An ominous reminder noted by Atrios:
The summer of 2001 was declared "summer of the shark" despite the fact that the number of shark attacks wasn't abnormal. Then a little tragic event happened and they shut the hell up about sharks for a little awhile.
He goes on to cite a 22-minute press conference on shark attacks that ran on CNN yesterday, and this week's
Time cover on sharks as well.
Bush's approval ratings were at 49% in the summer of 2001; today they're at 46% and dropping.
On the Monday before 9/11,
Newsweek released a cover story about the election shenanigans in Florida. Today, a number of Bush Administration scandals threaten to erupt this summer -- the Downing Street Minutes and related documents that indicate Bush lied us into an unnecessary war; $8 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds missing, overbilling by Halliburton; Karl Rove's frantic attempts at damage control.
If Bush spends August at the "ranch" in Crawford, watch out...and stay out of airplanes and tall buildings. Oh yeah, and nuclear power plants and ports, too.