What Started With a Bang Now Ends With Nary a Whimper

-FUPPETS- remembers the fanfare that precluded the introduction of the 50 State Quarters Program at the U.S. National Mint. It was 1999. Ridiculously gullible and ignorant people worried that the world would end due to catastrophic Y2K fear mongering. Prince's song, 1999, was in constant rotation on nearly all FM radio, and the great state of Delaware, having been the first to ratify the Constitution, was the first to be honored in the 50 State Quarters from the US Mint. People everywhere bought special placards to collect all 50 quarters. There was hope in the air. Preznit Dubya was not yet elected, the economy was flourishing, and the nations of the world were all aglow with respect and admiration for the United States of America.
Now it is 2008. The nation faces economic collapse, the incumbent President was so ridiculously terrible that the normally conservative voters in the USA elected an African-American man to be it's next President. Amid all the tumult, and without any fanfare whatsoever, the final quarter in the program has been released.
Hawaii, the 50th state, must be very very pleased. They knew when the program was announced that they would have to wait a long time, but little did they know that by the time their quarter came out no one would give a damn.
Oh well.
Here is the Hawaii quarter. Bask in it's glory. Hard to believe that the people tasked with designing this thing actually allowed the inclusion of the lyrics to "Surfin' Bird" on the quarter.