Maybe digging faster will get you out of that hole, sir

So, this is how the president is preparing for the second debate:

Retooled Bush Speech has Zingers
Bush seemed to enjoy the exercise of leveling new attacks as much as he seemed to dislike Thursday's debate with Kerry.

He was energized by a crowd of some 1,000 fervent supporters in an art-deco theater packed to its gilded balcony. Reading from a prepared text, Bush chuckled to himself as he delivered his cutting new lines.

He shook his head to convey disbelief as he read the charges against Kerry. Bush thumped an open palm against his lectern as he declared: "The world is better off with Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell."

After reciting a laundry list of Kerry's criticisms on Iraq, Bush said: "You hear all that and you can understand why somebody would make a face." It was Bush's way of explaining his debate scowls and looks of annoyance.

His friendly audience laughed, leaped to their feet and gave him a standing ovation, led, among others, by political aide Karl Rove, sitting in the third row.

Perfect. Adjust for being too negative, too unused to opposing views, and too uninformed in the first debate by going more negative, speaking to even more partisan audiences, and making your charges even more vague.

What's most appalling to me is the image of Bush and Rove smacking their nasty little lips over this performance. I wonder if Rove has read Dante's Inferno. Does he have any idea what awaits him after this life? He may have a choice between the fifth and sixth ditches, if he's lucky.