The differences between President Obama and President Bush Jr are pretty clear. As Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast, Bush played guitar with country singer Mark Willis. As oil gushes into the Gulf of Mexico, Obama sings ‘Hey Jude’ with Paul McCartney. I mean, some country singer I never heard of vs. Sir Paul? No contest. Obama’s VP is way better, too. I don’t blame Obama for not wanting to think much about what’s going on down there. I can’t bear to look at the pictures of oil slathered critters either. But I guess his handlers (who are doing a pretty shitty job of handling these days) are making him go back down today so he can look presidential and concerned.

Some people seem to think he needs to show more emotion. Personally, I don’t give a shit whether he “shows emotion” or not. I’d just like to see a little action. I don’t expect him to personally put a cap on the well (which means big bucks for BP, so we’re hopeful this last trick will work – at least a little bit), but how about a “moratorium” that actually stops new drilling, and regulations that require a relief well to be drilled along with the original well (the way those crazy Canadians do) instead of having to wait for months to drill one after the damn thing blows up?

While we’re at it, how about an Apollo-like program to get us off oil in the next decade or something? I’m no ‘Long Island Genius’, but it seems like that’d not only be cheaper than invading and occupying other countries, but also create a lot of jobs. Of course, that would take a bold leader with courage and vision, and not some typical politician cutting deals and compromising good ideas to death while protecting corporate interests.

OK, Congress sucks and Obama/Biden aren’t nearly as evil and stupid as Bush/Cheney, but, shit. I knew he wouldn’t be great, but I thought he’d be better than this.

It’s funny, sometimes shit happens that you think is so obviously wrong, that you figure any thinking human would have to denounce. A far-right conservative government boarding a ship carrying humanitarian aid in international waters and killing a bunch of the people on board would seem to qualify. Yet there’s Anthony Weiner (whom we all know from being an intelligent, articulate liberal, outspoken voice for single payer healthcare, and having a schnoz that could open an oil can – assuming you’re old enough to remember oil cans) out there doubling down on Israel’s actions, and calling Turkey a “former ally”.

Oy.

Well, I’m off today (you can tell by how I’m “sleeping in”), which means I get to see how many seconds of the Today Show I can stand to watch before I switch to reruns of Law and Order. Enjoy your Friday.