Anyone who pays any attention to the trials and tribulations of President Obama can recognize the existence of another law. Call it Shapiro’s Law: As any conversation involving an Obama supporter grows longer, the probability of the Obama supporter citing the failings of President Bush approaches. In fact, Obama supporters rarely wait longer than 30 seconds before referencing President Bush’s shortcomings. President Obama himself talks about President Bush more than FDR, JFK, Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. combined.
Why do Obama supporters believe that President Bush’s weaknesses excuse President Obama’s total incompetence?
When you mention that President Obama has driven the national debt to unprecedented levels, they mention that the Bush administration spent too much, too. When you mention that President Obama has nationalized industries and seeks to subvert private health care, they mention that President Bush passed an expansion of drug benefits and sponsored bailouts of the financial firms.
This is utterly illogical.
But the Obama administration does not recognize one simple truth: presidents are not the same as presidential candidates. Presidents must prove their mettle; they cannot blame their predecessors. They applied for their job, spending time and money and tears and sweat in order to get it. Once they’re in office, we’re no longer interested in hearing slurs about their predecessors. It is both unseemly and untimely.
