Murdoch's UK Flagship Ditches Bush?

Anatole Kaletsky is the Times of London economic guru. He is their primary commentator on international economics and runs his own highly successful consultancy. You can bet that when he speaks, Rupert Murdoch listens. But when Murdoch lets him unleash invective like he did today...oh boy!

For the past five years, America has been led by a president who is clearly not up to the job — a man who is not just inarticulate, but lacking in judgment, intelligence, integrity, charisma or staying power. Yet America as a nation seems to be stronger, more prosperous and self-confident than ever.

As the State of the Union address made clear, President Bush has more or less given up on all the grand goals that were supposed to define his presidency: social security reform, peace in the Middle East, even the axis of evil doctrine, which was supposed to disarm North Korea and Iran. Most embarrassingly, President Bush seems to have given up on capturing Osama bin Laden or bringing to justice the perpetrators of 9/11.

But now comes the paradox. While America has been run by one of the most doltishly ineffectual governments in history, it has forged ever further ahead of Europe in terms of wealth, science, technology, artistic creativity and cultural dominance.

I mean...wow! Not just from a conservative organ but from the London Times, Murdoch's UK flagship and possibly the most respected newspaper in the Northern Hemisphere!

Kaletsky goes on to deliver a praise of Alan Greenspan in particular and American "get up and go" and conservative precepts of public policy that "could be simultaneously minimalist and ambitious" in general. He also singles out:

a host of public institutions, ranging from government bodies such as the Federal Reserve and the National Institutes of Health to charities such as the great universities, museums and hospitals, that are driven by a sense of public service that puts British and European bureaucracies to shame.

But read that burial of Bush again. This is the word from on high. Murdoch has ditched Bush and is casting about for his replacement. Expect the same motif from FOX News soon.