I am reticent to write those kinds of articles because: 1) it can come off as piling on right now with Bush; and 2) whenever you offer some criticism you usually get feedback that says--in effect--"You didn't go far enough!"

The latter was definitely true with this one, and that tells me a lot about the depth of dislike for Bush right now (thus solidifying the column's point all the more). I didn't get any GOP emails saying, "How dare you?!" Instead I got plenty of Left, Center and even Right feedback that castigated me primarily over one line (That Bush goes down as a "great one-term president" who unfortunately won a second term). The tone of each email was startingly the same: "How dare you even consider Bush to be successful in his first term!"

Seriously, I remain stunned at how Bush has managed to alienate so many and energize the opposing base to a degree even beyond the profound Clinton hatred by the Right that I saw in the 1990s. He has simply surpassed Clinton and is legitimately described, as I did in the column, as approaching Nixonian "heights" (or perhaps "depths" is the better phrase).

One is tempted to say that '06 and '08 are the Democrats' to lose, but given past results, that ain't saying much.

Feeling almost human today with 24 hours of antibiotics in me. But glad I didn't do the planned four small jet flights today. Fear my ear drums wouldn't have survived, and they already bear the scar tissue of too many surgical repairs.