The Passion of the Bush

For those of you who missed the first presidential debate last night, it unfolded pretty much as one might suspect. Mr. Kerry acquitted himself well, although perhaps not as admirably as one might reasonably expect of a Yale star debater, whilst Mr. Bush, when cornered by his opponent, resorted to repeating the same mantra ("That's not how a commander-in-chief acts") ad nauseam (literally so; I was unable to finish my second Earl-on-a-tortilla).

The Democratic National Committee has thoughtfully distilled the most entertaining portions of the evening—by which I mean Mr. Bush's facial expressions—into a short video montage that it quite accurately calls "Faces of Frustration." Bush campaign spinista Nicolle Devenish said after the debate that Mr. Bush's facial gymnastics merely showed his strong level of engagement. "The president reacted honestly. It showed the president really believes in his convictions," Devenish said.

Far more likely, at least to this observer, is that Mr. Bush was stifling an almost uncontrollable urge to begin speaking in tongues, channeling Jesus himself to answer the more complicated questions for him. Sure, you can laugh—but read this item first, in which estimable New York Times theatre-critic-turned-gadfly Frank Rich explores a new DVD entitled George W. Bush: Faith in the White House. (See, it's a double meaning.)

I think one of the questions asked by the moderator at any presidential debate, from now until Armageddon, should be, "Do you believe that God wants you to be President?" And if the answer is yes, well, we all know what to do then, don't we?