Torture's Bad Seeds

Recalling the results of U.S. occupations of Cuba and Panama, Wickham concludes: "Instead of caving in to the demand for a long-term U.S. military presence in their country, Iraqi leaders would be wise to tell the Bush administration: Yanquis, go home."

Karl E. Meyer writes in a New York Times op-ed: "With only perfunctory debate, the Bush administration is pressuring a divided Iraqi government to approve a security agreement that could haunt Washington's relations with Baghdad for years to come. The 'strategic alliance' that President Bush is proposing eerily resembles, in spirit and in letter, a failed 1930 treaty between Britain and Iraq that prompted a nationalist eruption in Baghdad, a pro-Nazi military coup and a pogrom that foreshadowed the elimination of Baghdad's ancient Jewish community."

Bush Lobs Bricks

Dan Eggen blogs for The Washington Post: "During a visit Monday to an 'integrated' Catholic and Protestant school in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Bush stopped in at a basketball program that aims to bring kids of different backgrounds together through sports.

"So Bush tried his hand at a few shots on the lowered net, according to a pool report from the restricted-access event.

"The president air balled the first, bounced one jump shot each off the rim and backboard, and finally tried a long jumper that bounced out.

"Bush appeared to want to continue, according to the report, but the coach moved on to a new drill with the class."

Here's the video.

Bush's Strawman Revealed

Bush often credits "some" or "some people" with a particularly absurd argument that he can then refute. Yesterday, however, his strawman argument took an unusual turn.

Deb Riechmann writes for the Associated Press: "President Bush took a shot Monday at all those people saying his weeklong trip to Europe would be his last as president.

"Uh, that would include you, sir.

"At a news conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Bush issued this curious quote: 'This has been a good trip. By the way, some are speculating this is my last trip. Let them speculate. Who knows?'

"Yes, it is true that many news stories about Bush's journey referred to it as his farewell tour of Europe as president, as his term ends in January.

"But that wasn't just speculation based on his shrinking time in office.

"It was based on Bush's own words at the start of the trip in Slovenia, just six days earlier.

"'It's interesting,' Bush said then. 'My first visit as U.S. president to Europe included a -- my first stop in Slovenia. My last visit as U.S. president to Europe includes first stop in Slovenia. It's a fitting circle.'"

Poll Watch

Dan Balz and Jon Cohen write in The Washington Post: "Bush's approval rating hit another low in Post-ABC polling and now is 29 percent, with 68 percent saying they disapprove of the job he is doing -- 54 percent strongly. Among the dwindling number who approve of the way Bush is handling his job, 80 percent back McCain. Among the much higher number who disapprove, 26 percent support McCain.

"In general, 57 percent said McCain would continue to lead the country as Bush has and 38 percent said he would chart a new course."

Here's more from the new poll-- which mirrors an April Gallup Poll.

Bush's 68 percent disapproval rating is "the highest in any presidential approval poll dating to Gallup's first in 1938 (surpassing Harry Truman's 67 percent disapproval and Richard Nixon's 66). Fifty-four percent 'strongly' disapprove, a new high, dwarfing the 10 percent who strongly approve. Among other groups, Bush is at record lows in his own party and among conservatives.

"Separately, and for the same reasons, a remarkable 84 percent say the country is seriously off on the wrong track, a record high in polls since the early 1970s. The previous high was 83 percent in June 1992, the summer before Bush's father lost re-election amid broad economic discontent. It was 82 percent last month."

Gerald Seib writes in the Wall Street Journal with the solution to a riddle: "How can a record percentage of Americans say they disapprove of the job the Democratic-controlled Congress is doing -- yet at the same time say, also by a record margin, they want this year's election to produce another Democratic-controlled Congress? . . .

"The answer, in fact, reveals a great deal about the depth of Republicans' problems and the impact President Bush is having on an election in which, technically speaking, he isn't a participant. . . .

"Call it the Bush overhang, and it is a big factor for Republicans from presidential contender John McCain down to state legislative candidates this year. The new poll findings suggest that a fair share of voters are blaming President Bush not just for things he has or hasn't done, but for things Congress has or hasn't done, even while led by the opposing party."

Third Term Watch

Elisabeth Bumiller of the New York Times assesses the Democratic argument that electing Senator John McCain would usher in the third term for George W. Bush: "[O]n big-ticket issues -- the economy, support for continuing the Iraq war, health care -- his stances are indeed similar to Mr. Bush's brand of conservatism. Mr. McCain's positions are nearly identical to the president's on abortion and the types of judges he says he would appoint to the courts.

"On the environment, American diplomacy and nuclear proliferation, Mr. McCain has strikingly different views from Mr. Bush."

Scandal Watch

Could this be the next big White House scandal?

James Risen writes in the New York Times: "The Army official who managed the Pentagon's largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR, the Houston-based company that has provided food, housing and other services to American troops.

"The official, Charles M. Smith, was the senior civilian overseeing the multibillion-dollar contract with KBR during the first two years of the war. . . .

"Ever since KBR emerged as the dominant contractor in Iraq, critics have questioned whether the company has benefited from its political connections to the Bush administration. Until last year, KBR was known as Kellogg, Brown and Root and was a subsidiary of Halliburton, the Texas oil services giant, where Vice President Dick Cheney previously served as chief executive."

Live Online

I'll be Live Online tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET. Come join the conversation.

Cartoon Watch

Peter Brookes on Bush's legacy. And cartoonist Martin Rowson writes in the Guardian about how he'll miss Bush when he's gone.