The Daily News...

...seems to have picked up last week's Capitol Hill Blue story and run with it. Today's edition has a story that reiterates the tales of Bush's tirades and mood swings.

"He's like the lion in winter," observed a political friend of Bush. "He's frustrated. He remains quite confident in the decisions he has made. But this is a guy who wanted to do big things in a second term. Given his nature, there's no way he'd be happy about the way things have gone." Bush usually reserves his celebrated temper for senior aides because he knows they can take it. Lately, however, some junior staffers have also faced the boss' wrath. "This is not some manager at McDonald's chewing out the help," said a source with close ties to the White House when told about these outbursts. "This is the President of the United States, and it's not a pleasant sight."

On Cheney:

The vice president remains Bush's most trusted political confidant. Even so, the Daily News has learned Bush has told associates Cheney was overly involved in intelligence issues in the runup to the Iraq war that have been seized on by Bush critics. Bush is so dismayed that "the only person escaping blame is the President himself," said a sympathetic official, who delicately termed such self-exoneration "illogical."

Now although this story does read like the tabloid piece that it is, it's interesting that it has now popped up in several places over the past couple of weeks. This reminds me of the stories we were hearing about the Nixon White House in the final days of that administration, Nixon and Kissinger praying together in front of the portrait of Lincoln, drunken rants, irrational explosions of temper. It sure looks like this chimp might really be losing it. PS: That picture is so good I just had to post it again.