How odd that a man like Bush, who's only devotion is to his own will to power, could achieve the same ends.  It proves to me that governance is really about realpolitik and not blantant ideology.  Guys like Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt, and even Bubba Clinton couldn't be fenced in with strict ideologies.  They had guiding principles, but were willing to flex their policies at a moment's notice to get a job done.  Neither JB or GWB could see their way clear to doing that.

Now John Kerry is not Lincoln - although what do I know.  Lincoln was a three time loser before he got a stab at it.  But Kerry seems to have the ability to think on his feet, flex his agenda, and make policy that gets the job done.  Characteristics I saw in both he and Dean.  Something like that is the perfect antidote to a guy like Bush.  

James Polk, for his Mexico adventure and abuse of the military, may be close.

Nixon's scandals - breaking into a campaign office - look like Monica compared to the damage this president has done to the country.

Easily, hands down, there will be no doubt about it. Bush had precious few supporters among academics - the people who write history - a year ago. Bitching about "revisionist history" was not the smartest thing for starters.

Now there's no way any honest pencil-pusher will have many kind words for this administration, not now, not ten years from now, not in a century.

Worst. President. Ever. The outrage of this administration makes me want to puke.

As long as they were hell-bent on installing a Republican in office, why not just go with McCain? He's got as much legitimate claim to the job as Bush does.

Which leaves Bush running on nothing but that sparkling personality of his.  And at this point, I think even that is starting to wear thin on some people.  Every morning, Americans are rising to more bad news and looking around and realizing that the country is completely fucked.  Bush is tanking.  He has been for months now and it has only started to speed up.

I imagine there will be a few small bumps in the poll for him between now and the election, but the overall trend will be downward.  And it's starting to seem very possible that he could get down into the 30s.  I'm not going to count on it, but I won't rule it out either.

It sure would be nice, that's for sure.

But Kerry still has to drive a stake through the heart of this neocon nightmare.

Sounds like he should first find some new friends and then maybe start a new t.v. show.

What an offhanded, casual way of announcing one's intellectual bankrupcy.

Can somebody tell me what this utter rube is doing on television?

Those things don't mean someone is a staunch conservative.

Will Tucker change his tune on abortion at that time? Do his views need to be challenged directly for this simp to even consider the reasons for changing views?

so I guess being a "staunch conservative" means women as baby machines and no more (and god forbid she should have any say in the decison on whether to get or stay pregnant).  Have I mentioned how much I hate right wing men?  

He acknowledged that the security situation was bad. He didn't really say much more about it that I can remember. One of the few times that Carville was actually really nice to him on Crossfire, and wishing him to stay safe.

What is the time lag on decisions by the Supremes? When can we expect the ruling? I believe oral arguments were April 19.

Support for the war has been steadily eroding, but now it may melt down very fast, since Americans can no longer link it to their complacent conviction of their own moral superiority to the rest of the world.

Osama must of wept with joy when his unwitting tool Bush pulled it off.

Iraq can be pinned on Bush and his team.  

The economy issue will reverberate into House and Senate races and party building.  The Iraqy issue will fall onto Bush instead of onto the entire republican agenda like it should.

In addition, I think this very discrepancy between the stats and people's reality is causing some dissonance and some resentment. I for one am getting pretty pissed off at these sunny job numbers when all I see are temp jobs and retail clerk and nursing positions. And the media absolutely refuses to report on the quality of the jobs being created! Why do you suppose that is?

A couple days ago, I argued with you re: Rumsfeld resigning/being impeached.  I've been reading up about Rummy, and I have to say I was wrong and you were dead on.  Most of what's going wrong in Iraq, torture or otherwise, can be traced back to Rumsfeld in one way or another, usually pretty directly.  If he doesn't resign, he should be impeached.  

Admitting mistakes more readily than the Bush Administration since 2001,

CI

I do not believe the Army Brass will support any kind of move on Syria.  And I am not talking bureaucratic footdragging, I am talking turn in their resignations.  We do not have the troops to support our current committment in Iraq after next Spring, taking on a country that has an army and an economy unbroken by a decade of no-fly zones and sanctions would be literally insane.

I don't doubt that Chief of Staff General Myers would go along.  He is Air Force and a war on Syria would give his boys unlimited targets to blow up.  But the fighting Generals in the Army will rebel.

Maybe Americans have finally realized that they can rightly blame high gas prices on the oilman himself. If so, it's been a long time coming.

Bush crashing through the Mendoza line has liberated people to rate him fairly on all issues.

Eventually this all adds up: good jobs replaced with crappy ones, whole industries decimated, joblessness underreported, the employed middle class in economic stagnation, etc.

Bush blew the chance to create publicly funded jobs like cops, firefighters, health care workers, teachers, pollution control technology etc, that would have paid well and not gone offshore.  Plus, inflation is up in everyday things, like food and energy.  People aren't fooled by the numbers when they are contradicted by the reality of their own lives.  

There are a few other variables in this election, but none that help Dubya. Namely, the war in Iraq has dragged on longer than the administration bargained for and prevented Bush from focusing on economic policy. I'm sure that in Rove's twisted mind, he figured that cheering Iraqis would accept self-rule and that triumphant King George would then pretend to turn his attention to the economic plight of his own people. The other variable that hurts Bush is that the dynamics of the recovery are not too great. There have been new jobs created, but most are low-paying and without benefits.

There is exactly no way that Bush can' cut and run and call it a victory'  and the corporate/press are only invested in ratings.

I have never believed the US people at large are stupid.  But it is certainly true that many, many and perhaps a substantial majority are disengaged from not only politics as we examine it here, but national and world affairs at large.  Because they devote all of their time and energy focusing on making a living and being involved in their children's lives. (Losers - what are they thinking)

But most people are aware of the big issues at some level, they walk by the newstands, they turn on the morning shows to catch the weather and the traffic, and get some news in passing.

BushCo is rapidly turning into a steaming mass, and Americans can smell bullshit when they have to.

EVEN SO, that does not excuse people from not engaging in critical thinking.  All you have to do is read the front page, watch the 30-minute newscasts, and think, "Okay, why are these things happening? Do Bush and Rumsfeld deserve to be called good leaders if all of this is happening under their watch?"  

James Earl, you're also right in that the American people tend to look at the results rather than the process or even the cause, and I also despair about the ability of the American populace to put 2 and 2 together; but there are moments when I think back on all the people I personally know in my blood-red home state, and I feel a glimmer of hope:  these people may be slow, underinformed, and a little too doggedly loyal, but by and large, they aren't stupid once they learn the facts.

Pretty much. Shows that Bush still strikes fear in the hearts of the immature kids who run the DC Dems and the media punditocracy. Until that veil of Stalin-like power is pierced, our road will remain an uphill one.