The Laughs to Ward Off Despair Dept.

Isn't it nice to see the president's purported eternal optimism has not been diminished by the flood of criticism that has swamped his administration's performance in the Gulf Coast, pre- and post-Katrina? Once again, we see Dubya and his Dad finding a plucky way to make the best of a bad situation. Note: This image was sent to us from one of those sneaky undisclosed sources we all hear so much about. SLANTblog cannot vouch for its audacity.

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In a little more than two years George W. Bush has fallen from his John Wayne-like flight-suited thumb’s-up victory-declaring pose on the deck of the USS Lincoln to looking more like Humphrey Bogart, playing the creepy ball bearing-rolling Captain Queeg, in the 1954 movie adapted from Herman Wouk’s splendid WWII novel, The Caine Mutiny.

In the story Queeg was the cowardly captain of a US Navy minesweeper, the Caine, caught in a typhoon. He was relieved of his command during the storm by his second-in-command, who later alleged at his court-martial that Queeg had frozen up on the job and seemed out-of-touch with reality.

Like Bogart’s jittery Queeg testifying on the witness stand, President Bush was twitching and rolling those steel marbles in his hand -- click, click, click -- last week as a storm-driven reality swirled elusively around him, too.

“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”

Uh, oh. Click, click click...

‘I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.”

Click, click, click...

“... Homeland Security.”

Click, click, click...

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Why not laugh off shame and blame? Our feckless leaders sure don't mind doing it. Washington's special version of the Blame Game has now become a fashion statement with a timely new T-shirt, featuring the art shown above, available from T-ShirtHumor.com. The same outfit has the design available on mugs, posters, etc, and lots of other political humor stuff.

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Then there's this from The Daily Show:

Ed Helms: "Jon, today, finally, a ray of hope. Eight days after Katrina came ashore, the federal government has gotten its act together, marshalling all of its resources in a desperate effort to save this beloved, and now beleaguered, president."

Jon Stewart: "President? I thought you were talking about New Orleans."

Helms: "No, that place is [#!%?&!]. But many here believe with quick action, George W. Bush's reputation can still be saved. . . .

"The main thing is, in a very reassuring sight, the federal government has finally brought in the heavy machinery: The Rove.

"Many believe he's the one man who can fix the gaping breach in the president's approval ratings."

Stewart: "But what impact will that have on the actual rescue effort?"

Helms: "The actual rescue effort? What is your obsession with the horrible humanitarian catastrophe?"

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And, finally, an email sent here from a wiseguy musician in Scotland said:

"Did you catch Dubya's latest press conference? When asked what he thought about Roe vs. Wade, Bush said, 'As long asthe people are safe, we have no opinion as to what method they used to get out of New Orleans.'"

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