Jumped the Shark

This weekend Obama and his team/family start their train trip in Philadelphia to the Presidential inauguration. I wish them well. Is it just me, or does it seem like the longest Presidential goodbye, EVER? I know the speech wasn't that long (see video above) - but the actual time between Barack Obama winning the election and George W. Bush exiting office seems like an eternity. Like they say, I guess, "a watched pot never boils." Some part of me feels, however, that Obama is already President of the United States. Look, he already got his first legislative victory in getting the second half of the TARP money released. Obama is doing the job - he just doesn't have the big house to go along with it - at least not yet. My favorite parts of George Bush's goodbye speech had to be when he mentioned that there is "good and evil in the world" - with Dick Cheney sitting on the first row, as well as when he stressed (in words to the effect) that no one has the right to kill innocent people in the name of pushing their own agenda.

I often tend to compare real life to TV. With that being said, I can't help but think of Bush's farewell speech as the last episode of a long-running series. Shows that seem to hang on too long past their prime are referred to as having, "jumped the shark." The origin of the phrase dates back to a scene in a three-part episode of the television series, Happy Days, broadcast in 1977. In the gimmicky "Hollywood" episode, Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps over a penned-in shark while water skiing. Personally, I think that Bush's term in office "jumped the shark" a long time ago. Most of the country will be glad to see it finally go off the air.