How quick George W. Bush was to use the "appeaser" label on Barack Obama for his comment about speaking to those with whom one disagrees.

As Robert Parry was quick to point out, Bush's own family history should make him one of the last people to launch such an attack, given the record of his grandfather, banker and future U.S. Senator Prescott Bush, and his banking firm's helpful funding of the pig iron building element of Adolf Hitler Third Reich war machine.

There is another element to the latest throwing stones from his own glass house in this the latest huffing and puffing episode from Bush's pathetic fantasy land where confrontation with truth and logic result in swift banishment.

Bush, Cheney, Rove, Perle, Kristol and other members of the neocon Washington machine all believed that it was essential to secure victory in the Vietnam War if we were to keep the Asian wing of the vast Communist machine from America's front door.

When William Kristol's column called the Republican Party "the party of real- world responsibility over the last 40 years" there was an immediate response to such an absurdity.

Jonathan Maskit of Granville, Ohio in a letter to the editors of the New York Times on February 20 wrote:

"Richard M. Nixon prolonged a pointless conflict in Vietnam, spied on his political adversaries, presided over a scandal-ridden administration and resigned in disgrace.  Ronald Reagan pushed the government deep into debt on the basis of a dream-world economic theory, slashed social services and deeply eroded Americans' confidence in the very idea of government."

Maskit went on to point out the colossal failures of George W. Bush, the U.S. president with the lowest public poll rating in history, which now stands at an abysmal 19%.

I discovered this morning that the Bush presidency is a success.
Boy, was I surprised.

Bill Kristol explains it all in an article at The Washington Post that gets my recommendation for the Fatuous Nonsense of the Week Award.

He opens by admitting that such an assertion may expose him to some "harmless ridicule" and proceeds to offer two pages of proof as to why such ridicule might be justified.

"Let's step back from the unnecessary mistakes and the self-inflicted wounds that have characterized the Bush administration. Let's look at the broad forest rather than the often unlovely trees. What do we see? First, no second terrorist attack on U.S. soil -- not something we could have taken for granted. Second, a strong economy -- also something that wasn't inevitable."

The last week has been a hard one for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.  Not only has he been forced into overdrive having to justify the Iraq War in the wake of mounting deaths and casualties along with sharply accelerating costs; now generals of vast experience in the field are calling for his removal.

The rationale of the generals is sound and comparable to what we have been hearing for some time in the wake of early commentary and analysis from brilliant and courageous journalistic ombudsman Seymour Hersh.  Certainly the game plan has been wrong from the outset and it is refreshing to see the haughty and arrogant Rumsfeld being given his justifiable comeuppance.

It was not that long ago that in an earlier effort to hold Rumsfeld accountable, sincere progressives were leading a drive to encourage concerned citizens to send telegrams and letters along with e-mails to George W. Bush in the White House.  Despite the sincerity of the effort and the correctness of viewpoint, are these efforts not straying from the main point?

Since we have just launched into another baseball season an expression from America's pastime is apropos to describe the current situation relating to Iraq.  The old expression, applicable to anyone playing baseball from the little leagues to the majors is, "Keep your eye on the ball!"

George Bush has been quick to preach sacrifice to the American people regarding Iraq.  His request harkens back to two statements I heard about war and peace that I never forgot, and that Bush has made germane.

I knew a Los Angeles travel agent who had been a World War Two member of General James Doolittle's crack Flying Tigers.  His Army Air Force plane was shot down during the war and he spent time in a Japanese POW camp.  "We people who have experienced and seen the destruction of combat are very careful about one thing," he told me.  "When we think people are too quick about advocating war we step back and study the issue very carefully.  When you've been there and seen the damage of war you're much more reluctant about advocating it and greatly concerned about seeking ways to prevent it."