In the days, weeks and months following September 11, 2001, George W. Bush both surprised and impressed me with his handling of a national crisis. Like many who watched Bush squeak into office via the Supreme Court’s intervention, I didn’t expect much of Dubya. Yet he appeared to grow into the job and handled 9-11 with an adroit mixture of compassion and anger. Maybe, I thought, this guy might be up to the job after all. That was then. This is now. Now I’m not so sure. As Bush prepares to lead us into war with Iraq, a war that...