It's not Baghdad alone where we're witnessing a Bush-inspired surge. The President holds ultimate responsibility for an escalation unfolding in Washington as well: namely, the rapid proliferation of administration scandals and outrages now finally finding the light of day (deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; politically-driven purges of U.S. attorneys; FBI abuses of National Security Letters, and the list goes on and on).

Not surprisingly, today President Bush resists reasonable calls for meaningful accountability and benchmarks on both fronts. But back in his headier days of sky-high approval ratings--late 2001 to be exact--he spoke to an audience of government employees and enumerated the standards by which public servants should be measured. From the White House website (http://www.whitehouse.gov/n ews/releases/2001/10/200110 15-8.html):

Josh Marshall points us to the San Diego North County Times which reports that even in a jail cell, Duke Cunningham is not cooperating with investigators.

Still, with or without the Dukestir's help, it appears that things are about to get mighty interesting:

"This is much bigger and wider than just Randy 'Duke' Cunningham," he said. "All that has just not come out yet, but it won't be much longer and then you will know just how widespread this is."

The fallout from Cunningham's more than five years of taking bribes from defense contractors continues to reverberate from coast to coast.

In Washington on Monday, the No. 3 official at the CIA, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, announced he is retiring in the wake of last week's resignation by Porter Goss as the spy agency's director.

Foggo's resignation may have more to do with his relationship to Cunningham and Poway defense contractor Brent Wilkes than with Goss' decision to step down.

One word of advice to Cortex readers: make sure that you're well stocked in popcorn.

Broken-hearted.  Bewildered.  Betrayed.  Bereft.

That's the emotional state of much of the Union.

Contrast that with the Bush view, recently expressed on his junket in Kansas City:

"You can't lead the nation, you can't make good decisions, unless you're optimistic about the future."

Two views, or two Americas?