George W. Bush say it’s not so. James Baker used this word to describe the current condition of our federal government. According to Webster’s Dictionary it means “a suspension of governmental or administrative functions; period without the usual ruler, governor.” Paul Krugman described this period as the same as the period after FDR’s election until he took office in March 1933 and also called it an Interregnum but only after the master linguist, William Safire (didn’t he say he was retiring?) used the word in his own On Language column.
President Bush is in office until January 20, 2009. Is he abandoning his duties? In some ways it appears he has. Henry Paulson has taken the lead in the Financial Crises. Then again he did sign a bill the other day extending unemployment benefits and now he is visiting an APEC meeting in Peru where he spoke to many world leaders about trade relations.
Lame duck presidents have been a feature of our political system since the founding of this nation. It is the 21st century. Perhaps we need to revise the date a new president takes office.
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