Got a letter from the prez yesterday. (Didn't everyone?) It always comes on a nice heavy bond of paper, gold embossed presidential seal at the top, and with a slice of cardboard in the envelope to keep it from bending. Why, it's suitable for framing! The postman always brings it straight to the door. Either he was intimidated by the return address, or it just didn't fit in the cubby. Most likely the latter. (The President says DO NOT BEND!)


Evidently, he and Laura liked our Christmas card. I appreciate him not complaining about the photo quality of the Costco print.

Lest you think our president is a shallow and thoughtless individual, it is most certainly not the same letter from last year -I checked. It is, however, the exact same signature. Skeptic that I am, I placed one over the other and held them up to the light. A perfect match (*sigh*). You'd think they'd have the foresight to reset the signature machines every year. Personally, I like to evaluate the wear-and-tear the job is having on the president's handwriting.

It arrived at the door just moments before the State of the Union address. Coincidence? I think not. The White House public affairs office has it down after seven years, and they're not taking a holiday just because it's a lame duck year. The speech, by the way, was a ho-hum state of the union speech. Long. I didn't have it in me to play the SOTUS drinking game, but I was surprised to hear the president stick it to the congress on a few things. I guess he's not giving up on his lame duckedness, either. Good to know. The state of the union? STRONG! It's so encouraging to know that we're always so strong. Makes you wonder about all those candidates who seek CHANGE! I'm sure the next state of the union address will go something like: "The state of the union is exhausted from the transition, unenthusiastic about our prospects, and with a touch of melancholy."

I like our president. I know, I know, I'm in the minority -his current approval rating hovers at 34% (still better than the Congress' current all-time-low at 22%). Being the president is a tough job. When you consider that there's 300 million people in the country, that's about 200 million people who think you suck. Bummer! I don't think everything he's done in his two terms is the GREATEST EVAR, but I do think that there's a lot of lies about him that persist out there. And, no, he was not born 9 months after the Roswell incident like it says in that E-mail you got. (That was Al Gore! b. 3/31/48, Roswell incident: 7/8/47)

You didn't see this in the news, but when the President recently went to Israel he was greeted by President Shimon Peres with these words:

"Mr. President, distinguished guests, as the President of the state I am delighted to speak on behalf of our people. I want to tell you in simple language - you came to a land and a people that loves deeply the United States of America, and without any reservation. And also may I say that I have the highest respect for you and the highest regard, because, speaking as a politician, you introduced character in politics. It's a great contribution to politics - character, courage, vision."

Well, that's nice high praise. The leftist cynics out there will have a long, softly bigoted eye-roll at that one from the Jewish state. Israel! The most successful democracy in the Middle East! (Hey, wait. It's the only democracy in the Middle East. Oh yeah, I guess you could count Iraq and Afghanistan.)

There was an accompanying letter to the first. I found this one friendly and optimistic, however bland, but it did remind me that this is a good country of good people. I don't believe any president wants anything less than for his country to succeed, as I believe that most every politician at his core feels that he is serving his country. This sets us apart from most of the world, and the dictators and monarchies that hold sway. George Bernard Shaw said, "Democracy is a system ensuring that the people are governed no better than they deserve." I think about that when I see the president's low approval ratings. Perhaps we are a nation of complainers, but at least we didn't elect one.



(BTW, I noticed that they changed the signature for this one.)

-Click pics to embiggen-


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