Thanks, Dubbya!

Ironically, the Democratic sweep of Congress and the White House is the positive legacy George W. Bush has desperately been seeking.

All over the world, people celebrated the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States with joy, and also relief that the destructive Bush era was finally nearing its end. For many outside the US, there was also a bit of Obama-envy.

"How come the US gets to have an inspirational figure like Obama? We want one too!"

This certainly has been the case in Canada, where 15% of recently polled people would have given up a vote in the country's recent federal election to vote for Obama in the US election instead. Many disappointed voters have looked down on their uninspiring lot of politicians and asked, Where's our Obama?

The simple answer is that we didn't have a Bush, so we don't get an Obama. It might seem strange to think that the hyper-partisan Republican Bush would have played any part in getting the Democratic candidate elected, but it's true that through his irritating folksy-ness, unrelenting dishonesty, and overwhelming incompetence Dubbya has set the stage for someone with class, intelligence and integrity to really shine.

It also fits perfectly with the philosophy of yin and yang, which emphasizes the balance between light and dark, positive and negative. One flows from the other. Without darkness, you cannot recognize the light. Without 8 years of fear, lies and war, you cannot truly appreciate a message of hope and transcendence.

George Bush has spent much of second term desperately hoping to achieve something--anything--positive that future generations will remember him for. Many in the administration and partisan hacks outside it (like in the Wall Street Journal) have even attempted comparisons to Lincoln, laughably proposing that Bush will be revered by future generations that will understand his great efforts better than we can today.

Well, Bush should be happy to know that finally there's a Bush legacy that isn't death and destruction, economic ruin, or political division. His disastrous presidency has produced such antipathy and weariness among American voters, that Obama and his "Yes we can!" mantra has swept the White House and crippled the Republican Party.

Thanks Dubbya!

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A political cartoon from 2002, when it was clear America had entered a period of darkness (or yin) after years of bright prosperity (yang).