Wiping Away Bush's Grin

Peggy Noonan, who used to write for George Bush’s father and now writes for the Wall Street Journal, has had enough. She wants to fire the President. One of the reasons is that he’s in too good a mood.

At yesterday’s press conference, she notes: “There was the usual teasing, the partly aggressive, partly joshing humor, the certitude. He doesn't seem to be suffering, which is jarring. Presidents in great enterprises that are going badly suffer: Lincoln, LBJ with his head in his hands. Why doesn't Mr. Bush?”

When Lincoln lost an election, he remarked that he “was too old to cry, but it hurts too much to laugh.” Not Bush, and his “What? Me Worry?” grins are driving former supporters like Noonan up the wall.

“President Bush,” she writes, “was hired to know more than the people, to be told all the deep inside intelligence, all the facts Americans are not told, and do the right and smart thing in response.

“That's the deal...If you are a mid-level Verizon executive who lives in New Jersey, this is what you do: You hire a president and tell him to take care of everything you can't take care of--the security of the nation, its well-being, its long-term interests. And you in turn do your part...You work, pay your taxes...become involved in local things--the boy's ball team, the library, the homeless shelter. You handle what you can...and give the big things to the president.

“And if he can't do it, or if he can't do it as well as you pay the mortgage and help the kid next door, you get mad. And you fire him.

“Americans can't fire the president right now, so they're waiting it out. They can tell a pollster how they feel, and they do, and they can tell friends, and they do that too. They also watch the news conference, and grit their teeth a bit.”

So do we all.