United, not divided -- against Bush

Courts, conservatives, military officers and everyone outside Albania can agree on one thing: They're tired of the president.
Rosa Brooks
LA Times

YOU KNOW YOU'VE got a problem when only the Albanians welcome you with open arms — and even then you need to take your watch off to keep them from stealing it.

This is what it's come down to for President Bush, a duck so lame he's nearly quadriplegic. Six and a half years into his interminable presidency, the whole world is sick of him.

American presidents used to make triumphal tours of Europe, where they'd be greeted by enthusiastic crowds. Bush's European trips bring out crowds too, but they're usually calling enthusiastically for his indictment.

Last week's presidential tour featured lots of protest and precious little adulation. In the Czech Republic, demonstrators greeted Bush with signs reading "Bush number one terrorist." In Italy, where more than two dozen CIA agents face criminal trial for the illegal "rendition" of terror suspects, tens of thousands of anti-Bush protesters took to the streets. At the Vatican, the pope took Bush to task over the Iraq war. Only in Albania did Bush receive a rapturous welcome — though video footage led to speculation that in the celebration an Albanian Bush "fan" may have relieved the president of his watch.

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