DISTRACTED DUBYA: It's really beginning to look like the Bush White House is in the throes of the Second Term Curse that seems to afflict so many re-elected presidents.

President Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates until the deal already had been approved by his administration, the White House said Wednesday.

Help me out here. Bush not being in the loop is supposed to allay the concerns of those who don't think the UAE deal is wise for America? Not the least worrisome part of this hasty deal is the political fallout. Here we have Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton positioning themselves as national security hawks. The fact that Frist and Hastert likewise have gone on record against the UAE deal gives New York's two senators (and other left liberal Dems) the one thing they have a hard time garnering on their own: credibility on national security issues. Appalling that they should be handed on that on a silver platter by a tone-deaf White House. (You know the president has lost control of the national political dialogue when a smarmy hack like Schumer can suddenly endorse Halliburton and not be laughed off the stage.) Bush's threat to dig in his heals bodes badly for the GOP at a time when the party can't afford more body blows. America loses big time if W's myopia leads to Democrat control of the House or Senate, or (God forbid) both.

MEDIA FURY: Newsweek and TIME both lead with ridiculously hyped cover stories about what the Veep's hunting behavior supposedly reveals about his habitual secrecy. Understand: the celebrity journalists to whom Cheneygate counts as a Major Story — Evan Thomas, Michael Isikoff, Eleanor Clift, et al — are deeply imprinted with the self-congratulatory values of Sixties boomer narcissism. Lemming-like, they view Woodward/Bernstein's toppling of Nixon as the preeminent journalistic accomplishment of all time. Hence they don't dare view a hunting accident as a hunting accident; no, it must stand for much, much more: namely, their own chance to help bring down a presidency that they couldn't destroy through normal media coverage. The Washington media estabishment is absolutely enraged that this story was broken by a small town Texas newspaper. This only fuels their standing agenda to get Cheney at all costs. They won't be happy until he resigns in disgrace. Ain't gonna happen, so look for the media's wildfire fury to burn everything within reach — which of course means eventually self-immolation. Remember Dan Rather? A stirring phrase from JFK's inaugural comes to mind: "Those who foolishly sought power by riding on the back of the tiger ended up inside." My advice to the rage-driven mainstream media: Go for it, guys. Give it your all. Make America's day.