So I do get it. I know that vritually every administration spends time and effort on campaigning. That doesn't mean that I like it. I'm especially frustrated that at the expense of attempting to fix major, major screw ups, domestic and international, that Bolten and Bush are worried about Bush's base.

Hmmm. What base? Oh that remarkably stunning 32% and declining base.

My tax dollars unfortuantely and sadly have helped to support ill-conceived plans that were poorly executed in many cases and dismally executed in most. I'll be damned if I want my money to focus on initiatives to support Bush's base. I could care less about the Bush base. That's just not one of my priorities Mr. Bush and Mr. Bolten. What about the 68% and rising of us that no longer agree with the direction that Bush has taken us.

Sixty-eight percent sounds a little bit like a clear mandate for a new direction doesn't it?

Now that Bush's base may safely be considered a solid minority, perhaps we can now rename it. Base implies something solid and real, that you can actually stand on and feel supported. And, since perceiving Reality doesn't seem to be an actual requirement for membership... I suggest we start calling it "The Clouds."

Thinking that, I was inspired to google Aristophanes' "The Clouds," thinking that play might also be as apropos as Lysistrata to these times. Perhaps not quite in context, but still...

The play of the Clouds is very well known, but for the most part little understood and appreciated. It is intended to show that in the propensity to philosophical subtleties, the martial exercises of the Athenians were neglected, that speculation only serves to shake the foundations of religion and morality, that by sophistical sleight, in particular, all justice was turned into quibbles, and the weaker cause often enabled to come off victorious. The Clouds, themselves, who form the chorus, no doubt dressed fantastically enough, are an allegory on these metaphysical thoughts, which do not rest on the ground of experience, but hover about without definite form and substance, in the region of possibilities.

source: http://www.theatrehistory.com/ancient/bates025.html

Consider, too, his base's preoccupation with Revelations and the End Times...

1. Annouce that a Democratic Congress will implement an exit strategy for Iraq, while reclaiming the Legislative branch's supposedly co-equal powers on war, foreign policy, the purse-strings, etc.

2. Get out the vote.

It's time to press the advantage and go for the checkmate.