Over/Under

We’ve had 43 Presidents in these United States. So far, all have been white men, though I expect that to change come January of next year.

They’ve varied in quality from exceptional (Washington, Lincoln, both Roosevelts), to mediocre (Carter, Grant), to really awful (Harding, Nixon). Most have served out at least one term. Some have gone back for seconds. Only one has served more than two.

People debate and discuss the relative merits of each President fairly often. There’s some that are everyone’s favorites and some that no one really likes. But then there’s the other groups. The ones that very highly overrated and ones that are very highly underrated.

So much potential, but not a lot else

To me the most overrated President in American history is John Kennedy. He wasn’t at all bad, and his handling of the Cuban Missle Crisis was genius. But really he didn’t accomplish too terribly much before he was assassinated. The fact that he was young, attractive and died so early have no doubt done much to convince the public he was better than he actually was. Had he lived, he would’ve likely been one of the best Presidents we’ve ever had, but he didn’t.

His real accomplishments, like the Cuban Missle Crisis, working on civil rights and pushing us towards the Moon cannot be ignored. But we can’t ignore the fact that, beyond those, he didn’t really do all that much for our country.

Polk you in the eyes!

As for underrated, clearly the top choice there is James K Polk. Here’s a man who did much to make our country go from sea to shinning sea. He waged the Mexican-American War (which we’d been expected to lose), settled the boundry dispute with the UK over Canada, created the Department of the Interior, tried (and failed), to buy Cuba from Spain, and, unfortunately, fought hard to keep the institution of slavery alive.

Despite that last part, he did more than many to get our country up to the size it is now, and for that alone, he needs to be remembered more than he is. Sadly, due to a rather silly last name that’s not likely to happen.

So who do you folks think are the most overrated and underrated Presidents?

(photos stolen from Wikipedia!)

Advice for the Young

Youth of today, I have one… well, ok, two, words for you: Plastic… surgery.

If you’re looking for something to do with your life, a good career with plenty of money and staying power, I urge you to learn how to do plastic surgery, and make sure you also pick up the ability to remove tattoos.

Why do I say this? Consider the people out there, most of them in your age bracket, who think it’s just the bees knees to put big-ass holes in their ears. Some of these end up being large enough that one could engage in certain unmentionable acts with them (aural sex). These are people who will, usually at some point in their early thirties, look around and realize, “Crap! I’m going to be working in this restaurant/car repair place/Hot Topic, forever!” They’ll wonder why, and one look in the mirror will explain exactly why they won’t ever have a job that pays more than about $25,000 a year. Thus begins the efforts at rebuilding their shattered lobes.

Even worse, imagine what these people will look like when they’re seventy? I picture them going for a horse ride and mistaking their ear-holes for stirups…

Further we have the tattoo craze, which the BBC ties into celebrities getting tattooed. I don’t know that I buy that as a reason, but I do know that, again, when those who have them are in their seventies, their tattoos are going to start to look very, very stupid (which in my eyes they already do, but that’s another issue). I’m reminded of a Robin Williams bit where he was talking about women today getting barbwire tattoos which, as he said, will turn into picket fences when they’re seventy.

So reconstructive surgery, boys and girls, is the way to go! Get out there, learn the trade, and in a few years you’ll be rolling in cash as you fix the stupid things Generations X and Y are doing to their bodies.