It seems to me that George Bush is taking far too much heat lately for this whole WMD business. The look on his face as he endured Tim Russert's nationally televised proctological exam last week said it all. You expected him at any moment to say, "Of course I was lying about Iraq! That's my job! Leave me alone!"

There was another expression on Bush's face that appeared from time to time during the course of that interview that was strangely familiar. For days I couldn't put my finger on it. Then it hit me: It recalled the last scene in The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy wakes up from her adventure. Bert Lahr is there by the bedside. So is Jack Haley. And you, Ray Bolger, you were there, too, Scarecrow...

They were all there. They were there right by Bush's side all last year and even before. Only in this case, the Scarecrow has decided to lean over Dorothy in bed and slap her across the face with a wet woolen glove. So much for the happy ending. The whole scene actually made me feel sorry for Bush. Abandoned by his best friends, just when he needed them the most.