I know people who were literally crying today watching Barack Obama, our first (half) African American President, being sworn into office.
And since President Obama has been in office for less than 24 hours now, this can’t all be about him and his accomplishments as President. No, the biggest thing that Obama has going for him at this point is that he Isn’t Bush.
What kind of a record do you have to have as President when people are this happy to see you go? I’m not sure it would have mattered if it were Obama or Oscar the Grouch who was sworn in today, I think the reaction would have been the same. Not only do people not want Bush as President, but they don’t want anyone who could possibly even look like Bush as president. (Oscar was green. McCain was Bushy-looking.) Obama could have won this election simply on the “I’m not Bush!” platform. And we’re not so sure he didn’t. After all, the rhetoric we have heard from Obama so far mainly consists of two words: Hope (read: there is hope, Bush is leaving!) and Change (read: We are changing Presidents! No more Bush! Nobody from the Bush family even! Not even a white guy at all! Promise!)
We here at zomgpwn3d hope the next four Not-Bush! years live up to our expectations. Although, we will admit that the bar hasn’t exactly been set very high. Not-Homeless and Working-Somewhere would probably do it for most folks these days……
Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling has another appeal set for April 2, 2008, and I, for one, hope they let him out this time. Go Jeff! This new appeal just might work – based on an argument used in earlier Enron cases that employees didn’t deprive Enron of their honest services based on the fact that their actions were in line with Enron’s corporate goals, Skilling has an actual chance to beat the rap on this one, especially since he didn’t benefit personally from any of Andy Fastow’s ill-conceived financing schemes. Was he an asshole? Yeah. Did he get extremely rich? Yeah. But does he deserve 24 years in prison? Fuck no. In fact, there was little to no evidence that Skilling was ever informed by any whistleblower or otherwise that Fastow had special-purpose-entitied the company right into the crapper. The Enron board itself, let alone Skilling, had no earthly idea that Fastow himself had walked away with some 60-odd million in ill-gotten personal gains, right underneath their noses. Shit, there are people who have committed murder who haven’t gotten 24 years! Skilling was a scapegoat, plain and simple. Enron is bad so someone’s got to take the fall. Not Fastow, the weasel who was responsbile for all this crap who turned state’s evidence and plea bargained for only six – it had to be Skilling, the former CEO who had left his post long before the fall. 24 years?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Let Jeff go, federal judges in Louisiana!
This latest press release from NOAA
