Ooh, now. Don't wish him to choke just yet. That'd just drive oil prices up worse.

Bush sounds just like everyone I talk to every day--the classic Texas good ole boy. Which, of course, is what he is. I wish people didn't automatically hear that accent in those of us who use it and just automatically assume stupidity.

Here, particularly, I don't agree with the "idiot" description. Actually, if you listen to his message, it's one of the most intelligent and succinct summations of what needs to happen that there is. "The irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over." He's right, of course. I freely admit that he omitted the very obvious point that we the U.S. could effectively encourage Israel to "stop doing this shit," too.

I've listened to different edits of this tape all day long today, and the most troubling thing about MSNBC's particular coverage was that channel's characterization of Bush as sounding dismissive of Kofi Anan. I didn't think he sounded dismissive at all. He was simply asking a question. That, to me, was a complete editorialization on the part of NBC. I have never before believed that the mainstream news outlets portray him unfairly, but I'm going to try and be more attuned to that as an objective listener/former reporter myself after seeing this because I thought that "dismissive" comment was complete opinion and nothing more.

I'm not a Bush supporter, as most folks know, but I thought what he actually said was pretty much on target here. People like to call him dumb because of the good ole boy factor, and I agree that the guy's not an intellectual. But here his statement just struck me as simple and true--and in his subsequent sentence, he didn't sound dismissive at all of the U.N. secretary general.

Anyone agree with me here?