Hey, Wait a Minute. I Think The President's An Arrogant Jerk!

Reagan speechwriter (and occasional resident of planet Earth) Peggy Noonan wonders why former Bush supporters have become disenchanted:

I found myself Thursday watching President Bush's news conference and thinking about what it is about him, real or perceived, that makes people who used to smile at the mention of his name now grit their teeth.

I'm not sure why these people have only begun gritting their teeth, but it's safe to assume that they aren't from Texas. If you lived in the Lone Star State and paid attention to George Bush, then you were already familiar with the petulant fratboy that became President. This is a man who never bothered to understand issues because he has never paid the price of ignorance. His entire life is a series of failed leadership opportunities that cost the public hundreds of millions of dollars, and yet the media portrayed him in 2000 as the first real CEO Presidential candidate. His companies were investigated by the SEC, but it was Al Gore that had not earned the public's trust.

If you bought George Bush's snake oil in 2000, then I can understand why you might grit your teeth today. But it's time for you (and Peggy Noonan) to admit that your personal bias against the Democrats is the real problem here. Bush hasn't changed in the past year or two. He's the same guy he was in 1997 and even 1987: a trust-fund baby surrounded by sycophants that are willing to fall on the bed of nails that he creates. He's never been accountable for the mistakes that he's made, mainly because there's always somebody like Peggy Noonan to write op-eds about how much wiser he is than us.

As I watched the news conference, it occurred to me that one of the things that might leave people feeling somewhat disoriented is the president's seemingly effortless high spirits. He's in a good mood. There was the usual teasing, the partly aggressive, partly joshing humor, the certitude. He doesn't seem to be suffering, which is jarring.

Yeah, that must be it. We aren't gritting our teeth because this condescending ignoramus is weaving a narrative from our blood and tax money. It's because he's in a good mood and we aren't. We're not smart enough to see how effective he is fighting the evil-doer's and roustabouts. We're not smart enough to understand why he's still a better President than anybody from the Democrat party. And one day soon, we'll have to read Peggy's Pontifications regarding Hillary Clinton's raw female ambitions or John Edward's hypocritical hair salon visits. I can't wait.