New CNN Gallup poll has * at 40%.

[tgnyc]

The fixed whatever was wrong with their game last week.

[Halliburton]

1. you mean its not UPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPPUPUP

as wolf blitzer and suzanne malveaux were boasting about last week?

[faithnotgreed]

2. will they mention it though

[Craig3410]

3. Who else expects the media to say that *'s poll #s are "in the forties"?

[RedSpartan]

7. I'm with you on that. n/t

[KharmaTrain]

4. Any One Bothered To Let Mr. Bunnypants Know...

...another one of them hurricanes is on the way. This one could Mess with Texas.

Or ya think they're gonna wait til they've got enough stuff to fill out a DVD for him? Ya don't wanna mess up his "down time" and get him all pissed off.

[oasis]

5. "The Incredible Shrinking President"

[Sapphire Blue]

6. Bush's Speech on Hurricane Recovery Fails to Halt Slide in Poll

Bush's Speech on Hurricane Recovery Fails to Halt Slide in Poll

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's national address on the recovery from Hurricane Katrina failed to halt a slide in his approval ratings, a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll found.

Forty percent of U.S. adults said they approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 58 percent disapprove in the poll taken Sept. 16-18, the three days following Bush's speech from the heart of New Orleans. That compares with 45 percent who said they approve in a survey taken over the three days prior to the address, according to data released by the three organizations.

The poll also indicates increased cynicism about the recovery effort, with 56 percent saying Bush is taking steps to help hurricane victims for political reasons rather than because he ``sincerely cares'' about those affected.

In a sign of trouble for Bush's agenda, 54 percent said the recovery, estimated to cost $200 billion, should be paid for by cutting spending on the war in Iraq. Fifteen percent of Americans say the government should increase the budget deficit to pay the cost and 17 percent called for raising taxes. Only 6 percent say the administration should cut spending for domestic programs, as Bush's advisers and some Republican lawmakers say must be done.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aTmKC0LEwtqc&refer=us

[calimary]

9. How 'bout that...

And this - 'the poll also indicates increased cynicism about the recovery effort, with 56 percent saying bush is taking steps to help hurricane victims for political reasons rather than because he "sincerely cares" about those affected.'

Cynicism. It's a sour emotion. But it's a MOST reasonable reaction to all that's happened.

It leads me to wonder if perhaps this is becoming cumulative: that MAYBE more than a few people have put two and two together and gotten four. After all, this isn't exactly the first time he's been AWOL during a crisis, and pathetic and underwhelming when he finally strolls back into the office.

There's that, and also a root to cynicism. One often becomes cynical after being seriously disappointed, or betrayed. Being cynical means adding "yeah, right" to whatever statement you hear from a speaker you used to trust. Cynicism results when promises are broken. Cynicism is what you turn to when you no longer trust someone or something into which you placed your faith. For example, when the figure 200 billion dollars is kicked around, it rings a bell, doesn't it? When's the last time you heard a figure like that being mentioned? When it was in connection to the Iraq debacle. So people already have a template built in, from sad experience, about a big federal spending spree - that didn't get us ANYWHERE, and gave us nothing but grief. The logical, and automatic follow-up to that is - "well, if they've messed up that other 200-billion dollar deal, how can I be sure they won't mess up this one, also?" Or "oh yeah, I've heard THAT one before..."

That's cynicism. And it is NOT aimed at Clinton this time. Especially when most reasonable people know enough to recognize that Clinton's been out of power for a LONG time by now. Long enough for any successor to have remade things in his own image, or to have effectively nullified or compromised whatever Clinton had left in place, or to have "done it better" or "fixed it." And in THIS case, the increasingly common realization is that bush "fixed it" for the worse, not the better - especially when you compare Clinton's FEMA and FEMA chief with bush's FEMA and FEMA chief. This is another bush baby. This is all george's. And it's all bad. And all fishy.

The public is starting to catch on that there's an angle to all this. There's no genuine altruism here, no real, basic, honest drive to help people in serious need. Too many are starting to recognize it as bush's real, basic, and DIShonest drive to repair his own reputation and the ambitions of his already-rich friends and cronies to get richer.

People evidently ARE starting to figure it out, and to figure him out, too.

There may actually be some hope.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

8. Look out below!

I see 35% by month's end :D