Swords or Pistols?

Last evening was interesting. I had a long conversation with a new reader of this Blog. The newcomer is an unabashed Obama supporter. What other diagnosis could there be for a Chicagoan transplanted to West Hollywood, California? I invited direct participation in our discourse and itemized the ground rules. If you haven't heard 'em, they're not too onerous but these are:-

No obscenities – That is a hosting site rule
No ad hominem attacks – That’s my rule because it gets us nowhere.
No threats of physical violence to anyone – And that’s my rule as well.

I also commit that, after the post is submitted, I will not edit it for content or syntax, so US readers will have to put up with Brit spelling every once in a while.

With the ground rules established, let’s get back to last evening. It was a delightful Arizona evening; my little garden lights were on, my pool filter was gurgling nicely, my citronella candle was lit and my post-prandial scotch and water was poured and memories of Saturday evening’s operatic performance were being replayed on my sound system.

Then the new reader insisted in contrasting the current occupant of the Oval Office with the one before. And so, with tongue only slightly in cheek, I offer the following and I am indebted to another reader from the great state of Colorado for them.

If George W. Was an Idiot...

If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a Teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how he inept he is on his own and is really being controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan's holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVD's, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language," would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current with their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had been so Spanish-illiterate as to refer to "Cinco de Cuatro" in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

If George W. Bush had misspelled the word advice would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potato as proof of what a dunce he is?

If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on Earth Day, would you have concluded he's a hypocrite?

If George W. Bush's administration had OK’d Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually get what happened on 9-11?

If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans , would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

If George W Bush had proposed to triple the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?

Obama has done all these things in less than 9 months -- so you'll have three years plus to come up with an answer.

So, new reader, the gauntlet is down.

Who will pick it up?

How’s that Hope and Change working for ya’?