MORE ON THE PRESIDENT: Here's another "Washington Post" story that grabbed my attention:

BIRMINGHAM, July 15 -- For the second time in as many weeks, President Bush offered reassuring words today about the nation's economy. And for the second time, investors drove stock prices steeply down just after his address.

My God! Bush failed to utter the magic words to save our vastly complex, multi-trillion-dollar economy from catastrophe! What a buffoon! Later, the president failed to cure a country ham, noting that the ham was fine just as it was:

Today, Bush again belittled "number-crunchers" who "talk about this number here, and that number there." But then, suggesting Americans "build on the good statistics we're beginning to see," he rattled off several: 6 percent first-quarter growth, higher durable goods orders and retail sales, low inflation and interest rates, and higher productivity. "In spite of the fact that we've been in a slump for a while," he said, "this economy is coming back. . . . Our economy is fundamentally strong."

If you don't believe Bush, then maybe you'll believe this guy.