the Change I Wish to See

The press loves to talk about this loneliness.  I thought this picture captured it.  A lot of people want to be the president.  But how many really want to be arguably the most powerful person in the world?  How many people want to know that some of their foreign policy decisions will, at best, cost thousands of young lives?  Who wants to be assured that the job description includes domestic policy decisions that result in even just one more family being homeless or another child gone missing?

Bush is not Obama.  And I voted believing Obama wouldn't recreate the Bush era.  That stroll they're taking doesn't mean their differences are a charade (interestingly, Obama steps forward with his left foot as Bush leads with his right).  It also doesn't mean I forgive Bush for anything.  But they're members of a club of 44 - that's 44 presidents over 219 years.  That's pretty much the definition of "exclusive."  And it shows: in accelerated graying and shadow-laden walks.

I don't sleep well worrying about bar results, career goals, and a one-person budget.  I talk about wanting to make a difference, a significant change.  But as of yet, I want no part of being remembered for failing, and the odds are pretty solid that that cowardice will go overlooked and unnoticed.  The memory of everything these two have done and will do, however - from falling off a couch while eating a pretzel to the invasion of Iraq, and from saying Nancy Reagan holds seances to universal healthcare ambitions - will be eternal, success or not.

So, at least for today, I'm looking at all presidents differently.  Because we all have opinions about what they're supposed to be when the politics kick in.  But what about when that whole "being human" thing does?