A Quick One

This week President Obama held an early Reader's Digest version of a Hanukkah celebration at the White House, lighting up all the candles on a menorah in one day instead of the one candle per day as is done traditionally.  Since I'm not Jewish myself I don't take any offense to this, and I doubt many Jewish people will either.  The apparent reason for the early celebration is that the President intends to be away from the White House on his own Christmas holiday during the latter part of December.  Fair enough.

Still, I can see an opportunity for the President and the nation in this sort of speeded up symbolic observance.  His holiday in Hawaii is scheduled to last 17 days; when his holiday begins, he will have 400 days remaining in his term. Four hundred divided by 17 is 23.3.  Let's say the President declares that each day of his vacation will also count for 23.3 more days of his administration. When his holiday is over, by his own declaration his term will also be over, and he can resign on January 4, 2012, having fulfilled his term in office.

This would save us all the trouble of what probably will be a bitter, angry, divisive reelection campaign from the President, and spare himself what looks likely to be a humiliating defeat -- the sort of thing that tends to drive Democratic presidential candidates off the deep end (e.g., Al Gore, Jimmy Carter).

How about it, Mr. President?  Do it for the kipper?