Bush: worst president ever, but not 100% bad

As we contemplate what a God-awful president John McCain would make (not to mention Sarah Palin), it's worth it to step back and realize that George W. Bush, despite his eight-year-long fiddling-while-Rome-burned routine, has done one or two good things.

For example, the bailout bill just passed the Senate. It's not the best possible bill, but when you compare it to what Bush could have done - i.e., pulled a Herbert Hoover and sat there saying "the markets will work it out" - it's really not bad at all.

Another example: the Indian nuclear deal passed today. India has been a nuclear power since 1964, but we haven't recognized it. In fact, we've shunned it, imposing sanctions and treating the country as a pariah. This really had to end, since India is not only huge (and the largest English-speaking country on Earth, I might add), but it's possibly even more committed to the ideal of democracy than we are. Becoming allies with India is a smart, smart move. And allowing a country of "brown people" - a colony, not a colonizer, of the Imperial Age - to take its rightful place as one of the world's great powers is a bigger step toward a more equitable world than most people realize.

So as we watch McCain continue to face-clench his way through meaningless talking points and pray that America's lingering anti-black racism ekes him out a victory, it's worth realizing: yes, it could get even worse.

(P.S. - I'll be out for the weekend at a conference, so no Noahpinion til I return...)