The View from the Couch: Unity

Well, it's unity everywhere, or at least in Unity, New Hampshire, Senators Obama and Clinton smiling wildly at each other. More wild is Bill Clinton, unaccounted for, sulking, his hopes dashed, the boy from Hope hopeless, till he figures how to be the Come Back Kid once again. Meanwhile, Barack Obama already appears to be president, if the press conference he held in Chicago yesterday is any indicator. It seemed like a presidential press conference; Obama exuded a bit of impatience, mentioning that he had answered such questions before, talked in the measured tones of someone with his hands on the levers of power. Reporters differed to him as if he was already elected. Perhaps Obama's performance seemed presidential, since Bush's appearances recently seem slightly surreal, more Bush jokes than substance, Bush kidding around as if he can't wait for his term to be over. Though coincidental, it isn't difficult to watch the disputed election fiasco in Zimbabwe to be an Africanized version of the 2000 presidential election, Florida style, Robert Mugabe taking on the W. role. It's a cartoon version, of course, except for the Zimbabweans, especially those who have been assaulted or killed. Where is Donald Rumsfeld to give his political analysis of this young democracy and say stuff happens, ala Iraq?