frankie's Journal: What is best in life?

Dave Matthews recently echoed a commonly-heard statement: "This election is the most important one in our lifetime. It may be the most important in America's history."

Actually, that's not true. The last election, in 2000, was the clearly more important, but most of us just didn't realize it at the time. Sadly, it will be recorded as a shameful moment in our history.

Furthermore, I now realize that 2000 wasn't even the most important in my lifetime; that (dis)honor goes to 1972. It was a truly modern election, featuring the politics of personal destruction, an assassination attempt, and the crucial scandal of Watergate. There was also one shining pearl amid the muck: our chain of succession worked, and America endured a few years of Ford instead of a violent uprising.

Last, the most important election in America's history was definitely one of these (reasonable minds can disagree about exactly which one):

1. 1789: should be obvious
2. 1796: Washington sets the precedent for Presidents
3. 1800: first peaceful transfer of power to an opposing party (ever?)

Addendum: Of course, compared to Bush saying that he never stops thinking about ways to harm our country, a little hyperbole about voting is small potato(e)s. I'm sure Jon Stewart will have huge fun tonight.