Nine to Go

One of my favorite statistics concerning politics is Richard Nixon's approval rating the day he resigned the Presidency, 25 percent. Even given the overwhelming evidence that the President was involved in illegal wiretapping, an extension of his attempted power grab, one quarter of our nation still approved of him. That puts Bush's latest number in stark perspective. Only 34 percent of us approve of him. That number must be all those who refuse to believe that corruption, ineptness, power-hunger and failed ideologies are trumped by the fact that fifty-two percent of us were fooled by the facade. Even more so, only nine percent separate the current President Bush from then President Nixon in approval.

Strange that a non-issue was the precipitating incident. The ports deal with a Dubai company, while not the best political move of the Bush presidency, is not a national security issue. At issue is Bush's ignorance of the process, his arrogance in pronouncing it right without even knowing what he was approving, and his foolishness at not briefing Congress. The latter is to be expected: This Administration is relying on security classification to keep it out of impeachment proceedings. The Bush administration is even re-classifying documents from the Clinton administration, an excess of secrecy and secrecy is the enemy of democracy.

In another blow to the Administration, a tape reveals that Bush, despite his claims to the contrary, knew full well what Hurricane Katrina was going to do to New Orleans. The videotape obtained by the Associated Press shows Bush and Chertoff being briefed in painful detail about the storm and its potential damage. Bush responds by saying "we are fully prepared." No wonder he has denied knowing about the potential of the storm for so long. He didn't recognize it even as Federal officials briefed him. I hope the video is posted on every news outlet in the Nation. It will be the end of the Bush presidency, the last blow to an administration staggering from punch after self-inflicted punch, that guards itself even as it runs into the turnbuckles.

I rather doubt you'll see the tape on Fox News, the prefered outlet of the 34 percent of believers.