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I hate to say it – and I hate to admit it – but president Bush is very
likely a one-term president.

I predicted it long ago during the race of 2000. The economy was just ripe for downturn. The nineties had been quite prosperous. Any signs of recession had been evaporated by the rush to take advantage of the next big thing: the internet. You can delay a recession for a while but you just can’t fight it. We were due and any president, be it Bush or Gore, would have to try. The battle is often lost at the polls in an election year. Just ask father Bush.

I don’t think I can blame Bush any more for the recent economic plunge
than I can credit Clinton for our economic prosperity of the 90s – despite
Al Gore’s claims that he, in fact, invented the internet. Its simple
macroeconomics. Economic growth and contraction follow each other
in a fairly repeatable pattern. Both Gore and Bush had to see the troubles
ahead.

George W. Bush’s staying power at the polls, largely generated from his
leadership after the terrorist attacks last year, is now
fading
and the economy is to blame. Big surprise. We unite behind our president
during times of war, as we should. However, in times of relative peace,
we become a bit more introspective and look at the problems at home.

I also hate to say that Bush can increase his chances of reelection by starting a
war with Iraq. I hate to mention it because I feel that a war with Iraq is
basically inevitable. We can do it now or we can wait for Iraq to manufacture the
weapons needed to really give us nightmares. This problem should have been solved years ago. It shouldn’t be considered a political move, despite its obvious benefits at the polls.

However, I could be overreacting. His
numbers are still quite good and a whole lot can happen in two years,
including a nice economic recovery now that the internet bubble has finally
burst. In any case, I won’t be voting for Gore in 2004. I can guarantee you
that.

The posts have slowed but the layout has changed. What’s the deal?
The deal is that I’ve changed my blogging tool. I did use
Blogger.
I now use a tool called
Movable Type.
During the transition, I’ve been busy
tweaking the new layout and installing the new tool, leaving little time to
record my thoughts.

I’m quite happy with Movable Type. It sports a whole mess of features
not available with Blogger. I’m a technology geek and these features, like
the ability to use blog excerpts within other content, are just too cool.
The tool also exists solely on my web server and is entirely free, not asking me to
pay on a
yearly basis for its extra bells and whistles. However,
the free version of blogger treated me well and is still highly recommended,
especially for beginners. It’s almost like saying goodbye to an old friend
(buh-bye blogger, sniff, sniff).

The funny thing is – and I’m reaching here in the midst of all this slightly
technical drivel – that the move from one tool to another felt a bit like
changing skins (though I imagine in real life, that would hurt).

The thought of changing tools filled me with a bit of dread because sometimes –
often, if you ask the wife – the geek inside works against me. Give me
a bunch of new knobs and buttons and what do I do? Poke and prod the beast until
something comes out that I like, generally taking a boat load of time in the process.
For me, at least, the transition wouldn’t be too simple and I knew it.

This fact, however, sure didn’t stop me. As soon as I peeked
over the shoulder of a friend playing with his new
toy,
I just had to have it. And now I do.

Actually, it wasn’t bad at all – a testament to the
creators,
a husband a wife who blessedly offer it for free. I’m happy its over though.
Now I might have time to blog about something actually interesting.