IF BUSH ASKS TO READ NEWSWEEK TODAY, SOMEONE BETTER SLIP HIM A COPY OF HIS 3 FAVORITE SHAKESPEARES FAST

The new Newsweek has all kinds of bad news for the Bush Regime today. First of all, there's a new poll-- taken right after the State of the Union Address-- and it shows Bush's approval rating at unprecedented, historic lows. Bush's "approval ratings are at their lowest point in the poll’s history-- 30 percent-- and more than half the country (58 percent) say they wish the Bush presidency were simply over, a sentiment that is almost unanimous among Democrats (86 percent), and is shared by a clear majority (59 percent) of independents and even one in five (21 percent) Republicans. Half (49 percent) of all registered voters would rather see a Democrat elected president in 2008, compared to just 28 percent who'd prefer the GOP to remain in the White House. Public fatigue over the war in the Iraq is not reflected solely in the president's numbers, however. Congress is criticized by nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of Americans for not being assertive enough in challenging the Bush administration's conduct of the war. [I wonder if Biden, Levin, Durbin, Hoyer, Emanuel and the rest of the congressional cowards get this magazine-- or even care what people think.] Even a third (31 percent) of rank-and-file Republicans say the previous Congress, controlled by their party, didn't do enough to challenge the administration on the war."

But that isn't even the worst of what Newsweek left on Bush's doorstep. There's an interview with Cheney. Is there anyone in the Regime even smart enough to be humming this today? When Durbin mentioned the other day that Cheney is clearly delusional, he was being polite. Here are some examples of a Regime that has lost any grip on reality it may have ever had:


"I think [Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki] has been direct and forthright in responding to our concerns...
we don't have any reason to doubt him."

"I think most of the nations in [the Middle East] believe their security is supported, if you will, by the United States. They want us to have a major presence there."

"My sense of it is that what's happened here now over the last few weeks is that the president has shored up his position with the speech he made a couple of weeks ago, specifically on Iraq. And I think the speech, frankly Tuesday night, the State of the Union address was one of his best. I think there's been a very positive reaction of people who saw the speech." [I'm guessing no one showed him the polling data.]

After singing the praises of Joe Lieberman ad nauseum Cheney went on to blurt out: "Let's say I believe firmly in Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican. But it's very hard sometimes to adhere to that where Chuck Hagel is involved."

"I think we have made significant progress [in Iraq]."

Delusional indeed. And the bad news doesn't end with Cheney's dementia. Richard Wolffe has a story about how badly the pro-war stances of Republicans will hurt them in 2008. McCain's, Giuliani's and Romney's "strategy of carrying Bush's baggage seems politically reckless. It might help them in the primaries: most of the Republican base still supports the war and President Bush. But as the GOP discovered in November, the base isn't big enough to secure victory in a general election."

And that doesn't even tackle the coverstory, Blackhawk Down, which just sums up everything that has gone wrong with Bush's and Cheney's malevolent endeavors in Iraq-- and from the worst possible perspective, that of the American people. Maybe the Libby trial will take everyone's mind off Iraq-- especially when Cheney, Libby, Fleischer, Rove all turn on each other. Now there's something for the Regime to look forward to.