It’s exciting to already have a scandal brewing around Obama even before he has been inaugurated. Every successful president needs a scandal somewhere in his camp. FDR had his mistress even though he was paraplegic and Eisenhower had a lady stashed away on his staff when he was a general in the army. Kennedy, of course, was a womanizer and is best noted for his fling with Marilyn Monroe. Bill Clinton had a harem of women, but most notable were Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones. Nixon was great for finally ending the Viet Nam War and reestablishing a talking relationship with China but did himself in with Watergate. Reagan was too old for an affair but must have had a good time in Hollywood. Bush is now ranked as one of the worse presidents because he had no scandal. The one potential scandal for Bush had to do with his military record and this backfired on the jerk reporter Dan Rather and ruined his career. Dan used to be a good guy when he reported on hurricanes in Galveston. Jimmy Carter was too holy for a scandal and he was as ineffective as Bush.

So, we need a good scandal to make a great president. Obama is well on his way. The Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich, is now in the middle of a hot scandal that taints the Obama camp. The governor has been offered 1.5 million if he will pick a certain person to fill Obama’s Senate seat. Obam’s selection for Chief-of-Staff, Rahm Emanuel, has been implicated in the scandal as well as Jesse Jackson Jr.. It’s not clear who would benefit from this payoff but where there is smoke there is fire. Blagojevch has already lined up Ed Genson, the well known criminal lawyer, for his defense. This could be as good as an O.J. Simpson trial.

The main purpose this scandal will serve is to take the public’s mind off the recession and the economy. It’s what we need to get us back on track. Much of the recession and the stock market problem is psychological because our mind is set on doom. Now we can think about something else and get our mind back to doing things like spending money even though we don’t have any.

I’m relieved that there may again be hope for life on the porch. I may even turn the TV back on to watch the proceedings. It may even upstage the inauguration.