It's time to fire the cowboy.

OK, so according to all major news sources -- how many is it that we need reporting the very same thing? -- GWB, that is to say the President of this formerly rather enjoyable country, has accepted responsibility for the "failures of the federal government in its response to Hurricane Katrina." Just for the record (judge Roberts), here's the entire quote: "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government, and to the extent that the federal government didn't do it's job right, I take responsibility." OK, so it is kind of a hedge. But you know from the past how GWB hates to accept any kind of responsibility for anything that went wrong -- does no WMD's in Iraq ring a bell? -- so this is a significant change of behavior.

Well, I have one response. We the people accept that you, Mr. President, have finally accepted responsibility for just one of the catastrophes that have occured on your watch, so now we'd like you to step aside. Put bluntly, we'd like to fire your ass once and for all. And please while we're at it, can we get one of those hard-to-find buses that couldn't make it to New Orleans in time to save a lot of folks who couldn't afford an automobile? Let's get one to instead pull up at the White House so you, Mr. Cheney, Mr. Rumsfeld, Ms. Rice and especially Mr. Rove can all get on at the very same time. I'm sure that if you had a chat with them they might also be willing to accept some responsibility for the complete and utter failure of your "bomb first and ask questions later" policy in Iraq. Just today, rebels in Iraq killed about 150 people in a combined wave of gruesome attacks. Things are not getting better there, and like Vietnam, it's time we accept that reality and get the hell out.

Or, if you need a bit more convincing, let's look at energy policy. The most recent numbers show that the soaring price of gasoline is finally (FINALLY) causing Americans to climb into their automobiles a bit less. Well, what do you know? Now imagine if you had made developing alternative fuel vehicles a priority for the nation rather than dismantling environmental regulations, starting a war and providing huge tax cuts to your wealthiest friends. Thanks to relaxed federal standards, fule economy on cars and trucks in the U.S. is actually declining! It's beyond belief given what's happening with global warming and oil dependency. Are you ready to accept responsibility here, too?

What's most astonishing to me is that the last guy in your position was impeaced for not telling the truth about having sex with an intern. Surely history will record that your failures -- which have resulted in substantial loss of life now, and for some time to come -- are in an entirely different league. It's like a litterbug going to jail while the serial killer gets off with an apology.

It's time for you and your pals to go. Now, my guess is that just like Nixon, you won't be able to see this for yourself. It will take some convincing. Therefore, it must be up to us. It's gone beyond "Impeach Bush" bumperstickers. It's time to move on to the real thing. Just imagine how much better we'll all feel. And what a true service you'd be doing for your country. Finally, you'd get something right. No apologies needed.