Welcome to the 'dog days' of summer in West Texas Well, it's officially hot as hell in the Panhandle again. We had temperatures of 102 degrees to 104 degrees today and it felt like it.

But what the hell, it's only weather, right?

With all the bull@#*& flowing out of the Bush administration's offices these days it's hard to sort through the fiction and find the fact. I'm baffled as to why the news media has given Bush the same level of kid-glove treatment they gave Ronald Reagan when he ruled the roost in D.C.

Bush's admission that he's responsible for everything he said relative to the war with Iraq, I thought, was a political gamble and one that had good odds for success. I remember when lots of pundits said if President Clinton had only admitted his indiscretion up front rather than deny them and fight to cover them up he would have doused the fires of controversy quickly, because the electorate is forgiving of mistakes admitted.

And now we've got the Bushmeister finally taking responsibility for his State of the Union address faux pas - those 16 words that eroded the credibility of his argument. I guess we'll see.

But I'm guessing Bush will avoid any backlash given his admission.

And so it goes.

And now it's time for me to head over to D's house and then on to ChooChai's Restaurant for some Phad Thai (ummmmmm). I'm happy to say I'll be eating like a king tonight - a rare event.

The days ahead will reveal the true complexity of ruling Iraq and trying to impose a democracy on that society. I only wish the rules of engagement would allow greater protection for our soldiers. I'm sick of hearing about troops taking casualties daily.

Here's wishing you a fine week. Ciao.