Has Bush Lost His Feeble Mind? - Commentary by Lewis Regenstein

Friends, I know this distinguished website is read by some of our colleagues who are Bush supporters, and so I ask this question respectfully:  Has Bush lost his feeble mind ?

Just in the last few days, Republican President George Bush -- the biggest spender in the history of the world -- has proposed to essentially abolish our southern border with Mexico, spend tens of billions to go to the Moon and Mars---again--- and spend a billion and a half dollars promoting marriage (apparently, White House political commissar Karl Rogue feared Bush was losing support from his base due to his silence and apparent indifference over all the gay marriage stuff, the censure of the Ten Commandments, the War on Religion in Public, the impending banning of "In G-d We Trust" from the Pledge of allegiance, etc).

As I write this, Bush is preparing to lay a wreath at the tomb of Martin Luther King, Jr, in Atlanta, despite having been insulted and invited not to do so by King's supporters here. (Note: TV & press were predictably overwhelmingly negative, focusing on the hundreds of anti-Bush demonstrators.)

AP Photo - Cheryl Gerber

And just a few days ago, there was a big ceremony, covered by all the media, where the Bush family honored, not a prominent conservative or Republican or military hero, but Ted Kennedy, the greatest swimmer in the Senate! Kennedy reciprocated a couple of days ago by lambasting Bush, which received huge press coverage.

Is it possible to embarrass Bush ?

To say nothing of the current year $550 + billion deficit, the $6 trillion national debt, the dismantling of the nation's health and environmental protection laws as payback for corporate fat cats, and on, and on.

I don't intend all this as criticism of our President -- I realize that he does not read the newspapers or know what is happening and that Cheney and his aides do not tell him very much.... But there is a pattern here that suggests Bush and his people may be almost entirely losing touch with reality.

What do you Republican readers think about all this? Can anybody tell us what is going on here? Yes, I know, the Democrats are worse -- but what's happened to Bush?

Lewis Regenstein, a native Atlantan, is a writer and author. {regenstein@mindspring.com}