Bushie One Note

"When President Bush confidently predicts victory in Iraq and admits no mistakes, admirers see steely resolve and critics see exasperating stubbornness. But the president's full-speed-ahead message articulated in this week's prime-time address also reflects a purposeful strategy based on extensive study of public opinion about how to maintain support for a costly and problem-plagued military mission."

You might think that is coverage of a recent speech by Bush. You would be wrong. As Dan Froomkin noted yesterday, Bush and several other officials in his Administration have said that things are turning around and "at a turning point" several times already.

Bush is, at his core, a cheerleader. His mindset is to watch other people do things and proclaim "what a good job those guys are doing, go team!" So even if his team is getting shellacked, he's going to be down there, shaking his ass and waving his pom-poms. (I am sorry for if that brought to mind a rather unfortunate mental picture. Go have a drink.)

But there is a fine line between "cheerleading" and "lying through your teeth." Bush is not our National Cheerleader. He is supposed to be the President and, in that regard, he is doing a bang-up job if you happen to have a net worth in the 8-figure range. (Of course, if some of that money was invested in Bear Stearns last week, you might disagree. You might also disagree if your investment people tell you that you have a significant position in mortgage-backed securities based on properties in Nevada, Florida, California and Ohio.)

Bush is trying to reassure the country that he has a handle on the economy. That's pretty hard to do when he talks about the Treasury Secretary "working over the weekend" (like he was cramming for a test) or when he refers to the King of Saudi Arabia as "the King of Saudi."

So now he says that his "stragerdy" is working in Iraq. Is anybody who is not imbibing the Kool-Aid reassured by that?

Isn't it clear, by now, that we would have been better off if we had elected this girl to be President? Other than the fact that she is too young, she seems to be far more articulate than the Baboon King.