GW got pissed that his presidential stand-in, Petraeus, was on the receiving end of some stinging criticism (via MoveOn.org). But as Dan Froomkin writes:

Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq who spent much of last week touting rosy scenarios in Iraq and hawking the administration's stay-the-course plan, has become the most political of figures. And Bush has acknowledged that he is using the general to get out a message that the public wouldn't believe if it was coming from him. (Just yesterday, Bush told a group of conservative columnists: "People listen to Petraeus, not to me.")
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Here's two fantasy follow-up questions for Bush: If you make a general your political standard-bearer, don't your political enemies get to take aim? And is it possible Democrats were reserving their outrage for issues other than a political ad?

Bush admits that he's in the toilet with the public so he must shove another stooge out on stage to lip-synch what he wants to say -- a bit like the cheesy ventriloquist act. Then when the act is hit with some tomatoes, Bush gets his back up and cries foul.

Gads, our management of geopolitical affairs has come down to this? Figuring out what to do in Iraq, how long we should stay, etc., is not the job of a military person but rather our elected top-dog civilian leader. Funny how ego-off-the-charts Mr. Decider is now deferring to his general; yes, he has sunk that low.

When does this increasingly sad and tragic nightmare end?!