Fickle nation

Accordng to the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, George Bush's job approval rating has climbed to 45 percent. That is a whole five points up from last week.

Maybe this rise is due to the fact that Bush -- who (as the whole world knows) continued his vacation at his Texas ranch while Katrina was devastating the Gulf Coast -- eventually made seven photo-op trips to the hurricane-battered region.

He also, after almost five years of whacking away at all things protective of the environment, shocked weary ears with a call to drive less and conserve energy.

(Of course the newborn environmentalist did not mention that those Rove-staged flights to Louisiana and Mississippi cost taxpayers $6,029.00 per hour. But's it's a good thing that poor George doesn't have to pay for his flights out of pocket, since his salary is only $400,000 a year. Good heavens, that's only 76 cents a minute.)