Well, Doug, this thread seems to be on a roll.

Yes, the U. S. Senate is controlled [by a hair] by the Democrats, but the House isn't. And most of the attempts to override states on issues having to do with assisted suicide, the death penalty, or medical marijuana have come from the Attorney General's office. In some such matters, the administration can act without Congressional approval [e.g., executive order].

I'm not fussing so much because "the the Bush administration is opposed to many issues [I] favor as I am marveling at how the Republicans/right can condemn the Democrats/left for advocating a strong Federal govenment and then turn around and try to impose Federal restrictions on states' rights whenever the states don't agree with their values or politics!

Re polls:you're 72 and the US is 226.
Hoover left office 70 years ago. Since then, FDR is the only president who even came close to being in GWB's position as a wartime president when we had been attacked. [And Pearl Harbor was a military base, not on the mainland, and in a territory that was not a state at the time.] Even the Republicans I've heard comment on Bush's popularity say that his popularity is due to his being president at a time of crisis of this magnitude and, so far, handling the "war on terrorism" well. Some even openly acknowledge that had someone else been president on 9-11-02, their performance and popularity might have been as great. There's really no way to know.

Maybe you never said that Bush had a mandate, but I have heard Bush and his various spokespeople [as well as many right-wing talking heads] make statements to the effect that "the American people elected [me/Dubya] so [I'm/he's] going to energetically pursue the policies they elected me to pursue." I don't hear Bush say things like, "Well, there were as many people who voted for my liberal opponents as did for me, so it's only reasonable that I listen to the Democrats as much as to the Republicans and that I pursue centrist policies."

No, I'm not referring to Kendall as "some kind of authority on something." I just think he hit the obvious nail on the head in his description of the right wing's views on the role of government !
Besides, anyone who can deal effectively with llamas probably should go into politics. I underst and those critters can be downright cantankerous!

Genie §;-)

DougR