My dreams aren't as empty as my conscience seems to be

By Dolores Hazen
Holwin' Leroy Eenk Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - It used to be an hour or two on the mountain bike could solve any problem, or at least sooth his nerves and give him some perspective.

Get the heart beating, the sweat flowing, crank up the Lee Greenwood on his iPod and he could almost feel the stress and the tension melt away.

Nowadays, it isn't so easy for U.S. President George Bush to forget his troubles. After losing Congress to the opposition in an election that sent a clear message that it wants the Iraq occupation to end, the most powerful man in the world has been feeling a little powerless.

And with Democrats, many Republicans and the public at large scoffing at his decision to increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to 150,000, he said he can't help but feel misunderstood.

"It's just 21,000 more troops," he said Thursday, sulking in the White House's executive locker room after a morning ride. "It's not like it's my fault that things are going so badly in Iraq. It's the terrorists and the insurgents, and the Hollywood elite. I feel like sometimes I'm the only one that understands, that really appreciates, what we are doing over there to improve it."

Despite exuding the confidence citizens expect of their commander in chief, and swaggering with a definite swagger in his step, deep down, Bush is just another sensitive guy, he said.

"I'm not afraid to say that it hurts my feelings - it does," he said softly, taking longer than usual to towel his nether region. "It's not my fault."

Experts say that Bush's decision shows that, in spite of descending public approval ratings and the low confidence among Americans about his handling of the war, he must know something that the press and the public don't.

"The only other alternative is that he's making it up as he goes along," said Pennsylvania State University Political Science Prof. Malcolm Hornee. "And that's ludicrous. I mean, just look at the last six years, it was like a ballet, except with more missing limbs."

Bush criticized the press for emphasizing the bad news from Iraq, and not the good news, such as the fact that many more Americans were not being killed than were being killed, but he said he appreciated the good work the Associated Press, in particular, has done.

"They always report the number of Americans killed, and I understand, they have to do that, but they hardly ever mention the number of wounded Americans and the estimated number of dead Iraqis," Bush said. "That's a stand-up move."

William Preverte, a spokesman for the Associated Press, said the world's largest wire service does not report the number of dead Iraqis because readers don't care.

"If they wanted to be counted, they should have come to the U.S. and joined the armed forces, the greatest armed forces in the world," Preverte said.

Bush began reading Robert Bly books, burning aromatherapy candles during baths and every night watching the screen classic Old Yeller in an effort to calm himself from the anxious pace of life since becoming an isolated, unpopular president.

"It feels good," he said. "I feel like I'm finally finding myself."

At a Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony Wednesday, Bush wept openly while honoring U.S. Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham, 22, a Marine serving in Iraq who in April 2004 covered a live grenade with his helmet to save his comrades. He died eight days later from his injuries.

"I was thinking about how Travis didn't want to shoot poor old Yeller, but he had to do it," Bush said thoughtfully. "I feel like Travis sometimes."