W's Week

This week started on such a seemingly high note for W. With great drama, he flew back to DC from Texas to sign the Schiavo Bill. The Bushies thought they had a real winner. (And we all know how he hates to interrupt his vacation's down on the ranch. In August 2001, he stayed there even after learning Al Qaeda was going to attack in the US.)

But let's review what's happened since then:

CBS News reports that 82% of Americans oppose the intervention of Congress and Bush in the Schiavo case;

On Monday, a school shooting in Minnesota killed 10 people -- the worst school shooting since Columbine. Bush makes no comment on those deaths for days, invoking much criticism. Associated Press put it like this:

Some American Indians have complained that Bush did not respond publicly to the shooting for four days. Just hours after the shootings at Colorado's Columbine High School that left 15 dead, then-President Clinton publicly expressed his condolences.

Bush's delayed reaction was in contrast to his swift intervention in the Terri Schiavo case. The president interrupted his vacation and hurried to Washington on Sunday to sign legislation allowing federal courts to consider the case of the brain-damaged Florida woman;

Bush's approval numbers are dropping fast in every single poll. CBS has it the approval rating at 43%. MyDD has the breakdown of all the polls;

The top domestic priority for Bush is dismantling Social Security. Despite months of campaigning for his Social Security agenda, we learn, via AP, from Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), who chairs the Finance Committee that it's not going to happen. According to Grassley, "I think it's very difficult for me to say today that we'll present a bill to the president." Grassley's comments makes it highly unlikely Congress will follow Bush's lead on the issue.

His brother, Jeb, has gone from hero to scapegoat in the Schiavo situation. Today's New York Times reports:

Governor Bush, who has said he has done all he believes he can under Florida law to prolong Ms. Schiavo's life, has become a particular target of the protesters' scorn in recent days. Some advisers to the Schindler family were openly hostile to him on Saturday.

Popularity dropping, policy failing....things are looking ugly for the White House these days.

Let's see how Bush and Rove are going to change the subject. If they stick to their tried and true pattern, we'll be at Code Orange...or in another war very soon.

UPDATE: Today's Washington Post has a piece by Peter Baker titled "Bush's Back-and-Forth Reflects Rift in Party." My favorite paragraphs:

Polls show the vast majority of Americans, including conservatives and evangelical Christians, disapprove of the decision by Bush and Congress to get involved in the Schiavo matter. And more worrying for the White House, those polls have also shown a significant drop in Bush's overall approval ratings.

"It's been a very sticky issue for the president," said Stephen Moore, a Bush ally and president of the Free Enterprise Fund, which promotes limited government. "I think no matter what course he took, he was going to come under criticism. I personally believe Bush would have been better off not intervening at all."

The case came at a time when Bush was struggling to sell his plan to overhaul Social Security. "This is the second bad thing to happen to him this year, Social Security being the first," said Andrew Kohut, executive director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. "We've had a week that I don't think they can count on advancing their agenda."