The Real W.

The Washington Post’s Dan Froomkin reports that the public perception of the happy-go-lucky-guy-you-want-to-have-a-drink-with George W. Bush has been off for the first four and a half years of his presidency.

But the truth is slowly emerging: "…It turns out that Bush is in fact fidgety, cold and snappish in private. He yells at those who dare give him bad news and is therefore not surprisingly surrounded by an echo chamber of terrified sycophants. He is slow to comprehend concepts that don't emerge from his gut. He is uncomprehending of the speeches that he is given to read.

In a reference to the diasterous response to Hurricane Katrina Froomkin adds:

And oh yes, one of his most significant legacies -- the immense post-Sept. 11 reorganization of the federal government which created the Homeland Security Department -- has failed a big test."

Out Of The Rubbles

“Out of the rubbles of [Senator] Trent Lott’s house- he’s lost his entire house-there’s going to be a fantastic house. And I’m looking forward to sitting on the porch.”

-President Bush expressing concern and compassion for a victim of Hurricane Katrina

Working Very Well

“And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them.”

-Barbara Bush on the evacuees from New Orleans inside the Houston Astrodome speaking in an interview on Public Radio program Marketplace