Froomkin:

"I've committed our troops into harm's way twice, and it's not a pleasant experience because I understand the consequences firsthand.

What does Bush know "first hand" about consequences to the troops, except when he's using them for props in a photo-op, serving them fake turkey, or prancing around a flightdeck in a jumpsuit?

Times transcript of Bush's presser:

QUESTION: If I could just switch subjects for a second to another big decision you made recently, which was in the Scooter Libby case, you spoke very soberly and seriously in your statement about how you weighed different legal questions in coming to your decision on that commutation.

But one issue that you did not address was the issue of the morality of your most senior advisers, you know, leaking the name of a confidential intelligence operator.

Now that the case is over -- it's not something you've ever spoken to -- can you say whether you're at all disappointed in the behavior of those senior advisers?

And have you communicated that disappointment to them in any way?

BUSH: First of all, the Scooter Libby decision was, I thought, a fair and balanced decision.

No answer. Nice dog whistle with "fair and balanced."

Secondly, I haven't spent a lot of time talking about the testimony that people throughout my administration were forced to give as a result of the special prosecutor. I didn't ask them during that time and I haven't asked them since.

No answer.

I'm aware of the fact that perhaps somebody in the administration did disclose the name of that person. And, you know, I've often thought about what would have happened had that person come forth and said, I did it. Would we have had this, you know, endless hours of investigation and a lot of money being spent on this matter?

No answer.

But it has been a tough issue for a lot of people in the White House, and it's run its course, and now we're going to move on.

No answer.

What an asshole.

Wow, what a leader Bush is, to be sure. He can even "spontaneously" lead an orchestra without any training! Anybody else reminded of Professor Harold Hill?

Please don't try to tell me this wasn't staged:

JoAnn Falletta was doing what a conductor should — concentrating on the orchestra in front of her. No wonder it took her a few seconds on Sunday to realize someone behind her was motioning for a try.

President Bush.

"Smiling at me kind of devilishly," Falletta said.

She gave him her baton and stepped aside.

Gesturing exuberantly, the president led [yeah, right] the orchestra during part of its performance of "Stars and Stripes Forever."

"We didn't expect him to know the score so well," Falletta said afterward. "He was not shy about conducting at all. He conducted with a great deal of panache."

No, Bush isn't shy. Sociopaths seldom are. But seriously, does anybody think that Bush was really doing anything other than waving the baton around? Does anybody believe the players actually allowed themselves to follow his lead?

And now comes the good part:

Because those two little letters mean so much; like calling us by our right names. Froomkin called Politico's interview with Turd Blossom "predictably fawning", so I had to go read it, and amidst the teabagging found this:

Q.What are you doing differently in your job, substantively or stylistically, in 2007 compared with 2006, before the election?

A.The entire White House is spending a lot more time talking to the Hill and a lot more time seeking feedback and giving them the time that they want. It's not that they didn't want to talk to us before. But I think there's a desire for them to talk to us more now. I think they want to be able to test whether or not we're serious about working together by spending more time talking about whether or not we're going to work together. A lot of that is done by other people, but the entire White House finds itself in a place where we're supporting that process more than we might have in the past. I have, sitting on my desk, a letter to me from a Democrat member asking me to look into a specific issue. Why this member feels comfortable saying, Here's something that I want you to look into, I can't speak to. But I'm glad that she feels that she can say: "I'd like you to look into this. I think we can find a way to work together. I'm having a dialogue with common interlocutors. You can ascertain from them that I'm serious about this. Let's see if we can't work together on this issue."

They just can't help themselves, can they?

Even if they are brown, and not Christian, so what? I mean, why would that matter?

With thousands of Iraqis desperately fleeing this country every day, advocates for refugees, and even some American officials, say there is an urgent need to allow more Iraqi refugees into the United States.

Until recently the Bush administration had planned to resettle just 500 Iraqis this year, a mere fraction of the tens of thousands of Iraqis who are now believed to be fleeing their country each month.

Until recently, the administration did not appear to understand the gravity of the problem.

That's called denial. Because if we let more Iraqis in, that might create the perception that we're not winning:

Bush, projecting? Who knew? Bush, who looks tired, and is showing cracks in His armor, gave Leadfoot some citrine earrings for Saturnalia, to match the citrine necklace he gave her for her birthday.

So, what's with the citrine? Here's what the New Age healers have to say about this amber-colored stone:

The letters "I" and "C." Yet again, he puts a thumb in the eye of Democrats while seeming conciliatory. I guess He just can't help himself. WaPo:

"[BUSH] There's a lot of attitude here that says, 'Well, you lost the Congress. Therefore, you're not going to get anything done.' Quite the contrary," he said. "I have an interest to get things done. And the Democrat leaders have an interest to get something done to show that they're worthy of their leadership roles."

That's Democratic leaders, George, you putz.

And what's even more rich?

WaPo teabags Bush:

Bush to Work With Democrats

[Pause for hysterical laughter, followed by thudding sound as of forehead hitting wet bar, followed by sobbing, breaking glass, screams.]

During an Oval Office interview with The Washington Post, Bush said voters are "sick and tired of the needless partisanship in Washington..."

[More breaking glass, screams.]

And then, on the very same day, reality intrudes. Kinda:

AP:

"I'm inclined to believe that we do need to increase our troops — the Army, the Marines," Bush said in the Oval Office session.

Lovely. To be fair to Bush: