Quote of the day

"No one ever re-believes in Santa Claus once they learn the truth."

This is from publius at Legal Fiction on why Bush will never see an approval rating out of the 40's again.

More critically, I think Bush has lost much of his appeal to independents and non-rabid Republicans as well. Their support for Bush always had a strong emotional element that defied rational argument. That’s also why many Democrats like him pre-Iraq – for emotional reasons. Bush performed well after 9/11 and forged an emotional bond with the public. People liked him – and when people like you, that’s all you need. But in reality, Bush – i.e., the image of Bush-as-strong-competent-President – was always something of an illusion. To continue to support him in the face of increasingly bad consequences, you had to continue believing in the illusion forged in the aftermath of 9/11. At that time, people needed something to believe in – all of us did – and Bush filled the void for many.

But the thing about illusions is that eventually give way to reality. And once people see through them, they’re hard to re-establish. Slowly but surely, the veil of illusion is being lifted. One by one, people are coming to see the man behind the curtain for what he is. For some, Katrina was the last straw. For others, it was Miers. For me, it was Iraq.