There’s an interesting meme bouncing around right now: Bush is so unpopular that he can do whatever he wants and not suffer any further political costs.

My question to you is: should political costs be what he’s considering or the will of the American electorate who put him in office?

From Wash Post:

The latest Washington Post-ABC News survey shows that 65 percent of Americans disapprove of Bush’s job performance, matching his all-time low. In polls conducted by The Post or Gallup going back to 1938, only once has a president exceeded that level of public animosity — and that was Richard M. Nixon, who hit 66 percent four days before he resigned.

The historic depth of Bush’s public standing has whipsawed his White House, sapped his clout, drained his advisers, encouraged his enemies and jeopardized his legacy. Around the White House, aides make gallows-humor jokes about how they can alienate their remaining supporters — at least those aides not heading for the door. Outside the White House, many former aides privately express anger and bitterness at their erstwhile colleagues, Bush and the fate of his presidency.

Bush has been so down for so long that some advisers maintain it no longer bothers them much. It can even, they say, be liberating. Seeking the best interpretation for the president’s predicament, they argue that Bush can do what he thinks is right without regard to political cost, pointing to decisions to send more U.S. troops to Iraq and to commute the sentence of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff.

Now, Captain Ed takes issue with the sampling method used on the Wash Post poll because he feels Republicans are underrepresented. Fine. But there’s this poll, this poll, this poll, this poll and this poll (PDF) that all basically say the same thing: people don’t like what Bush is doing.

Oh, and just in case you buy into the “liberal media conspiracy”, here’s a Fox News poll.

My opinion is pretty clear…Bush needs to respond to these polls because what they mean is we want him to listen to us. Why? Because he’s our employee. The problem is that his public behavior suggests he doesn’t think he has to pay attention to what we’re telling him. Fair enough.

So let’s imagine a marriage for a moment…

Let’s say that one person is making seemingly very suspect decisions and the evidence they said backed up their previous assertions/predictions has proven false, but they’re still spending a hell of a lot of money to prove that they’re right. Also, when you confront them about it, the answer is always the same, “I know what I’m doing and I have our best interests in mind.”

Now, some would cry BS right away, but most of us would let this go on for just a bit because they’re our partner, you trust them and you think they really do have our “best interests in mind.”

Cut to a year later…

The situation has gotten worse and our partner is saying the same thing. But now you have even more evidence that they’re wrong, so you’re really wondering if they have your “best interests in mind” or they just don’t want to admit they’re wrong. And because you’re legally tied to this person, you’re starting to worry that they’re going to drag you down with them and ruin your already damaged credibility, not to mention potentially hamstringing you financially for years to come.

What’s the logical conclusion here?

In a marriage it’s divorce. With a president it’s either impeachment or censure. The former isn’t likely and the latter has no teeth. So it’s not likely we really can do anything at this point except wait it out.

However…Bush and his most ardent supporters shouldn’t be surprised when people liken him to an emperor or a dictator. That’s not to say he does the vile things of historical potentates, but insomuch as he continually ignores the will of the electorate, then yes, the comparison is apt. Because all we want him to do is listen, and he just flat out refuses.

Seriously. This isn’t folksy determination anymore…it’s gross negligence. Sure, we can (and will) wait it out, but there are many who don’t want to wait another year and a half while he spends on told billions of dollars that could be going to more important stateside needs. There are many who know that we have a mechanism to kick a President out, and they feel they have just cause to call for its use.

I guess what I’m saying is that when you read people calling for impeachment, you should understand where they’re coming from. Sure, there are your handful who loathe Bush just because he’s a Republican, but I’m not having almost daily conversations with very reasonable people want him gone as quickly as possible…and they seem a lot more receptive to the I-word when it comes up.

Because, in the end, it’s really the last option we have on the table to get him to listen to US.