Prexifying

So Bush gave one of his rare press conferences today. According to the Times,

A senior White House official said Thursday evening that the President's 40-minute speech about Al Qaeda and Iraq arose from Mr. Bush's desire to remind Americans, after "a lot of distractions" in recent months, that the country was still under threat, and had no choice but to remain in Iraq so Al Qaeda did not use it as a base to train for attacks on the United States and its allies.

"A lot of distractions." That's a funny way to characterize the biggest natural disaster in American history, real or imminent indictments against Congressional allies and White House aides, disapproval from nearly two-thirds of the American public, a Supreme Court nominee who seems likely to face a difficult or even impossible confirmation, the continued degeneration of the Iraq War itself, a gathering Islamist insurgency in Afghanistan, and my own sick-kid & new-job/city/house circumstances. Thanks a lot, Dubya.

For me, the sound bite in the ass was this line, delivered in W's patented staccato style: "We never back down, never give in and never accept anything less than complete victory." Sure. W, not only are you much more George H.W. Bush than Ronald Reagan, you're much more Marion Morrison than John Wayne.