In these heady times...

[PDH]

If we think we see it when it is happening, likely it is not as important as we think.

[Strix]

9/11 stands out the most. It will be noted in a similar way as "Remember the Maine". A major incident sparking off a war that no one will remember or discuss once it's finished.

Obama getting elected will be worth a paragraph in school text books. Nothing he has done, to date, is noteworthy. I doubt anyone will remember anything about healthcare. It's a hot topic but not historic unless it crushes what's left of the economy with taxes to pay for it.

[Eddie Teach]

Obama getting elected will be worth a paragraph in school text books. Nothing he has done, to date, is noteworthy. I doubt anyone will remember anything about healthcare. It's a hot topic but not historic unless it crushes what's left of the economy with taxes to pay for it.

Unless race somehow becomes unimportant in the future while Obama gets no credit for it, he will be fussed over just for being the first black President.

[Viking]

"The Obama Years. 4 Years of Hope without Change between 8 years of Bush and 8 Years of Palin."

[Eddie Teach]

Palin won't get past the primaries, as her opponents will be sure to remind the voters that she is a quitter.

[stjaba]

Obama getting elected will be worth a paragraph in school text books. Nothing he has done, to date, is noteworthy. I doubt anyone will remember anything about healthcare. It's a hot topic but not historic unless it crushes what's left of the economy with taxes to pay for it.

Unless race somehow becomes unimportant in the future while Obama gets no credit for it, he will be fussed over just for being the first black President.

Yeah, but that will diminish with time. For example, no one really makes a big deal of the fact that JFK was the first Catholic president, but it was huge at the time.

[dps]

I have to admit, I have a bit of fear that history will view Obama about the same as it views Herbert Hoover.

[garbon]

I have to admit, I have a bit of fear that history will view Obama about the same as it views Herbert Hoover.

An unimpressive president who rubbed elbows with my great, great grandfather?

[Fate]

I have to admit, I have a bit of fear that history will view Obama about the same as it views Herbert Hoover.

No, Bush fills Hoover's skin quite well. 

Obama will be remembered like Reagan. Hated by the extreme opposition, beloved by the Mushy Middle.

[Fate]

Obama getting elected will be worth a paragraph in school text books. Nothing he has done, to date, is noteworthy. I doubt anyone will remember anything about healthcare. It's a hot topic but not historic unless it crushes what's left of the economy with taxes to pay for it.

Unless race somehow becomes unimportant in the future while Obama gets no credit for it, he will be fussed over just for being the first black President.

Yeah, but that will diminish with time. For example, no one really makes a big deal of the fact that JFK was the first Catholic president, but it was huge at the time.

We didn't enslave Catholics for 258 years.

[Admiral Yi]

No, Bush fills Hoover's skin quite well. 

That line would have the Jon Stewart audience peeing their pants and it makes no sense.

[Fate]

No, Bush fills Hoover's skin quite well. 

That line would have the Jon Stewart audience peeing their pants and it makes no sense.

The parallel between Bush and Hoover is being made in terms of popularity, not necessarily policy. What doesn't make sense?

[Admiral Yi]

The parallel between Bush and Hoover is being made in terms of popularity, not necessarily policy. What doesn't make sense?

My bad.  I thought you were responding about history's view of the two.

[Alatriste]

Two comments, for starters

1. We need a definition of 'recent' for this thread to make sense

2. There is 'fast history' happening in days or weeks at the most (Fall of the Wall, First Man on Space, 9/11) and there is 'slow history' (Demographic Revolution, Civil Rights, Internet, European Union...) and things somehow in between, like the 'Great 2007 Recession'.

If we accept recent as a decade, then IMHO Obama's election and 9/11 compete for the most important thing in fast history, and the economic recession competes with China's aspirations to great power status in slow history. Perhaps (probably, indeed) some day 500 years in the future when they think about these years they will focus on global warming, nuclear weapons proliferation, the Treaty of Lisbon, the LHC, ITER or advances in genetics and cloning...

Some things will look far larger, others will matter only to historians. We just can't know which.   

[Eddie Teach]

No, Bush fills Hoover's skin quite well. 

That line would have the Jon Stewart audience peeing their pants and it makes no sense.

I like Jon Stewart.