New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd went into a bit of a slump after her last book tanked (and a very bad book it was indeed; at least, the first two and half pages were very bad). It's nice to see her returning to form with her latest patronisation of America's fratjock President (it's worth getting the free trail just for this article, otherwise google her on Technorati.

No matter what the trappings or the ceremonies require of the leader of the free world, he brings the same DKE bearing and cadences, the same insouciance and smart-alecky attitude, the same simplistic approach -- swearing, swaggering, talking to Tony Blair with his mouth full of buttered roll, and giving a startled Angela Merkel an impromptu shoulder rub. He can make even a global summit meeting seem like a kegger.

Catching W. off-guard, the really weird thing is his sense of victimization. He's strangely resentful about the actual core of his job. Even after the debacles of Iraq and Katrina, he continues to treat the presidency as a colossal interference with his desire to mountain bike and clear brush.

The mouthful, the grope ... who are the 30% of Americans who still believe Dumbya is good for anything but telling fishing stories next to the bait bucket down at the general store?

Mr. Bush may resent the sophistication required of a president. But when the world is going to hell, he should stop chewing and start thinking.

And if the world weren't going to hell, we'd all be laughing.