The lighter side of the election

While I'm generally taking this election very seriously, there is an amusing measure on the San Francisco ballot: a proposition to rename the local sewage plant after President Bush. I expected the far left San Francisco Bay Guardian to endorse the proposition, but they opposed it on the grounds that it "is a pretty good sewage plant. It's insulting to the plant, and the people who work there, to put the name of an environmental villain on the door".

The argument for the proposition in the official election guide, written by the self-proclaimed Chairman of the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco, includes:

Just as France presented the Statue of Liberty as its gift to the nation, the citizens of San Francisco may now bestow their own special gift to the country by renaming our award winning waste water treatment plant in honor of outgoing President George W Bush. We think this is a fitting memorial for a truly outstanding Commander-in-Chief. On matters ranging from diplomacy to fiscal and environmental stewardship, no other President has had such a dramatic impact on the country and the Constitution in such a short time. Most presidents wait years or decades to receive their memorial airport or highway. We think President Bush deserves immediate recognition for his eight years of public service....

While the argument for the proposition nominally praises Bush, the argument against renaming the sewage plant vilifies him:

I agree that the invasion of Iraq is the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of the US. I also agree that Bush has been the most ignorant man to ever occupy the office of President. To call him the worst President since Warren Harding is to insult the memory of Harding, who at least did not enter this country into any unnecessary wars.

Moreover, the federal debt at the end of this Administration totals over $9 trillion.... Maybe it would be more appropriate to name the local bankruptcy court or a consumer credit counseling center after Bush?

Besides, if we name the local sewage plant after Bush, then what's left to name after Jesse Helms?

[The above photograph was taken by Jamison Wieser and posted on flickr with a Creative Commons license.]

Have a nice election!