George W. Nixon: With approval numbers hovering between 45 and 48 percent Bush is less popular than Richard Nixon, writes Juan Cole. He cites factors like high gas prices (58% of respondents in a recent poll say prices are creating "serious financial hardship") and the war (70% say the casualty count, more than 1500 dead, is unacceptable). Add to that his close ties to chronically scandal-prone Tom DeLay and his erratic stumping for Social Security privatization (his rationale has changed as often as his justification for the Iraq war; most recently, he's implied that government bonds aren't all that safe). AND: A flash movie on Bush and the 14 defining characteristics of fascism.