The Cringe Effect

I am not going to miss the "cringe effect" once George W. Bush is no longer in office. I won't miss it at all. That feeling of "what is he going to say," or "why is he smirking," or "why is he talking to us like we are 8 years old." I am glad to say that Barack Obama has never said or done anything to make me cringe (a few of his friends may have, but that is a different story).

I supported John Kerry in 2004. Even he pushed the cringe button on two occasions that I can remember. First, there was the picture of him in that NASA suit while he was campaigning. That wasn't good. There was something "Woody-Allenesque" about it (see above). Then there was the moment during one of his debates with Bush that Kerry outed Cheney's daughter. OK, most of us already knew that she was gay, but still, you don't talk about someone else's kid while making a point about your feelings toward gay people.

I am attaching the link to an article by Paul Waldman in The American Prospect website. He expressed what I, and millions of Americans, will not be sad to say goodbye to:

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=goodbye_and_good_riddance

Here is a recent video clip that I feel is "cringeworthy." I only had to watch about 15 seconds before the cringing began (see below).