James Bennet treats us to the following in his latest Atlantic editor?s note, alluding to ?Doonesbury? characters along the way:
We?re now on our third Boomer president. The first, Bill Clinton, who is fond of referring to himself as the oldest of the Baby Boomers, is generally seen as the generation?s archetype, because of a tendency to indulge himself. But it is the second Boomer president, George W. Bush, who best represents the generation, at least so far; it is Bush who performed the (stereotypically!) defining generational feat of making the least of the most opportunity. Under a cloak of moral seriousness, he led the country on a heedless eight-year binge that would have embarrassed even Zonker Harris, if he followed the news. By the time Bush left office, he had almost doubled the national debt to more than $10 trillion, with two wars and little else to show for it beyond new federal giveaways that are still digging us into an ever deeper hole.
At 49, Barack Obama is among the youngest of the Boomers, years younger than Trudeau?s characters. Maybe he is distanced enough from his generation to learn from its mistakes, and determined enough to summon its own early dreams for itself.
Distanced enough from his generation to learn from its mistakes, eh? If Bennet is referring to Bush?s spending, then Roy Cordato offers a different take: Obama?s policies represent ?George W. Bush on steroids.?
