Poll Smokers

As Vacation Boy heads off to clear his brush for a month -- which at this point might as well be moving to Montana to raise him a crop o' dennil floss -- the new poll numbers tell the tale.

Americans' approval of President Bush's handling of Iraq is at its lowest level yet, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that also suggests fewer than half now think he is honest.

Seriously, you have to wonder just what that "fewer than half" still think he's being "honest" about. He hasn't been honest about a damned thing since he strutted into the office; he sure as fuck hasn't been forthcoming since then, as he and his gang of little shitbirds continue to defile the place.

Really, all the "what the hell are these people smoking" sarcasm aside, just what are they thinking? He has been questioned consistently about his policies on what he would do if Karl Rove is in fact indicted (and, of course, Rove has already contradicted himself and implicated himself in outing Plame, so it's not as if it's a reach) or convicted, and he won't even answer that. It's a simple hypothetical; there's no need to sit there and publicly woolgather over the presumption of innocence and the need for all the facts. Enough facts are already known to make it a valid question worthy of the straight answer that Bush is supposedly admired for by his iconodules.

On matters of policy, Bush and his minions have been far more opaque. He has been nothing but wrong about Iraq, and very well may have even fucked up Afghanistan through neglect. The key to his continued ability to stay intact is to simply not admit even the existence of a problem.

Even though Bush famously did not use a 12-step program to overcome his alcoholism, it still would be interesting if he went through it, just to see how it'd be for him at the "make amends" step. He could use it; as notoriously un-self-reflective as he is, he desperately needs to critically examine his own motivations and insecurities. He's a whole bundle of demons and stupids, and ignoring them has clearly only emboldened them. If he were a floor manager at the Midland Circuit City, as he would be in a rational universe, it wouldn't be much of a problem.

In a world where he runs a country and he's on the short end of the aggregate intellect curve, it's a fuckin' problem.

A solid majority still see Bush as a strong and likable leader, though the poll indicates the president's confidence is seen as arrogance by a growing number.

Approval of Bush's handling of Iraq, which had been hovering in the low- to mid-40s most of the year, dipped to 38 percent. Midwesterners and young women and men with a high school education or less were most likely to disapprove of Bush on his handling of Iraq in the past six months.

American troops have suffered heavy casualties in Iraq this month. On Wednesday, 14 Marines were killed in the Euphrates River valley in the worst roadside bombing targeting Americans since the war began in March 2003.

On Monday, seven Marines were killed, six of whom died in a gun battle near Haditha in western Iraq.

William Anderson, a retired Republican from Fort Worth, Texas, said Bush "has the right intentions, but he's going about them the wrong way."

"Iraq is one of the issues that everybody has a problem with," Anderson said. "There are some big discussions about it around town. Everybody's got their agreements and disagreements. It seems like there's no end. Is it going to end up another Vietnam?"

One has to give Mr. Anderson some small measure of props here. There may be hope that principled, concerned, true conservatives are finally seeing this small "man" for what he truly is -- a feckless, irresponsible frat boy with no real concern for the damage he causes, because Daddy's always been there to clean up his messes.

And it's not just arrogance, it's not just a warped variation of noblesse oblige -- it's a pattern of willful negligence and ignorance. It's like letting a chimp operate a howitzer; don't be too surprised when he levels your house, and then tries to tear you up when you go to stop him. After all, he's a fuckin' chimp.