I've Got a Bad Feeling About This

Bush Seeks to Restore Tattered U.S. Image With Heavy '08 Travel:

President George W. Bush's diplomatic passport will acquire a slew of new country stamps during his final year in office as he tries to rebuild the U.S.'s international standing and create a foreign-policy legacy beyond Iraq.

…"When it comes to foreign policy, he's not a lame duck; he can do a lot," said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Oh boy. I really don't like the sound of this.

The president plans trips to the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America, which would make 2008 his busiest year abroad.

How about old Bushy-boy just travel to Crawford like usual and clear some brush? That would be good. In fact, if you hire some swarthy locals, dress them up like his boyfriend, and tell him he's in Saudi Arabia, he'll never know the difference.

A Pew study of public opinion in 47 nations found "extensive" anti-Americanism and "increasing disapproval" of the cornerstones of U.S. foreign policy. A perception that Washington acts unilaterally was shared by 89 percent of the French, 83 percent of Canadians and 74 percent of Britons. America's image in most Muslim nations is "abysmal," Pew said.

…Given such results, "going around the world won't make things necessarily worse" because "it's difficult to see how they could be any worse," said Ivo Daalder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former national security council aide in the Clinton administration.

Famous last words. Apparently Ivo hasn't noticed that Bush has what appears to be something vaguely resembling the Midas Touch, except that everything he touches turns to shit.

And let's not forget that he was a C student, about which he often likes to brag, and that he's not a statistician or a numbers-cruncher or a bean counter or a precision guy. Tell Bush about a global 47% disapproval rating and he's likely to say: "That's nuttin! I can get that above 50% in no time, heh heh!"

Do us all a favor, Mr. President. Stay home.