President Bush chose to depart from his daily routine of generally being AWOL to speak out on an issue of importance. The economy, which is tanking? No. The war in Afghanistan, which the senior British commander says cannot be won? No. Bush called upon the Senate to confirm the nominations of conservative judges to the appellate bench. What was the point? He knows the nominations are dead. Everybody knows the nominations are dead. This is a serious situation. Bush has no following in either party. His ability to lead, and for that matter, his will to lead, is undetectable. This reminds me of the end of Jimmy Carter’s term in 1980, when the whole country was just waiting for the day when he finally turned the presidency over to his successor.