Scooter, Lew, George, and Abu

Bush is not flagging in the polls because of Scooter Libby and pre-war case that was made for WMD. Very few people care. Call it the Chris Matthews effect: It's the remarkable act of transference which occurs when blowhard media obsessives in Washington D.C. assume their pet issues fuel opinion polling. Right now the Muppet who throws boomerang fish has more name recognition than the characters in this overblown scandal. (His name is Lew Zealand, incidentally.)

Bush is flagging in the polls because the hurricanes damaged his credibility as a tough, reliable president. Like him or not many people had a simple degree of confidence that came from his actions in the wake of 9/11. (I'm talking about the middle here - not the conservatives who support him rain or shine, or the MoveOn liberals who would still loathe him if he gave his kidneys to the poor.) The guy might be a doofus, but he had git-r-done working in his favor until Katrina.

And then there is Iraq. I know my conservative friends feel like the president has made his case, and any discussion about wrapping up operations is equivalent to victory for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and crew. And certainly there is simplicity and comfort in saying that we'll keep on opening up can after can of American whoopass until the insurgents understand.

But even neocon foreign policy theorists admit that terrorism can't really be eliminated, just brought down to a lower level of risk. At what point does the administration hand things over to the Iraqis? There seems to be some obligation here for Bush to clarify the terms for our departure. He should forgo any defensiveness, ignore the craven, ongoing attacks from Capitol Hill and directly address the American public. He has successfully circumvented Beltway politics in the past. He should do so once again.