Column: Changing The Presidential Subject

(UWIRE.com)  This story was written by Leah Finnegan, Daily Texan

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As the emptying balloon of the Bush administration makes its graceless descent into the trash can of presidential history, Americans can finally sigh with relief - the end is near.

Once-ardent Bush supporters have had it easy since the Democratic primaries started. They've been able to skulk under the radar and laugh with everyone else at the follies of a new cast of characters. With their Bush/Cheney stickers torn off their cars, there's no way to tell who they are anymore.

In the past few months, as the seeds of problems planted years ago have bloomed into plants so large they've started to block the sun, those voters have held their tongues while filling up their trucks and ignored the obvious while their houses continue to sit idle on the market. When Bush comes up at the dinner table, they steer the conversation elsewhere.

America has always had an ego problem. For nearly the first century of its existence, the U.S. ran on pure hubris. During the Bush era, the ego problem became endemic. It only took a few blows to the economy and a couple thousand deaths to conclusively diagnose egotism as our country's disease.

But the fact is that everyone's hurting, and the blame game is hardly a salve to our wounds. For Democrats, the healing agent is not retribution, and for Republicans, the ability to move forward will not emerge from an admission of a wrongly cast vote. It's interesting to note, however, that the Bush name now elicits deft changes of subject from its former trumpeters. Is he even still in office? He's flying so far below the sun, he's practically scuba diving. Perhaps he'll resurface in January.

When private people become public people through things like getting elected to office or becoming a Hollywood box-office heroes, they lose rights. Privacy and personal feelings become fond memories. Every floor becomes a stage and every citizen a judge. Accountability is the main component of their job descriptions.

Bush set aflame his semi-good name during his presidential tenure; he'll have to deal with that until the end of his days. But what about those who so flagrantly, and stubbornly, stood behind the bullheaded leader without having to sacrifice their identities? They can easily weave themselves back into the quilt of the country or hide under the thin blanket of Sen. John McCain. But maybe they could use the past eight years as an excuse to try something new.

There's nothing in the Constitution that guarantees dignity, and nothing that protects cowardice. But there is the enduring promise of forward movement into perpetuity. As Abraham Lincoln, the cover star of the July 14 issue of Newsweek, once said, "I am a slow walker, but I never walk backwards." May our next president sacrifice the empty valor of quick, easy pride for the slow medicine of progression.