Does Time Really Fly?

Or does it only crawl?

If you are looking ahead, time seems to stand still. Looking back? Whew! It flies!

Consider presidential politics. A child of the depression, I remember my father's disappointment when Roosevelt was re-elected in 1936. His disbelief when Roosevelt was again re-elected in 1940. His dejection when Roosevelt won again in 1944! Was this man going to be president forever? It seemed that way. At the time, The American Tobacco Company's Lucky Strike brand was the biggest selling cigarette in the world. Their marketing slogan was Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco, and they emblazoned every advertising endeavor with LS/MFT! Some smart mouth started saying "Let's Start Mentioning Fifth Term". But, natural forces intervened and FDR died early in his fourth term.

In November, 1948, just about everyone thought the long Democrat hold on the White House would end, but it didn't turn out that way. Harry Truman, who had inherited the presidency upon Roosevelt's death, was re-elected.

Then came 1952! Boy, did I like Ike... as did a majority of Americans! When Dwight Eisenhower took office, we thought we were in secure possession of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but Ike's eight years passed in a blink.

And, so it went. Some say Kennedy stole the 1960 election, but Nixon didn't want to be seen as a sore loser and quietly stepped aside. Upon JFK's tragic assassination, Lyndon Johnson became president. Everyone sort of felt sorry for LBJ and so gave him his own term in 1964. Then, the Viet Nam war exploded.

Nixon came back and won big in 1968, then again in a landslide in 1972. Some of Nixon's campaign staff foolishly tried to plant a listening device in Democrat National Headquarters and were caught in the act. The press relentlessly pushed the issue until Nixon was forced to resign and a former Congressman named Gerald Ford became president. Because the media hated Nixon, they demonized Ford and we got Carter in 1976. Oh, my!

Carter's four years were just a blink, then came Reagan. Again, we said "Finally"! Double blink and Bush One won in 1988. Then, flash... it was Clinton; blink: Bush Two; blink: Obama.

Be it in 2012 or 2016, Obama, too, will be replaced and we will exhilarate or agonize over the new president. But, don't get too exercised over the winner. Before you know it, they, too, will go the way of all earlier presidents... into the history books.

Flying or crawling... time marches on.