Yeah, it's gonna be another one of those articles...

I began cataloguing the woes that President Bush has inflicted on the nation during the past week or so and the project snowballed to the extent that the daily additions far exceeded my editing attempts to shorten it.  I feared the article was well beyond some imagined maximum word limit when the new Pew Poll results captured my thoughts and summarized them in a single word.

"Bush's personal image also has weakened noticeably, which is reflected in people's one-word descriptions of the president…

"Until now, the most frequently offered word to describe the president was 'honest,' but this comes up far less often today than in the past. Other positive traits such as 'integrity' are also cited less, and virtually no respondent used superlatives such as 'excellent' or 'great' terms that came up fairly often in previous surveys…

"The single word most frequently associated with George W. Bush today is 'incompetent,' and close behind are two other increasingly mentioned descriptors: 'idiot' and 'liar.' All three are mentioned far more often today than a year ago."

In fact, the terms "ass", "jerk", "selfish" and "untrustworthy" are all new additions to Pew's list of top responses, though for some reason "sucks" has dropped off the list.

Pew reports President Bush's job approval rating at 33%, emphasizing the setback of the UAE ports debacle. My too-lengthy draft tells me there's much more to it and I'll be brief. 

The White House staff, on the verge of burnout, has joined Bush in the bubble bunker and is resisting the Republican Old Guard's suggestions for revitalization.

This week, former GOP utility infielder Howard Baker recommended hiring former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson to inject some new energy into the WH. Andy Card snapped, "No way!" Thompson, now an actor on a TV series, probably would have found it impossible to transition to WH staff work after his stint on "Law And Order" anyway.

The Medicare Part D Roadshow gave Bush the opportunity to put his spin on the "Hi, I'm from the government…" When a persistent questioner asked him what could be done to help her elderly mother understand Medicare's new prescription drug plan, the President offered a suggestion that elicited gasps of shock from the elderly Maryland audience:

"Look, I'm not going to tell you your business, but I think it's your responsibility to help your mom."

Then there's the 2006 National Security Strategy document. Was it's stark opening inspired by Elmore Leonard?

"America is at war. This is a wartime national security strategy required by the grave challenge we face . . . terrorism fuelled by an aggressive ideology of hatred and murder."

From the section on preemption:

"There are few greater threats than a terrorist attack with WMD.

"To forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary, act preemptively in exercising our inherent right of self-defense. The United States will not resort to force in all cases to preempt emerging threats. Our preference is that nonmilitary actions succeed. And no country should ever use preemption as a pretext for aggression. . . .

"The place of preemption in our national security strategy remains the same. We will always proceed deliberately, weighing the consequences of our actions. The reasons for our actions will be clear, the force measured, and the cause just."

So who's next? Could it be, perhaps, Iran?

How can Bush still argue for attacking another country based on his suspicions about their intentions -- when the first time he tried it, his public case turned out to be so utterly specious?

The idea that Americans would tolerate such behavior again seems less than highly unlikely. Support for the application of a doctrine of preemption - attacking another country based on speculation - requires enormous credibility.

It requires public trust in the intelligence community and in the motives of an incompetent, lying, idiot. Any takers? 

Pew Poll Results:
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=271