He's the Man, Joo!

From Farhad Manjoo's post in today's Salon.com's War Room, commenting on the recent Washington Post "story" that ". . . in the new year, Americans should look for the Bush Administration to be honest, trustworthy, pragmatic, and, most of all, interested in what its critics have to say . . . " :

We've got a guess for why the public has not wholeheartedly embraced the new Bush: because Americans realize that once again, the White House is only tinkering with the way it presents its policies, not with the actual policies themselves. They've changed the packaging, slapped on a spiffy new label -- "Now 50 percent humbler!" -- but the product's still stale and unappetizing, and the price is far too high.

We're not just making this up; one Bush aide all but admits to the Post that Bush's new strategy is mostly just rhetorical. Likening the national debate on what to do in Iraq to "fighting with a spouse," the aide says that Bush's new plan is to "give voice to their concern. That doesn't necessarily solve the division and the difference, but it drains the disagreement of some of its animosity if you feel you've been heard."

There you have it, then. In the new year, the president would like to make you feel like you're being heard. But don't assume he's actually listening. He's not.

My manjoo also characterizes your president as ". . . George W. Bush, he of small words and big smirk . . ."

Bring it, baby. We in the choir are singing!

And the reason you haven't yet subscribed to Salon is . . . ?