Bush continues to press on:

“I would say that those who herald this decision simply do not understand the nature of the world in which we live,” Mr. Bush said in a question-answer session at Camp David, Md. “I strongly disagree with that decision, strongly disagree. That’s why I instructed the Justice Department to appeal immediately. And I believe our appeals will be upheld.”

“We believe, strongly believe, it’s constitutional,” the president added.

Bush forgot to mention how much of a liberal that judge was.

You see, the nature of the world in which we live is one where spying without a warrant is fine, liberals are always wrong, and all you have to do is strongly, STRONGLY believe something to be true, and it is!

(Closing my eyes now...wishing for a pony...)

I see he has a new movie out. Interviews include Al Sharpton, Harry Belafonte and Kanye West

If Lee's not marked as liberal scourge of the Earth yet, I'm sure he'll soon be joining the ranks of Michael Moore and Ned Lamont.

And, speaking of movies, go see "Little Miss Sunshine." It's funny and uplifting, despite the, you know, dark, depressive, Neitzschean, suicidal themes that run through it.

AP takes a look at one piece of Bush's communication strategy: firing "Setting The Record Straight" memos whenever the poll numbers dip:

Nearly half of the 32 issued so far were released in November 2005 and May of this year, two months when Bush's job approval numbers plummeted. Ten of the 32 were leveled against Democrats on Capitol Hill. Twenty took issue with newspaper, magazine or broadcast reports on subjects ranging from climate change to tax cuts to prewar intelligence on weapons of mass destruction.

...In November 2005, the White House unleashed a barrage of "Setting the Record Straight" memos, all on Iraq. That was the month that Bush's job approval rating fell to 37 percent — the lowest level of his presidency at that time. The drop in the polls was driven by worries about the war, the fumbled Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers and the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, in the CIA leak case.

The seven consecutive memos on the war were part of an effort by Bush officials to hit back at the president's critics. There were divisions within the GOP over the war at the time and Republicans were beginning to worry that the president's problems and low approval rating could impede their re-elections just one year away.

Another seven memos were issued in May when Bush's job approval rating fell to 33 percent — the lowest ever in the AP-Ipsos poll. All were on domestic issues, including tax relief, the nation's economic health and the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

As noted, most of the memos attack the media.

In the piece, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, calls this a "Rush Limbaugh strategy," as the memos run "parallel" to the talking points on his show. Marching orders, and all...

Jamieson also notes this is essentially the future of White House communication stratagy, using the internet to target specific messages. And while that may be true, it works up to a point.

Not sure any matter of spin can save Bush now.

"1 in 3 Americans may now believe that 9/11 was an "inside job."

Sounds a little fishy, so I googled it (oops, copyright infringment). Here's the full question:

Thirty-six percent of respondents overall said it is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that federal officials either participated in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or took no action to stop them "because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East."

Now, knowing that Bush saw a PDB saying "Bin Laden Determined To Attack," it's fair to say that they "took no action" to stop them. I'm not very conspiracy-minded, but I would have answered yes to that one.

That, of course, is very different than saying it was an "inside job."