I guess I'm not the only one who thinks BushCo has been a little off their game lately:

From proposing to go to Mars to the president's horrible Meet the Press interview; from the rush to propose the Federal Marriage Amendment without consulting Republicans in Congress to doubling back to now include civil unions in the language; from Bush's disappearing act until last night to his unpreparedness once he finally did appear for a prime-time press conference -- this White House's political affairs office has been way off its game, and for months. Indeed, as many Republican talking heads said in recent days, it was only after GOP insiders (not to mention the talking heads themselves) started clamoring for the White House to do something that Rove & Company decided to put Bush out there. You can understand their reluctance.

Throughout his charmed life, there has always been an easy route to life's easier paths (Andover, Yale, Texas Air National Guard, Harvard) for George W. Bush. But there is no presidency "lite." You gotta show up, even if rarely and sporadically. You'd think the president and his staff, even in these rarest moments, would at least be prepared to properly do what they had long done best: their politics.

But they haven't. Given that politics is their strong suit -- not to mention that Bush's re-election depends on doing well in such moments as last night -- why should we suppose he is performing any better in the real tasks of governing upon which our very survival and prosperity depend?