Much is Expected of POTUS #44

This is the Best Case Scenario.

Just how high is the bar of expectancy held for Barack Obama?

Pretty damned high. Here are the details.

But the devil is really in the details of today's headlines:

• Bailout Lacks Oversight Despite Billions Pledged Watchdog Panel Is Empty; Report Is Unfinished.


• Triple whammy hits US carmakers: the world's number one car manufacturer is moving ever closer to bankruptcy.


• Iraqi soldier frags U.S. troops in Baghdad, killing two and wounding six.


• In Baghdad alone, 58 people have been killed by bombs this week, police say. U.S. military officials dispute the casualty figures and say the attacks don't mean insurgents are staging a comeback.


• Baghdad - Hungary, Bulgaria and South Korea will each withdraw their troops from Iraq by the end of 2008.


• The war President-elect Barack Obama is inheriting in Afghanistan includes an insurgency that's stronger than ever.


• With U.S. deaths at an all-time high in Afghanistan and attacks against Westerners on the rise, Gen. David Petraeus arrives in Kabul.


• US aid worker and 19 others killed, dozens wounded in attack on U.S. convoy in Afghan market.


• PESHAWAR: Gunmen shot and killed an American aid worker and his driver in one of Peshawar’s high security zones.


• Pakistan says US missile strikes violate international law


• US air strike wiped out Afghan wedding party, inquiry finds


• Poll: More than two thirds of people in Britain believe that UK troops should leave Afghanistan within a year.

With all of these devils Bush and Cheney are leaving for Barry to exorcise, I'm not looking forward to 2009 as a very good year. Assuming I have to live through it, I'm not sure I'll want to be blogging or even reading politics.

Personally, I'm all set for disappointment. I've always argued for impeachment; failing that, for undoing all that Bush has done, sort of a reset button on the 21st century. That's the improbable scenario, isn't it? From this perspective, the election of Barack Obama has never been the solution for me, but a grand, satisfying and enjoyable consolation.