Worst President Ever

At least that's what some of my fellow Charlotteans said about Bush when he came to town today. He was here to repeat his tiresome defense of the decision to blow up Iraq, but things apparently got more interesting during the Q&A period:

The audience included critics as well as admirers, and Bush continued a recent pattern of answering questions even from skeptics. One questioner even suggested the president should have "the honesty and grace to be ashamed" of himself.

…

Harry Taylor, a commercial real estate broker, stood to criticize Bush over everything from government eavesdropping to holding detainees to opposing abortion rights.

"I have never felt more embarrassed or frightened by your leadership," Taylor said.

Amen, Mr. Taylor.

And while I think it's a good thing that Bush isn't keeping his audiences critic-free, and is willing to at least listen to some aggressive questions, I'm not under any illusion that he's doing this because he really gives a damn what people think. It's just the latest PR strategy, one that probably won't improve his dismal approval ratings, and then his handlers will have him try something else, perhaps something involving a pony.