A Seasonal Question: Reality Check on George Bush

No one is faster with the remote than Mrs. U., and she reaches warp speed fast when the President's face appears on the screen. As a result, we can go for quite a long time without hearing or seeing George Bush. But there was some extended footage of Bush on 'The Daily Show' the other night, with the President explaining for the German Chancellor and the rest of us how there was this thing called "diplomacy" and how useful it might be in dealing with Iran.

It was--for those of us who try to deal only with the printed or blogged word--an unsettling moment.

Yeah, he looked dismissive and patronizing. And contemptuous that he had to be there at all. And disengaged.

But that's too facile. No one is more dangerous than a cornered animal. And by a lot of metrics, Bush is cornered. The war, the deficit, Medicare, Jack Abramoff--there are a lot of explanations for his low approvals rating.

Bush did not, however, look cornered. He looked same old same old: a frat boy who's having his term papers written by the house wonk--and who's getting away with it. This time, however, the dissociation between what he looked like and what's happening in the world is wider than when we last checked. And it was worrisome.

Is Bush just the stupidest, laziest guy ever to be President? Is he...crazy? Or is what we saw the other day no reason for alarm because, at the end of the day, he's really just a front? I'm feeling seasonally....clueless. Feel free to weigh in.