Maybe the W is for weiner, 'cuz he always gives us the wurst.

Not being able to blog until the evening can be frustrating-- by the time I get to write about the resignation of John Bolton, it's already old news. So I try to find stories that fall through the cracks, or that stay fresh and tasty for more than a couple of hours.

That's the case with the Washington Post's collection of article's assessing the presidency of G-Dub. Of course, it's the Washington Post, and they're asking academic, smarty-pants types, so you know it's nothing more than left-wing propaganda. But it's still a lot of fun to read. (The link goes to just one of the pieces-- the rest can be accessed from the article's sidebar.) It's tough to even excerpt this particular article, and you'll soon see why.

At a time of national crisis, Pierce and Buchanan, who served in the eight years preceding the Civil War, and Johnson, who followed it, were simply not up to the job. Stubborn, narrow-minded, unwilling to listen to criticism or to consider alternatives to disastrous mistakes, they surrounded themselves with sycophants and shaped their policies to appeal to retrogressive political forces (in that era, pro-slavery and racist ideologues). Even after being repudiated in the midterm elections of 1854, 1858 and 1866, respectively, they ignored major currents of public opinion and clung to flawed policies. Bush's presidency certainly brings theirs to mind.

Harding and Coolidge are best remembered for the corruption of their years in office (1921-23 and 1923-29, respectively) and for channeling money and favors to big business. They slashed income and corporate taxes and supported employers' campaigns to eliminate unions. Members of their administrations received kickbacks and bribes from lobbyists and businessmen. "Never before, here or anywhere else," declared the Wall Street Journal, "has a government been so completely fused with business." The Journal could hardly have anticipated the even worse cronyism, corruption and pro-business bias of the Bush administration.

Despite some notable accomplishments in domestic and foreign policy, Nixon is mostly associated today with disdain for the Constitution and abuse of presidential power. Obsessed with secrecy and media leaks, he viewed every critic as a threat to national security and illegally spied on U.S. citizens. Nixon considered himself above the law.

Bush has taken this disdain for law even further. He has sought to strip people accused of crimes of rights that date as far back as the Magna Carta in Anglo-American jurisprudence: trial by impartial jury, access to lawyers and knowledge of evidence against them. In dozens of statements when signing legislation, he has asserted the right to ignore the parts of laws with which he disagrees.

That's George, all right-- not just the worst president, but the meta-worst.