Still "The One" to Many People

I am proud to be a citizen of the United States today. And it's not because I voted for Barack Obama (I didn't). It's because our country has such a grand tradition of coming together to support the president, even after a long and acrimonious campaign. There is a seamless transition of power and united front.

And I get that this is a transition more historic than most, as our country welcomes its first African-American president.

But -- and here's where the "miffed and vexed" part comes in -- I do *not* get those who would deify this man. It does him and our country a real disservice. Barack Obama is going to have a difficult enough time lowering the huge expectations placed on him in the coming months, and turning him into some kind of god (or at a minimum, a superhuman) makes his task harder. C'mon -- he's going to have to work with Congress. 'Nuff said.

Ah, maybe not *quite* enough said. The other aspect of this that I dislike intensely is the vilification of George W. Bush. For all the man's deficiencies, I believe he is a man who tries to do the right thing. And there's that working with Congress thing again -- Bush is not SOLELY responsible for the war in Iraq or the flagging economy.

And yet, I've read and heard a number of ugly things today:

"FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUSH IS GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"President Bush deserved to be booed...worst president in history U.S."

"I got the same feeling watching Bush walk away as he did when OJ left the courtroom, scott-free."

These people (and all those who jeered as President Bush was announced on the Mall today) are showing their ignorance. They disgust me.