemning the Bush policies, with the former president and vice president right there, force to listen to something completely against their ideology, and see the result of his failed administration. A total change from him, and the downlfall of his party. That will be more of a blow to the former president than not thanking him in his address.

[AlwaysaLiberal]

Being a good president has nothing to do with being a good man or loving your country. The article about Obama saying that was posted to piss liberals off and I'm sorry that it worked for some us!!! He's a politician, why do people expect him to be going around cursing Bush? That isn't smart politics. He also said he didn't agree with a lot of the stuff Bush did but the one line is the only thing that people care about?

[SurrealPumpkin]

Expect a silent condemnation. The talk of the effort it will take for us to get out of the mess is all that will be said. This is the inauguration not the campaign. Think of it as the campaign speeches telling us what's wrong and who's to blame and the inaugural speech telling us what needs to be done and that Yes! We can!

As Howard Dean put it once, trash talking Bush is fun, but now it's time to talk serious.

[CHRIS337]

"who knows what other maggots will wriggle out of this fetid corpse."

That's the best an English professor can come up with? Get a real life and a real job and maybe you'd have a different view of Bush! Did you live or work in NYC during 9/11? Did you take the #4 Train into Grand Central every day after 9/11? Did you experience the Hush that came over the train as it left 59th st. and headed south to 42nd st? Walking past National Guardsmen, scores of NYPD, concrete barricades and the deathly quiet and rapid pace of the commuters for MONTHS afterward? Fear not Ariel, I doubt Miami Dade College or anywhere in Miami is in danger. It's nice to to hear the comments coming from those out of the firing line, whlile "we merry few" trudge along!

[SurrealPumpkin]

I didn't realize that only those who were in NYC on 9/11 had any say on Bush as President. We could have saved so much in campaign expenses if we realized it.

[Meds]

Didn't Obama say last week that Bush is a "good guy" who loves his family and his country?

From the way he has been appeasing the republicans, I think he will certainly thank Bush and Cheney and the entire gang.

But when I think about it more....I wonder, would it ever be possible for America to elect a black guy if Bush and co were not there?

[Savojah]

The answer to that is no. If his adminstration didn't polarize the world so much, then Obama would not be here. That is the irony of the whole thing. We had to go through darkness to see the light. I will always believe that everything happens for a reason. Great thought though, one I have always thought of, and said to people who hate Bush and love Obama, in a sense, the best word I can think of is appreciate the former president for his failure for giving us Obama.

[SurrealPumpkin]

no matter how we dress it up it still amounts to a platinum lining on a septic tank.

[jhamm1]

Unforunately, it seems like an all too likely prospect, given his propensity within the past few months for constantly appeasing conservatives in effort to appear as "bipartisan" as possible. Already, ultra-conservative morons like Krauthammer and Victor David Hanson are utilizing Obama's cabinet picks for propaganda purposes, insisting such appointments as proof that Obama approves of the Bush legacy.

If he so much as thanks Bush during this inauguration, then conservatives will continue to exploit this in attempt to supposedly "discredit" critics of the Bush administration, constantly bragging, "Then why did Obama like him so much?"