What the Hell was that? I was seriously trying to be objective in grading the President's performance last night --an impossible task for me, I know. But about equal with the President's ability to look like a passably intelligent person. Last night's Press Conference was, in my opinion, the worst performance he has ever given anywhere at anytime. Obviously, that is saying something. My dog would have been more eloquent, and her performance would have been comprised of running through the room, demanding attention, wagging her tail, jumping on people, and smelling crotches. Edge definitely goes to the dog. The dog would have taken a dump outside, the President took one right in front of the whole nation last night. The best Bush could do last night was wear a magic psychodelic tie. He was asked point-blank why he and Cheney were unable to testify separately, and he evaded the question and lunged desperately for his next question on the written list, from the Fox News life preserver. In listing his Administration's determination against Terror he cited "busting" the works of A.Q. Khan and how it was broken up. Of course, the busting of A.Q. Khan, was in essence, the busting of the Government of Pakistan, which promptly pardoned Khan of any punishment -- and the United States signed off on it. Wow, that IS resolute. Good thing the Pakistani's are on our side eh? When the Vietnam analogy to Iraq was brought up, Bush fell into the conservative trap of saying that even discussing it sent a bad message to the troops and our enemies. He then went on to bromides about freedom. In other words, we cannot talk freely, when fighting for freedom. That is Bush logic for you. When asked about the exit strategy in Iraq, all Bush could come up with isn't even "we are working on it", it was "Mr. Brahimi (of the UN) is working on it". In other words, the exit strategy is up to the UN? If the UN bashers on the right were able to contemplate rational thoughts, I dare say that would make them angry. Lucky for Bush, those reptiles are not able to do much more than stock up on canned goods and dehydrated foods. On the subject of Al Sadr and the Sadrist of Iraq, Bush was clear, in the fashion the military spokesman have been clear (so their statements are certainly coming from the top). The White House is starkly stating that Sadr must be taking dead or alive. Meanwhile, 2,500 American troops surround the Vatican of the Shi'a world. This makes negotiations pretty hard with a guy who like the nuttiest fundy in America believes the "end times" are nigh. I get the feeling that Al Sadr would get along famously with Ashcroft...covering naked statues, writing bad songs, cowering from calico cats, etc.. Three times he was asked if he could think of a mistake. Three times he couldn't even think of a general statement to one. Instead on one of those occasions, and not the first, Bush responded: I wish you’d have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it. WTF? Not being able to even muster up a general statement like, "no one is perfect, we've all made mistakes..." he literally could not even do that. That is not being resolute or strong. It is being a sociopath.