What Have You Done For Me Lately?

No, this is not about Janet Jackson. However, I was listening to one of her old songs. You know the one, where in the beginning one girl tells another... "You used to do a lot of things for me, but what have you done for me latelyyyyyyyyyyy?"

Like a fickle woman, the American public has treated the Democrats the same way recently. Maybe I'm just crying over spilled milk, like one of my more recent posts said not to do, but I don't understand this at all. Two Presidents... one Republican, one Democrat... two traumatic national crisises... two half-terms judged by what didn't happen instead of what did. The two presidents are George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who respectively prevented further terrorist attacks on American soil and a repeat of the Great Depression.

That's about as far as the simularities between these two go. When the nation was attacked by the 9-11 terrorists and at war in both Iraq and Afghanistan, every red-blooded American rallied around the president. When the economy tanked in 2008, they dropped President Bush like a bad habit.

Two years into his young administration, the economy is still in the toilet and they, the fickle American public has once again, deserted the president. This time, it's President Barack Obama, even if, as last week's exit polls show, less than a quarter of this public blames him for this mess.

Two years in charge of the White House and Congress, and boom... What have you done for us lately? Not enough! You're outta here! This is what last Tuesday's disasterous (for President Obama and the Democrats) election has shown me.

Somehow it just doesn't seem fair. Is there a trust gap between the two parties? Are we really a center to the right populace, or just a populace that swerves back and forth, or a populace merely going through the "hate" phase of its love-hate relationship with the president and goverment in general?

It sure seems that voters didn't give Democrats or President Obama the benefit of the doubt. You can talk about any number of mistakes made by Democrats and President Obama, but none to date compare with invading Iraq for reasons that didn't pan out, and then mismanaging not one, but two wars in a spectacular and tragic manner. Yet, President Bush was re-elected in 2004, at the height of the violence, chaos, and stupidity, and so was the Republican Congress. Incredible!!!

President Obama's term to date has been marked by expansions of government to cope with the economic crisis he inherited (the bank and auto bailouts, the stimulus package, and tighter regulation of Wall Street), as well as new government roles in health care and the student loan program that President Obama promised in his campaign.

Maybe people were more patient or maybe they were just more traumatized... but in 2002, 14 months after the 9-11 attacks, President Bush gained eight seats in the House. President Obama has lost more than 60 seats in the House after facing a crisis that was arguably just as grave as the 9-11 terror attacks, the seemingly imminent collapse of the U.S. banking system and economy.

Both events was profoundly frightening their own way. The unforgettable horror of the 9-11 terror attacks and the shock of suddenly realizing our oceans could no longer keep us safe from an unseen enemy. Then, seven years later, the daily announcements of mass layoffs, the stomach-lurching disappearance of savings accounts and home values or even homes themselves, the questions (How bad can it get?), and the specter of another terrible new normal taking hold. The country's future seemed balanced on a razor's edge.

President Bush benefited from Americans uniting against the common enemy of Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. President Obama not only has been punished for the tanked economy, he and his Democratic party and even a few Republicans, have been punished for taking the bold and (may I say) necessary steps that staved off a catastrophe. Democrats and President Obama have a shot at electoral redemption in 2012. If that doesn't work, their best option is to take a tip from President Bush and leave judgments to history. By then, he has said, "We'll all be dead."

That's very funny... but I still ponder what that says about us as a nation right here and right now. YOU used to do nice things for me... but what have you done for me latellllllyyyyyy?