Twenty Bucks, Same as in Town: Inaugural Edition

Blogwhoring. You do it, I do it, we all do it. What have you been up to?

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Surely, President Obama's bright, optimistic hope that all Americans pulling together and becoming one is being heeded even by those on the seedy side of the tracks, right? Er, not exactly. Seems there are still a few with Koolaid hangovers. Typically, Michelle Malkin is one of those nostalgic holdouts. Because apparently, Michelle the Merciless doesn’t like the White House’s official web design in her deathless screed, “The all-new, improved “humble” White House website.” Oh, no. The White House webmasters are Obamaniacs who had nothing better to do than to plaster Obama's face on the index page on an insignificant day such as his inauguration.

Which stands in marked contrast to the humility shown by Dearly Departed Leader.

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It's always a treat when conservatives try to be civil rights heroes. Mitt Romney can travel back in time and march with dear old Dad and Dr. King and David Horowitz, a man who can inspire mass illiteracy, can become a champion of that same Dr. King while smearing Democrats at the same time.

Horror-wits wrote today,

If we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday at a time of presidential inaugurals, this is thanks to Ronald Reagan who created the holiday, and not to the Democratic Congress of the Carter years, which rejected it.

Sure, Ronald Reagan, that paragon of civil rights and brightly-rouged champion of the black man, signed the bill into law on November 2, 1983 but what Horowitz forgets is that Jesse Helms opposed it perhaps more than anyone else, even going as far as to carry out one of the most absurd filibusters in the history of the Senate (Helms wanted to unseal FBI files connecting King to Communists that weren't to be unsealed until 2027). Plus, Jimmy Carter did support the bill making King's birthday a national holiday but it had languished in Congress no thanks to Republicans like Helms.

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Meanwhile, over at Powerline, John Hindlicker was looking not forward but backward to the Bush Years, offering this screed in defense of Der Fuhrer:

President Bush leaves office mostly unloved, with some poll respondents saying that they consider him one of our worst presidents ever. This in itself is odd. Generally, our worst Presidents have been one-termers, for obvious reasons: James Buchanan, Jimmy Carter, Herbert Hoover (if you buy into the myth). But George W. Bush was re-elected rather easily in 2004. Thus, if he really was one of our worst Presidents, either the electorate was subject to mass hypnosis, or something must have gone seriously wrong in his second term.

If we strip away the partisan hysteria, it's pretty clear that Bush was a reasonably good President, not an epochally horrible one. Let's start with domestic policy.

Bush took office just as a recession was beginning, a recession that could have been made much worse by the September 11 attacks and the subsequent stock market collapse and business contraction. Instead, Bush's tax cuts gave needed relief to taxpayers and fueled an expansion that lasted almost throughout his terms in office. This is one of several instances where Bush, despite a number of small errors, got the biggest things right.

Inherited a recession? OMFG. Don't tell me Hindlicker still gets phantom faxes from the White House.

Believe it or not, it goes even farther afield than that, even after you stop beating your head against the nearest brick wall after reading that Bush was 1) re-elected and 2) "re-elected rather easily." Not that he was ever swept into power due to partisan hysteria.

People like John Hinderaker ought to be chemically castrated at the very first sign of puberty. Seriously.

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Malkin flying monkey third class riggword had this to say about Obama's inaugural speech before it was ever delivered:

No doubt reporters, commentators, lefty politicians, and the Obama mesmerized masses will agree.

Before he even opens his mouth and blesses the microphone with his silky voice, people will be calling it a speech for the ages.

Before he utters a word of true substance, he will be hailed as the most eloquent, articulate, powerful, and needed speaker of the last fifty years.

Some, like Spike Lee, have already heralded the Messiah’s coming.

Be sure to listen for such impacting and relevant phrases as, “It is time for all Americans to sacrifice” and “What we need is change” or “Bring back hope to America and the world” then there will be “I want to bring our country together” and “we need to work together” “I promise more jobs” and “I promise more talks with difficult countries”. These slick words and promises will be repeated over and over using slight changes to that will make his admirers swoon. Let’s not forget the obligatory, “______ is the worst in fifty years” comments.

The truth is, he doesn’t have to say anything of substance.

Dear God, what was that man thinking before he even had the chance to encourage civic pride and personal and collective responsibility instead of greed and selfishness and to choose hope over fear? Doesn't Obama know that inaugural speeches are not supposed to identify and address new challenges for the future but to offer minute, detailed policies and complex legislation that could easily turn into a filibuster?

The nerve of that man! Impeach!

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Finally, let's revisit the White House's new official website and take a look at this totally justified swipe at the last administration:

President Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.

President Obama swiftly responded to Hurricane Katrina. Citing the Bush Administration's "unconscionable ineptitude" in responding to Hurricane Katrina, then-Senator Obama introduced legislation requiring disaster planners to take into account the specific needs of low-income hurricane victims.

Unfortunately, Chuckie at LGF thinks it's a bit much and a little too unfair.

Yeah, I'm sure 1800 rotted corpses would agree, shit-for-brains.