Most Dangerous

Goddamn if El Presidente George Bush isn't like some corporatist version of Maxwell Smart. Only so much more dangerous:

After a torrent of sharp exchanges, President Bush tried to stop a steep slide in relations with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday by saying Russia is not a menace to Europe despite a threat to aim missiles at the West.

"Russia is not going to attack Europe," the president said, brushing off Putin's warning that he would reposition Russian rockets in retaliation for an American-devised missile shield to be based in Poland and the Czech Republic.

"Russia is not an enemy," Bush emphasized. "There needs to be no military response because we're not at war with Russia."

A day before meeting privately with Putin here, Bush appeared eager to call a time-out in the bickering over everything from criticism about Russia's backslide on democracy to Putin's complaints about U.S.-backed independence for Kosovo and a supposed new arms race triggered by Washington.

This is the man Bush told us he looked in the eye and vouched for Putin on that genius move. Ah, Max. If only we could keep George under the Cone of Silence for another 19 months.

What a time to get into tiffs with Russia. They've got the oil and we've shown the world our ass in Iraq. Bad decision, bad execution -- the double whammy. Does anyone not think Putin is smarter than our current Narcissist-in-Chief?

Per Josh Marshall:

Is it possible that President Bush could bobble this back-and-forth with the Russians any worse than he has to date?...

...What is the president doing exactly? Can he be set up with a minder? Can the whole White House be set up with one, for that matter? We need an escalation in tensions with the Russians at the moment? We don't have our hands full? Can someone step in and help the White House exercise any degree of competence in this situation? It's bizarre and embarrassing and even dangerous.

George Bush is the most dangerous man in America, which by nature of the Presidency makes him arguably the most dangerous man in the world. His henchmen and women break the law. He doesn't really give a fuck about global warming, he just wants to dictate the terms. The only worse person might be...

...his Party's next nominee.