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Fw: Well, well, well ...
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ANALYSIS/OPINION:
DALLAS — Shortly after Barack Obama was elected in 2008, a fellow reporter who’d covered President George W. Bush all eight years told me she’d had enough of the travel and stress and strain of the White House beat, that she was moving on.
We
reminisced about all the places we’d been, all the crazy days and wild
nights, all the history we’d seen — first hand. Just before we said our
goodbyes, I asked her if she’d miss covering President Obama.
“Not at all. He’s an inch deep. Bush is a bottomless chasm, a deep, mysterious, emotional, profound man. Obama is all surface — shallow, obvious, robotic, and, frankly, not nearly as smart as he thinks. Bush was the one.”
Her words, so succinct, have stuck with me ever since. By the way, she’s a hardcore Democrat.
But
she was right. And that contrast was apparent to all who watched
Thursday’s ceremonial event to open W’s new presidential library in
Dallas. The class
In
fact, the day gave America a chance to measure the men who have served
it as commander-in-chief for 28 of the last 36 years. Five of the last
six presidents were on stage, the first time the quintet has appeared
together in public. And what a study
Jimmy Carter,
the Man From Malaise who was thrown out of office after just one
abysmal term (remember double-digit inflation, 9 percent unemployment,
gas shortages and low economic growth?) was first to speak. But he was,
as always, befuddled. After Laura Bush finished her welcome to the crowd, there was a pause as the Army Chorus prepared to perform
When Jimmy
did speak, he opened with, “In 2000, as some of you may remember, there
was a disputed election for several weeks.” Nice way to start. He then
took credit for giving W the idea to intercede in Sudan,
and went on to praise W’s great successes — in Africa. He never
mentioned 9-11 and the war on terror, or the commander in chief’s leadership
Bill Clinton
followed. He, of course, spoke twice as long, filling his speech with
jokes and faux humility. He was his usual affable self — smooth,
confident, taking just the right pauses to punch passages, set up jokes
(all of which wife Hillary guffawed at).
But
the lip bites, the craggy-finger point, the cocked-head squint all
looked like “Saturday Night Live” caricatures — mainly because they once
were. Mr. Clinton,
for all his prodigious gifts, will always be the class clown, the one
no one takes too seriously. And with good reason: He did, after all, not
“not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky” in the Oval
Office. And W — who vowed “to return dignity to the office of the
presidency” — was America’s answer to his tomfoolery. It was, America
said, time for a grown up.
George H.W. Bush,
turning 90 in June, was a welcome respite. Somewhat frail now, he spoke
only briefly from his wheelchair, but garnered two standing ovations —
and the biggest laugh of the day from his oldest son. After his remarks,
just 24 seconds, he shook his boy’s hand and said, deadpan, “Too long?”
President Obama
took the podium next. Every bit as cunning as Slick Willy, his speech
too was filled with fake self-effacing insights, including one on “the
world’s most exclusive club,” which he said “is more like a support
group.” Another laugher from the man with no humility was when he said
“being president, above all, is a humbling job.”
Then,
on a day that was intended to be without politics, he hawked his push
for amnesty, imploring “some of the senators and members of Congress who
are here today, that we bring it home — for our families, and our
economy, and our security, and for this incredible country that we
love.”
In fact, Mr. Obama made the whole trip about politics. He did a Democratic fundraiser
But on Thursday, Mr. Obama skipped the praise he had laid on W the night before. “Whatever our political differences, President Bush
loves this country and loves its people and shares that same concern
and was concerned about all people in America, not just those who voted
Republican. I think that’s true about him, and I think that’s true about
most of us.”
Except
it’s not. Especially not this president. He has made his presidency
about dividing America — along lines of class, sex, race, sexuality, you
name it. Successful people are “the rich who need to pay their fair
share.” Last week, he had a name for elected lawmakers who opposed his
new gun laws — “liars.” And more than any president before him, he has
set out to destroy the other party, casting Republicans as out of touch,
archaic, maybe even racist.
Then, finally, W took the podium. Gone were the punched phrases, the comfortable pauses, the perfect elocution of Barack and Bill. Back was the Texas drawl, the too-fast delivery — nerves? No, just impatience — that the wine-sipping media so deplored.
He
got right to the point: “For eight years, you gave me the honor of
serving as your president. Today I’m proud to dedicate this center to
the American people.”
He
gave a profound lesson to his successor and his predecessor: “In
democracy, the purpose of public office is not to fulfill personal
ambition. Elected officials must serve a cause greater than themselves.
The political winds blow left and right, polls rise and fall, supporters
come and go. But in the end, leaders are defined by the convictions
they hold.
“As
president, I tried to act on these principles every day. It wasn’t
always easy and it certainly wasn’t always popular … And when our
freedom came under attack, we made the tough decisions required to keep
the American people safe,” he said to loud applause.
But
it was the end that gave us the truest glimpse of the man. Like so many
other times, the power of America got to him. With tears in his eyes,
his voice breaking, he said: “It’s the honor of a lifetime to lead a
country as brave and as noble as the United States. Whatever challenges
come before us, I will always believe our nation’s best day lie ahead.”
By the end he was in tears, barely able to creak out: “God bless.”
Then with a wink and a wave, he turned and went back to his chair. Leaning in to Laura,
he said with a shrug, “Sorry.” Then he sat down, looking shell shocked.
The 10,000-plus crowd was on its feet, cheering. That made him even
more sheepish. He pawed at an escaping tear. Then he noticed the other
presidents on their feet. So he stood back up, and held up three fingers
— W.
But there was one last classy move not many saw. The program nearly over, Sgt. 1st Class Alvy R. Powell Jr. came to the side of the stage to perform the “Star Spangled Banner.” A big, powerful black man, Mr. Powell
belted out the anthem. With the crowd applauding, the sergeant moved
along the line of people, shaking hands with all. After greeting W, he
turned to go. But the 43rd president put his hand on the sergeant’s arm
and said, “Stay,” just as a chaplain stepped forward to give a
benediction.
So the final tableau of the day: Five presidents, five first ladies, heads bowed in prayer. And Sgt. 1st Class Alvy R. Powell Jr. No one, really, just the man a president asked to “stay.”
• Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times and is now editor of the Drudge Report. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and @josephcurl.
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BILL CLINTON'S MILITARY CAREER
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For the past few weeks, a "super heavy" load has been making its way from Hardeeville, South Carolina to Biggar, Saskatchewan It is a large electric generator destined for a clean coal power plant. The generator weighs in at 1.98 million pounds and isn't something you just jump on an interstate freeway with and truck it on down the road.
In order to support such a load without destroying every inch of road you travel, the weight has to be widely distributed. You also have to travel back roads so that day to day commerce isn't completely disrupted along your route. After all..... your top speed on level ground is less than 20 mph and this drops to as little as 1.5 mph on grades and slopes. Rush hour traffic on an interstate would soon be solidly backed up to the state lines in both directions.
I finally had time to catch up with the load on Friday as it moved along a stretch of country road near the NC state line, but was unable to get near enough to shoot photos. Luckily, one of the crew let me know it would be on the move again early Sunday morning when they would be making a detour around an interstate overpass that was not rated for anything near the weight of the load.
Here is the rig I'm talking about.... The trailer, as rigged, is 300 ft. long all by itself. There are 36 rows of axles, each with 8 tires. (288 total) These can be augmented with up to another additional 80 wheels on hinged outriggers, for a total of 368 potential flats. Add in 5 each 10 wheel heavy duty road tractors (2 pulling and 3 pushing) and that flat tire potential rises to 418. The outriggers are not deployed in these photos, so the total tire count, for the moment, is 338.
The load then had to negotiate the 90 turn seen in the photo. This had to be done while keeping all 338 tires solidly on paved surfaces. Note that each axle is steerable so it's only a little less exacting than a tap dancing centipede, but an on board computer system has things well in hand. It doesn't fully control the action since there is a "driver" in the chain of command. Here the action as begun and the lead tractors are making their initial turn.
