Report of Bush’s demise highly exaggerated

Mark Morford, who writes a periodic column for the San Francisco Chronicle that is highly consistent with San Francisco’s political ethos, recently gloated about George Bush’s imminent downfall. In the paragraph imagining Bush’s departure from the White House, he manages to cram in every anti-Bush stereotype and nasty attack, short of (for reasons unknown) that Bushitler smear:

It is now safe to imagine. It is now becoming increasingly easy to actually dare to think that, in less than one year’s time, Dubya will begin packing his bags, jamming into his SpongeBob duffel his map-of-the-world coloring book, English-to-English translation dictionaries, mangled pocket edition of the U.S. Constitution, Bibleman action figure set and a “Mission Accomplished!” sweatshirt, and heading off to face his destiny as one of the bleakest, most morally repellent chapters in all of American history.

Poor Morford! It turns out that Bush may not quite retreat in the ignominious fashion he imagines. Grudgingly, and with a million caveats, the WaPo acknowledges that Bush is doing pretty well right now:

The war in Iraq seems to have taken a turn for the better and the opposition at home has failed in all efforts to impose its own strategy. North Korea is dismantling its nuclear program. The budget deficit is falling. A new attorney general has been confirmed despite objections from the left.

After more than two years of being buffeted by one political disaster after another, President Bush and his strategists think they may finally be getting back at least a bit of their footing. While still facing enormous challenges, from the crisis in Pakistan to the backlash over children’s health care, they hope Bush has arrested his downward spiral and established a better foundation for the remainder of his time in office.

What I particularly love in Peter Baker’s reluctant little column is the way he tries to spin why Bush is looking good:

In many ways, the shifting political fortunes may owe as much to the absence of bad news as to any particular good news. No one lately has been indicted, botched a hurricane relief effort or shot someone in a hunting accident. Instead, pictures from Iraq show people returning to the streets as often as they show a new suicide bombing.

Did you get that?  Bush isn’t really looking good.  It’s just that bad things have stopped happening and good things are starting to happen instead that makes him look good.  There is no connection between the two.  Repeat:  there is no connection.

You can read the rest of Baker’s article here, but just keep in mind as you read it that the improvements in Iraq, the falling budget deficit, North Korea’s backing down, etc., have nothing to do with the policies George Bush has doggedly pursued for so many years, despite the relentless naysaying from the MSM and the Democrats.  It’s all a coincidence.  When you go to the voting booths in November next year, do not think “Bush/Republicans.”  Wipe your mind of those thoughts.

I trust I’ve made myself clear.