"...And Here's To You, Mr. and Mrs. America..."

The line is one of those considered "timeless".

"...one word, Benjamin...plastics..."

The film, of course, the seminal 1968 Mike Nichols work, "The Graduate."

That line, though, could have just as easily, I think, been delivered this way.

"...one word, Benjamin...politics..."

That particular slant occurred to me as I was reading a news story about Barack Obama having a physical exam.

Nothing out of the ordinary there.

Which, I suddenly realized, was exactly the point.

It was just a scant fifteen months ago, that America, in a frenzy of passion and zealousness and, dare we still say, hope, rushed to the polls in record numbers to elect this man the first African American President of the United States.

And a lot of those Americans believed, without thinking, that the man they were rushing to elect would be the answer to not only the ills of this country, but the ills of the world, as well.

That's the thing about passion.

Like love, it has a tendancy to blind us to reality.

If only for a few passionate moments.

Fifteen months later, I don't think anyone would offer that the ills of the country, let alone the world, have been cured.

Even those whose passion blinded them fifteen months ago.

Which isn't to say that Barack Obama has failed.

It's simply by way of saying that the passion has passed and reality has resumed it's regularly scheduled programming.

Only time will tell what kind of president Obama turns out to be.

And declaration, or accusations, of both success and failure are not only subjective assessments, they are really only valid when viewed through the lens labeled "hindsight."

I think it fair, though, to say that, at this writing, his presidency is pretty much like the news story about his physical exam.

Nothing out of the ordinary there.

But, for some strange reason, when I pondered all of this, what jumped into my mind was the classic final scene from the classic movie about Benjamin Braddock and his post college angst.

Watch the scene for yourself...and then I'll explain the method to my madness...





Picture this...

Obama supporters/zealots, etc are represented by Ben as he drives, runs, hurries to the church.

Obama himself is represented by Elaine.

Give or take a wedding veil.

And with a passion that is palpable, Ben claims Elaine for his own and the two of them run to catch the bus that will take them away from the now and down the road to happy ever after.

But, just as in reality, passion begins to wane almost immediately.

And the very last moment of that very classic last scene tells it all.

As they look at each other with a mutual expression that can only be read one way.

"uh....now what...?"

Best intentions and heat pounding passions aside, I think pretty much the same thing that happened to Ben and Elaine happened to America and Barack.

And, ergo, The Gradute now can fairly be called a political film.

Because the ending of that movie perfectly mirrors another ending.

And reality resumes it's regularly scheduled programming.

The presidency of Barack Obama.

So far, nothing out of the ordinary there.

"The View From Behind Behind The Wheel..."

George Will once wrote that the reason baseball is one of the most popular and admired of pastimes is that the most successful players in the game fail more than 7 times out of 10.

Think about it.

If a ball player is hitting .300, he is considered a superstar.

And hitting .300 means he is failing to hit the ball seven out of ten times.

Human nature draws us to appreciate anyone who can keep trying, even "succeed" with that kind of failure potential pretty much a sure thing.

Which brings us to Barack Obama and his efforts to breathe life in what is arguably the most oxymoronic of all the oxymorons.

Bipartisanship.

Most people, when asked, would say, I think, they dont like the political process or politicians.

But if pressed, and an honest answer were given, I think a lot of those same people would say that they secretly admire those who give the political life a shot.

Because, let's face it, somebody has to drive the truck.

Or nobody gets anywhere.

And while it's easy to piss and moan about "those lying sons of bitches", all of that pissing and moaning is done from the back seat.

Anyone who's ever been so much as a community club president will tell you that being a "leader" is largely a matter of listening to people's whining about current conditions and why their idea of how to fix it is far superior to both the status quo and anybody else's opinion.

That's the thing with back seat drivers.

They want the authority.

But not the responsibility.

So while I'm not about to start heaping lavish piles of praise on politicians as a group, I will freely confess that I have a lot of admiration for anybody who is willing to step up and spend precious minutes of their lives in a job that is, by its nature, an exercise in frustration and futility.

On the off chance that maybe their work will help get the truck a little farther down the right road.

That's right as in correct.

Not as in Rush Limbaugh.

The clincial definition of bipartisanship is pretty basic.

Of, consisting of, or supported by members of two parties, especially two major political parties: a bipartisan resolution.

It's the translation that points out the problem.

Two people, or groups of people, agreeing on anything.

Now, how hard can that be?

Well, first thing Monday, gather four people in your office or workplace and give yourself a five minute deadline to come to a unanimous decision about what to eat for lunch.

Shuh..yeah. Right.

And that's just "Pizza?.....or Thai?...."

Not "health care for millions of Americans?....or....?"

Time will tell what good will come from Obama's walking, literally, figuratively and historically, into a room full of Republicans and saying "look, gang, we need to cut the bullshit, stop pointing fingers, and drive this thing down good road."

It is entirely possible that the man is simply pissing in the wind.

Can't help but think, though, that it beats pissing and moaning...

...from the back seat.