It's All Downhill From Here

... if you go over to DadCentric.com and read my post about taking Thing 2 and his friend sledding.

What? You thought I was talking about the fledgling Obama administration? Do I come across as that cynical?

I remember the wee-morning hours after Clinton first got elected. A bunch of my suburban reporter colleagues and I were drinking in a bar, because that's what we did best in those days, talking about what had happened and what was to come.

One reporter, who has since gone on to cover Congress for a major Southern newspaper, said her biggest hope for the Clinton administration was that he would change the tone of our nation.

She was sick of the hatred, ugliness and fear the Newt Gingriches, Lee Atwaters, Rush Limbaughs and Pat Buchanans had been spewing during the Republican Revolution and recent campaign.

She didn't want a hippie lovefest. She just wanted less of the "if you aren't with us, you're against us -- you dirty un-American bastards" view being spouted.

She was, and still is, right. Like I tell my kids, everybody doesn't have to be your best friend, but you have to learn to get along with people whether you like them or not. And just because a lot of people agree with you doesn't make you right.

So, Big O, even though some see you as the Second Coming (which would mean I made a big mistake doing a 5-year renewal on my Entertainment Weekly subscription), I'm not expecting miracles. I'm keeping my expectations low based on others' past performance. Just for me and my kids' sake, though, show by example -- every day -- how we can all play nicely with each other again.

However, if you do have a little extra pull Upstairs, could you do something about all this frickin' cold and snow?


Video: "Sunday Shining," Finley Quaye