In a stunning revelation today it was revealed that George Bush made dimsmissive and insulting remarks toward hamsters last month in a cabinet meeting on energy management. An aide had proposed that a source of cheap, renewable energy might be found by using hamsters to generate electric power by their running on exercise wheels.

"Don't talk to me about hamsters!" snapped Bush angrily. "They're just a bunch of goddamn rodents! They have beady little eyes. I hate animals with beady little eyes. I've been hearing about hamsters over and over again for years now...this same old tired shit about f--king hamsters and their exercise wheels, and I'm sick of it. We didn't use hamsters in Texas. Not when I was a kid. We used oil. You can trust oil. You can't trust a goddamn rodent. My family has never invested in rodents, and never will."

The fallout from this latest gaffe by President Bush, if it is confirmed, could prove quite serious. Over 39 million Americans own hamsters, and can be expected to react quite badly to the President's remarks. This is just one more nail in what looks more and more like the coffin of Mr Bush's popularity in mainstream America.