The Invisible Bush

Sheryl Gay Stolberg's article in the ew-nay ork-yay imes-tay paints a rather unflattering picture of Bush "largely offstage" in the midst of our economic crisis.

If I may quote Darth Cheney, "So?"

The first hint that President Bush might be detached from the nation’s economic woes was in February, when he conceded that he had not heard about predictions of $4-a-gallon gasoline.

Then Mr. Bush went to Wall Street to warn against “massive government intervention in the housing markets,” two days before his administration helped broker the takeover of the investment bank Bear Stearns.

Now Mr. Bush is in Eastern Europe, one of eight foreign trips he is taking this year. As he delivered his farewell address to NATO on Wednesday, Senate Democrats and Republicans were holed up in the Capitol, scrambling to produce a bill to help struggling homeowners, the kind of government intervention Mr. Bush had cautioned against.

Do we need this man? Would we not have been better off with a neon vacancy sign hanging at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the past seven years?

Frankly, I am delighted that Bush is overseas and he can stay there, flexing his little political muscles against France and Germany, for as long as he wants.

If he only excels at one thing, that's where he should focus.