Who was in denial? I surely wasn't. As McGrath of Harlowe points out, the problem was not that we really thought the uncounted ballots would elect Gore. It's that Bush was afraid to let them be counted, and used every means in his power to prevent them from being counted until after he was sworn in. It's the deceitfulness and slimyhandedness of the whole thing that was distasteful. This is what Mav calls integrity and honesty, by the way, which should tell you something about how you should interpret all his other remarks. (1984-speak, anyone?)

And why the maniacal laughter if Bush is such a good thing?

As for approval ratings, well, yes, it hurts a little to have to say the American people are being vamboozled yet once again. But as PT Barnum pointed out, nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. These are the same people who thought Reagan was a good president, remember. The same people who gave Clinton ridiculously high approval ratings during his impeachment, for what that's worth. Yeah, I'd be really proud of approval ratings if I were a Bush fan. Really proud.

This is a nation that prefers Budweiser to real beer, for crying out loud. That they should prefer Bush Lite to a real president? Hardly surprising.

Alex