AWOL's That Ends AWOL

Good news for the American troops and the troops of our "coalition partners." Peg Noonan says you can all go home now:

Leaving early, and with such modesty--it was a pleasure to be here, let us know if there's anything we can do--tends to undermine charges of U.S. imperialism.

If Peg's Bucket of Guts in the White House can disappear without finishing his duty, then you and your comrades can leave early too.

Mission accomplished.

Peg also says that the unwashed masses love ol' their unelected leader, even though they're really friggin' morons:

Here is my fear: that the American people, liking and respecting President Bush, and knowing he's a straight shooter with guts, will still feel a great temptation to turn to the boring and disingenuous John Kerry. He'll never do anything exciting. He doesn't have the guts to be exciting. And as he doesn't stand for anything, he won't have to take hard stands. He'll do things like go to France and talk French and they'll love it. He'll say he's the man who accompanied Teresa Heinz to Paris, only this time he'll say it in French and perfectly accented and they'll all go "ooh la la!"

Yes, the American people love and respect Bush and his guts -- so much that if boring Senator Kerry says something in a language almost none of them understand, they will all vote for Kerry.

But do the American people respect Bush, and think he's a straight shooter? Survey says: No:

In the Post/ABC News poll, only 39 percent rated Bush the more "honest and trustworthy" presidential candidate, while 52 percent named presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry as more honest and trustworthy.

Emphatically, no.

Finally, note that Bush has no advantage at all on "he will be a strong leader for the country" (44 percent to 44 percent) and only a one point advantage on "he has the honesty and integrity to serve as president" (41 percent to 40 percent). For a president whose stock in trade used to be the strong leader who told it like it was, that's not very encouraging news.

Maybe Peg has been unable to refill her lithum through the NHS.