So today, January 20th, 2017 we here in the good ol’ US of A inaugurate our latest president and we enter a new era full of optimism and hope that…

Who the f#$k am I kidding?

When George W. Bush was elected president following Bill Clinton, I feared the worst and it proved to be the case.  Not only did George W. Bush not get the popular vote, but there is still a legitimate, IMHO, case to be made he didn’t win Florida either.  It was the meddling of the Supreme Court, most specifically the conservative judges, who bent over backwards to give Mr. Bush his presidency.

Granted he won re-election but this too was a close shave and I know there are those (perhaps a little less legitimately) who suspect there was some hanky-panky going on in Ohio which gave him the edge over John Kerry (personally, I feel Bush the younger benefited mightily from shenanigans the first time around and a weak candidate in Al Gore and benefited from a weak candidate in Mr. Kerry the second go around).

Regardless, by the time Bush the younger’s terms were done, even the most steadfast Republican couldn’t even mention Mr. Bush’s name in any way, shape or form, lest they hurt negatives.

When Mr. Obama came into office, the country was a mess and, despite incredible odds, considering how much “help” he was afforded by the Republican side, he managed to clean up much of Mr. Bush’s mess.  I do not believe Mr. Obama was a perfect president, but at least he was smart and tried to do the right thing despite the wall of opposition he constantly faced.

Today we inaugurate a person that, incredibly, actually makes me long for Mr. Bush.

In Mr. Trump’s presidency, I fear we’re about to enter another period of great harm.  Even if we were to ignore the racist, misogynistic, narcissistic, and just plain stupid things Mr. Trump say, his cabinet picks are, for the most part, a damn unpleasant joke.

In his picks we have a who’s who of individuals who either have conflicts of interest (some very major), a history of sketchy financial dealings, or are idiots.  Rick Perry, the nominee for Secretary of Energy, admitted he didn’t know what the Department of Energy was about.  Every time Ben Carson opens his mouth, I wonder if his resume (he is supposedly one of the better neurosurgeons) was invented whole cloth…or if he’s one of those idiot-savants who knows one thing really well.  Then there’s Betsy DeVos, a woman who was nominated to be head of the Department of Education for no other reason than that her family is very wealthy and has contributed mightily to the Republican party (she’s also the one who felt guns should be allowed in schools because, I kid you not, they may be needed to repel grizzly bears).

It’s a complete shit-show and not only will the United States be dealing with this, sadly so too will the rest of the world.

I started this post with a famous movie quote and I’ll end it with another.

I’ll try to be optimistic.  I’ll hope Mr. Trump surprises everyone and turns out to be not as bugnuts crazy as he seems.   And if he is, I hope the darkness he creates is quickly followed by light.