Worst. President. Ever.

Last week, while driving to Brooklyn, I passed this sign on the BQE. My first thoughts mostly revolved around how it could only be New Yorkers who could express themselves so simply yet eloquently. On the other hand, it may well be a transplanted New Yorker who placed this sign, as a native would have likely used the phrase "Worst F#$%ing President Ever." Still, I can't complain.

Apparently, though, neither myself, the sign-maker, nor my driving companion are the only ones who feel this way. None other than former Democratic Vice Presidential candidate, John Edwards, said so much this morning on "This Week with George Stephanopolous." President Bush's problems, foibles, and malaprops have been chronicled elsewhere and probably don't need to be repeated here (I wouldn't want to antagonize my wide Republican readership!), but if you google search "George W Bush is an idiot," you will have more reading material than you can possibly endure.

What this brought to mind for me, though, was a conversation that we had in my 9th grade social studies class. Mr. Henson was the history teacher students loved and hated. He was passtionate about history -- maybe a little too passionate. I learned a lot in that class -- some of which sticks with me today. I am not sure why, but I remember a discussion about which presidents Mr. Henson liked and disliked. This was at the time of the Reagan presidency, and he was no fan. Someone asked if Reagan was the worst president of all-time, and he replied emphatically that the worst president of all-time was Ulysses S. Grant. He went on a ten-minute tirade about Grant -- how he was always surrounded by scandal, he was a racist (well, anti-semetic, but I remember him calling him racist), and just an all-around dim bulb. He did say that he was a great military leader, but he surrounded himself with corrupt cronies in his time in the White House -- such that perhaps he was not corrupt, but by surrounding himself with so many others who WERE corrupt, it was tough to escape their shadow.

Something tells me that Mr. Henson would be no fan of W, and my gut says that history will look upon him much the same way as US Grant, without the niceties of military service to blunt the blow.

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"I am the Lord, Your God..."

Relax, I am not getting all Jesus on you. The quote above are the first words uttered by President Josiah Bartlet in the pilot episode of "The West Wing." I had almost forgotten what a wonderfully written and powerful show this USED TO BE. I know that very few television shows can keep up the quality writing and fresh style for too long, but the first year(s) of "The West Wing" were some brilliant television.

Last night, the show ended it's seven year run with a closing look at the Bartlets and the gang who made life in the White House, well, interesting. There is a new president taking office, and we won't have the opportunity to see the transition team, because NBC mercifully axed this dying quail before the ratings plummeted to zero. I guess the reason for quoting the First Commandment was the powerful delivery in which Martin Sheen made his entrance in the first episode. Seems the whacko fundamentalist Christians couldn't identify which was the First or the Third Commandment. Enter stage right, POTUS.

Sheen BECAME the President. Come to think of it, I am pretty sure that I would rather have him (and his wacky family) in the White House than the guy who occupies the REAL West Wing right now.

A few newspapers have taken the time to memorialize "The West Wing" with tributes this past week. The New York Daily News did a "Best/Worst" column; USA Today offers a less-than-stellar epilogue; and even Yahoo! offered a good-bye. Each makes a case for their favorite scenes or moments, but all leave out what I consider to be one of the most pointed moments in the Bartlet administration -- and the scene which made me a fan of the show. Bartlet enjoins a Dr. Laura-esque character in a debate about the Bible, as she claims that the Bible says that homosexuality is an abomination.

"I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I had you here. I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? [silence in the room] While thinking about that can I ask another? My chief-of-staff, Leo McGarry, insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police?

"Here's one that's really important, 'cause we've got a lot of sports fans in this town. Touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean, Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side-by-side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about those questions, would you.

"One last thing. While you may be mistaking this for your monthly meeting of the ignorant tight-ass club, in this building when the President stands, nobody sits."

This scene takes place on the heels of an assisination attempt, and some of the senior staffers are still not handling it all too well. In this case, Toby (played by Richard Schiff) wanted to step down from his post, but was talked out of doing so by Bartlet. As he walks out of the room, Bartlet simply turns to Toby and says "THAT'S how I do it," referring to keeping focus.

I am going to try to remember that sharp, biting dialogue as the memory of this show. It was a stark yin and yang moment -- seeing the first and last episodes in sequence.

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Stuff You Oughta Know...Without Being Told by a Judge

Sometimes I have a hard time separating the real news from the fake news. Newsworthy today, however, is that new school teachers should not have sex with their students.

I can't imagine anyone needs a judge to tell them this, but apparently, they do. An Orange County (FL) judge says that new schoolteachers should sit through a half-hour presentation that would tell teachers "how damaging such relationships could be."

The judge wants to be accompanied for his presentation by a man he sent to jail for having sex with one of his students. That teacher is now serving a five-year sentence. In a related story, the jailed teacher thinks that this is a good idea!

Friends, we have a nominee for Moron of the Week. There are times when your actions are beyond what society deems acceptable behavior. Trying to defend those actions will often find you placing your oversized hoof into your mouth.

"When you're dealing with a high-school environment and you're a 22-year-old college student, you can easily get involved with a student when they're 16, 17," he said.

Aside from the fact that I don't buy into this for a second, how, exactly, does this explain his own situation? He was a 28 year-old man when his relationship began with a high school FRESHMAN. When I last checked, high school freshmen are either 13 or 14 years old. An argument could be made that a 22 year-old guy could pick up a 17 year-old girl at a club, not realize how young she is, and find himself in a uncomfortable situation -- or worse, a relationship. BUT, a 28 year-old man and a 13 year-old girl is acceptable in what circumstance?

And, yet, the man still couldn't remove his giant foot from his mouth.

"I don't think it's fair that I'm labeled as a sex offender and am grouped with other guys that are truly malicious and harm and kill little kids," he said. "There was nothing violent about my crime. Nothing against anyone's will."

Proving to me that this guy still needs a lot of therapy, he still has no concept of what he had done as being wrong. He seems not to get that having a position of power -- an educator, classroom leader, or really any position of authority (later in life, this may become your boss?) -- gives you an unfair advantage in assessing the emotional attachments of those assigned to your care. I have no problem lumping this creep in with the other pedophiles.

As far as the original story goes, fortunately, the head of the local teachers association finds the presentation proposal "insulting."

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