YES, NIXON HAD AN EVEN DARKER SIDE... HE WAS A BAD PRESIDENT AND A BAD MAN-- JUST LIKE YOU-KNOW-WHO

I noticed on the Year End Gallup poll at AOL today that, among Americans, Bush was the #1 most admired male (although, oddly, it took all the Bush women combined-- Condi, Laura and Babsy-- to get even with #1 most admired female, Hillary Clinton. Fully 13% of respondents said they admire Bush more than any other man on earth (same percentage as Hill). His "first place finish may seem unusual given his job approval ratings are in the 30% range, but presidents usually are the most admired men, having won the honor 49 of the 60 times the question has been asked. The last time a sitting president was not named most admired was 1980, when Pope John Paul II finished ahead of Jimmy Carter (who had just been voted out of office). Bush's flagging popularity is, however, evident in the fact that the 13% who mention him as most admired man is the lowest of his presidency, down from 19% last year and 23% or higher from 2001 through 2004."

It's really almost an ex oficio thing; people are voting for the office, not necessarily for the man that holds it. Still... 13% is kind of high considering what a total dipshit he's turned out to be. Must be a disproportionate number of people in Utah voting in this survey. Anyway, it made me think that an awful lot of people just assume that even if stuff doesn't work out well-- ergo: everything Bush has ever touched-- U.S. presidents always mean well. They have a tough job and they always have the best interests of the country in mind, right? Almost reminds me of Russia in 1905 when people went to the Tsar's palace to let "Little Father" know his minister's were starving their children to death and Little Father had his soldiers open fire on them. But who cares about ancient history and Russia? We have an example a lot closer at hand.

The Associated Press ran a story today about a deranged Richard Nixon vowing to "ruin the Foreign Service" before his term was up. (I suppose no one wanted to let this out when Nixon's pardoner was still alive and golfing.)

Embittered by career diplomats during his first term, President Nixon said he wanted to "ruin the Foreign Service" before leaving office, according to newly released State Department documents.

The former president's darker side was further revealed on Wednesday by newly released FBI files which show the agency ran criminal background checks on Senate witnesses critical of William Rehnquist's nomination to the Supreme Court in 1971 at the request of the Nixon administration. The disclosures were among 1,561 pages released by the bureau under the Freedom of Information Act.