A Change Is Gonna Come

I was amused when I read this account from conservative commentator Larry Kudlow, regarding a dinner the other night at George Will's house, where he and other conservative commentators broke bread with soon-to-be-President Obama:

Interesting thing. This is just generally speaking, he is so well-informed, and he loves to deal with both sides of an issue, and I'm not going to divulge what was said there and I'm not going to go into any of the specifics, but he enjoys the back and forth, and he is not, you know, tough, mean, insulting, snarling, none of that stuff, and we weren't either.

This was a good conservative group and we just had a great back and forth, and he wants to keep the dialogue going with conservatives. I would say I am honored to be at that dinner. I was honored to meet him. He is a very impressive man, and I wish him all the luck in the world because we've got some issues to deal with.

I found it amusing because I recall soon-to-be-ex-President Bush being described in less flattering terms, by someone who could hardly be described as a liberal. As we observed here a few years ago, Tucker Carlson experienced the crude side of Mr. Bush, when they discussed the Karla Faye Tucker case -

In the week before [Karla Faye Tucker's] execution, Bush says, Bianca Jagger and a number of other protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Tucker. "Did you meet with any of them?" I ask.

Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them," he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with [Tucker], though. He asked her real difficult questions, like 'What would you say to Governor Bush?' "

"What was her answer?" I wonder.

"Please," Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "don't kill me."

What a guy. Better days surely are coming.