The Lever

Good evening.

Tonight President Bush speaks to the nation from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

It is off the coast of California, host of the Commander-in-Chief, who arrived today in spectacular fashion

on board of Navy Jeff that landed in classic style on the duck.

On May 1st, 2003, George W. Bush created one of the most iconic,

and some might say, infamous moments in presidential history,

strutting around on the deck of an aircraft carrier in a flight suit and a cod piece before he changed into a suit for a nationally televised speech.

And as if made for television, which in fact it is here now is the president of the United States,

as he walks across the deck with 2,000 sailors and officers on board.

Bush's approval ratings were in the stratosphere.

He effused confidence and cockiness, and he didn't mince words or hedge.

Less than two months after he'd ordered the U.S. military to invade Iraq,

Bush stood in front of a massive banner that said mission accomplished, and he told the world,

Major combat operations in Iraq have ended in the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.

That turned out to be a bit of an overstatement.

The Iraq war continued for years.

But Bush got his triumphant flight deck photo op and then quickly

turned to another conflict. On the very same day as Bush's aircraft carrier stunt, a federal

court rejected the master planners challenged to the McCain-Feingold law. The case was another

reminder of the conservative legal movement's big problem that we mentioned in our last episode,

squishy judges that were undermining the conservative agenda, including the master plan to legalize corruption.

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