LEAVE IT TO PEEVER

My positive doubt is turning to despair

– Bumper sticker of the week: BOO! U.S. Department of Homeland Security

– Quotes of the week: "I believe if you want to be negative, you always can, no matter how hard you try." George W. Bush, June 15, 2004

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." George W. Bush, August 5,2004.

– There have never been so many books written about a sitting president in our history. For you Bush—lovers out there, take a gander at these:

• Stupid White Men, Michael Moore. The best.

• Lies and The Lying Liars That Tell Them, Al Franken. Great.

• Veering Right, Charles Tiefer. Excellent.

• Freedom Fries, Steve Brodner. Cartoons.

• Mission Not Accomplished, William Turner, former FBI agent.

• An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire, Arundhati Roy

• Bushwacked, Molly Ivins

• The Bush Betrayal, James Bovard

• 50 Ways You Can Show George The Door in 2004, Jason Salzman

• Shrub, Molly Ivins

• Sore Winners, John Powers. Funny.

• Bushisms, Jacob Weisberg. In his own miswords.

• House of Bush, House of Saud, Craig Unger. Scary.

• The Price of Loyalty, Ron Suskind. Documenting the experience of Paul 0’ Neill.

• Worse Than Watergate, John Dean

• The Lies of George W. Bush, David Corn

• The Book on Bush, Eric Alterman

• The Great Unraveling, Paul Krugman

• Plan of Attack, Bob Woodward

• Obliviously On He Sails, Calvin Trillin

• Against All Enemies, Richard Clark

• Dude, Where’s My Country, Michael Moore

• Made in Texas, Michael Lind

• Ambling Into History, Frank Bruni

• The Politics of Truth, Joseph Wilson. Documents the administration giving up the identity of a CIA agent, his wife.

• BushWorld, Maureen Dowd

• American Dynasty, Kevin Phillips

• Big Lies, John Conason

• Thieves in High Places, Jim Hightower

– Rich Republicans for Bush: The Bush campaign fronted the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth and the sleazy ads they ran on TV questioning John Kerry’s Vietnam service and the medals that he was awarded. Three people fronting the group have now been traced back to the Bush campaign, including his lead outside attorney, Benjamin Ginsberg. Bush asked the group to quit running the ads, but only after the damage was done. He didn’t condemn them for such nonsense. This smells like Karl Rove. Months ago I said this sleaze-bag will do anything to help Bush win. Attacking another guy’s service record when his guy was a draft dodger is just about the epitome of anything. To help these idiots out, here is what we would like them to focus on:

1. Health care.

2. Jobs.

3. National debt.

4. No more "preemptive" war.

5. The environment.

6. Corporate welfare, corporate tax dodging, corporate thievery.

7. Less dependence on oil.

8. Separation of church and state.

Dear Mr. Unelected President: Talk issues, not trash. The future of democracy demands a truthful accounting of what the President of the United States stands for.

– A sad fact: Remember, whoever you vote for, the government will get in.