Doug, I like and respect you, so I'll overlook the condescension in your post. If you read through this thread, you'll notice that early on I weighed in with the opinion that GWB's administration had handled the China affair competently. They didn't do a great job, but they did an adequate job. I don't think anyone who has a clue about these things seriously thought that the Chinese were going to keep our people forever -- this was a chance for them to do a bit of grandstanding, and they took advantage of it. The Bush team did what most administrations would have done under similar circumstances -- walk the passive-aggressive line while they work out some weasel-worded statements that allowed both sides to save face. I'm okay with that.

As for the Bush economic package, the most significant parts of that are still pending, and are likely to be revised somewhat more before the compromise budget is finalized. I lean towards the Democrats' position on this, but I'm comfortable with economic legislation being worked out in the usual horse-trading between the political parties and branches of government. It's in process as we speak.

As for the polls, please recognize that Bush is in what we typically refer to as a "honeymoon"; the period immediately after the inauguration, before the administration's imprint on society is fully felt. We tend to give Presidents the benefit of the doubt during this honeymoon period -- and in general, the less they do, the longer the honeymoon is. I offer my personal perspective only, of course (as you noted previously on this thread), but so far Bush has not turned in a stellar performance. In fact, GWB's clumsy comments regarding Taiwan yesterday morning, followed by a day's worth of dissembling, still suggests to me that Bush still has a lot to learn about his new job.