Walking around in Berkeley, recently, some very Philip-K-Dickish thoughts and storylines about time travel began to inspire some efforts at fiction writing. When that was followed up by a chance to return to the City of Angeles it didn't take long for it to seem like we had traveled back in time to when we used to go to work in the 90403 zip code every day. The first column by this writer to get cross-posted online was one written several years back when it seemed like the topic of a Presidential Library for a fellow who didn't like writing things down and was very secretive presented an irresistible opportunity to express some cynical skepticism about the prospect.
When we thought back to that column, during a stroll on the Santa Monica Mall, it seemed like it needed to be updated and rewritten to make some new points regarding the concept of a Presidential Library for Barack Obama.
It's not that Barack Obama is like George W. Bush at all, but it does seem that the idea of a Presidential Library for President Barack Obama will be as distasteful to the Republicans as the thought of a Presidential Library for Dubya was for the Democrats.
Let's be blunt. The Conservatives and the Republicans hate President Obama and if, as most of the high priced pundits think, the Republicans gain a majority in the House in the fall elections, not a single one of them will vote for the spending of one damn cent (or more) for a Presidential Library for Obama. Thus any Obama Presidential Library will have to be a partisan effort and that, in turn, will only infuriate the Republicans even more.
The thought of an Obama Presidential Library at any time in the future will spur the Republican majority in the new Congress to work very hard to find a reason, any reason at all will do, for them to start impeachment proceedings the day after they pick their new House majority leader.
When the aforementioned column about the possibility of a George W. Bush Presidential Library was posted online, a good number of comedians just happened to come up with jokes about such a facility and what might be displayed in it. Many of the jokes suggested coloring books.
The Republicans have indicated that if they gain a majority in the House in the 2010 elections, they will produce political gridlock. We've suggested that the Republican strategy is tantamount to a de facto sit down strike but no one else has used that metaphor.
This columnist can not recall seeing any other commentary about the challenges an Obama Presidential Library will face and so it will be interesting to see if anyone subsequently brings this up soon after this column is posted.
Won't Rush Limbaugh become apoplectic when he realizes the strong likelihood that there will someday be a President Obama Presidential Library?
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