A January Surprise

The new administration should weigh very carefully the events that unfold during the next few days. First impressions are everything in politics, and second acts are more difficult when the glory of the intro is short-lived. Bold actions and/or threats from Russia and/or China are likely. Iraq will probably try to reassert itself. North and South Korea may unveil some new plan for reunification. Some of these gestures will be sincere; others will be tests of Mr. Bush's leadership abilities. These events will not transpire because George W. Bush is President. They will transpire because Bill Clinton is not President.

That having been said, the success, impact, or failure of this flurry of grand announcements is inextricably bound to the fact that George W. Bush is President. Only he and his administration can seal the fate of America's standing in the world by their responses to these tests.

So while some may continue to question the legitimacy of his victory and others may remain skeptical of his skills and abilities, the facts that lay before friends, foes, and skeptics are very simple: "Dubya" is "dah man" now. Like it or loathe it, it is time to step back from the speculation of what will Mr. Bush do when he is elected President of the United States. It is time to watch closely what Mr. Bush does now that he has been officially sworn into the office of the President of the United States and hope that he upholds the current impression that he is (to use one of his favorite descriptions of nearly everyone he knows) "a very good man".

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