Down to 24 percent

OK, the rate of Americans waking from a deep sleep seems to be accelerating. The latest Reuters-Zogby poll shows that George W. Bush's approval rate has now dropped to 24%. To put this in perspective, the record is held by Richard Nixon at 23%. (That was just before he resigned in the wake of the Watergate fiasco.)

The sleeping, however, seems to be a lot deeper on Capitol Hill. Despite the obvious signs that Bush is delusional (see my Sept. 26 blog for definition), Republicans still stand by their man and keep his veto stamp very well inked. The word is around that many of them will stop burning incense before The Decider right after the primary elections. So how immoral is that kind of waiting? The deaths in Iraq mount, as that so-called country--like Caesar's Gaul--divides ever more solidly into three totally antagonistic parts. The possibility of a US attack on Iran grows. (The fear-mongering president today came up with "Third World War" language.) The propaganda mill is cranked up over and over again. ("The United States does not torture prisoners.") More and more working Americans are losing their health insurance. (And how will the vote on children's health coverage go tomorrow?)

Snap out of it, you craven Hill people. We all know he's not going to resign like Nixon. So get to work on impeachment. (Yes, Ms. Pelosi, we do know that the path is well laid out in the Constitution.) And if you Hill folks can't come up with the numbers to impeach, at least start throwing monkey wrenches into the Bush-Cheney machine. As a nation we have good reason to believe that our democracy might not survive 14 more months of this imperial presidency.