Bush the "Warrior"

George W's chest-thumping, "Me Big Chief" schtick has gone from laughable to pathetic... to dangerous.

Bush -- who, as a boy, enjoyed shoving firecrackers down the throats of frogs, tossing them in the air to watch them to explode -- now has far more powerful explosives to toss around the world, not only killing thousands of innocent foreigners in the path of his wars, but also killing U.S. soldiers. It would be one thing if he did this with reticence, humility, and regret, as other presidents have done, but George W pursues worldwide war with the blustery, frat-boy bravado of one who has never been in one.

First, he strutted out like some character in a wild west movie to declare that he'd make quick work of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, promising to "smoke 'em out" and to get Osama "dead or alive." Two years later, it appears that Osama is still alive, al Qaeda is stronger than ever, and thousands of our soldiers are mired in an almost forgotten but still-deadly ground war in Afghanistan's treacherous mountains.

Meanwhile, George moved on. This draft-dodging son of privilege and former Yale cheerleader used the presidency and outright lies to whip up a sudden war fever over Iraq, declaring he'd "get" Saddam Hussein and cause the Iraqis to "love" us. Well, it appears Saddam's still alive and those liberated Iraqis are now protesting America and still shooting at our soldiers, even though Bush gloatingly pulled off that Hollywood stunt-landing on a aircraft carrier two months ago, strutting out in a "Top Gun" costume to declare the Iraqi war was "over." Asked later about the fact that hostile forces continue to attack our troops in Iraq, George sneered for the cameras like some puffed up TV wrestler and snarled: "Bring 'em on."

This is Jim Hightower saying... While Bush struts, our soldiers are dying. Such shallow presidential bravado kills.