Happy New Year

2007 begins with a grim contrast. On the one hand, there is significant and genuine appreciation for Gerald Ford's nice-guy demeanor. He appears to have been godly, upright, and more or less sober. He is applauded for being "normal". I was around during the Ford era. I remember him as boring, the 1974 incarnation of Babbitt. But that was then... Now Babbitt looks great.


And on the other hand, there is Current Occupant. Even though no one says it, he is infinitely smaller by comparison with former President Ford. He is definitely not upright, his godliness is circumscribed, and even though he no longer drinks, he is far from sober. The concept of "normal" does not arise when describing the CO. The sight of him delivering a tribute to his predecessor is almost too much to bear.