Our national inner Gilligan

Years ago, TVLand ran a series of faux profound ads promoting "Gilligan's Island." The ads featured a real psychologist analyzing why Gilligan always screwed up and why the other castaways didn't just set the self-sabotaging goofball adrift in a makeshift raft (or worse). The reason: we all identify with Gilligan because we all struggle with our "inner Gilligan."

Well, that's Bush. He's our national inner Gilligan.

Now, you can hose him down, dress him up, and prop him next to the Professor, as played by Tony Blair, but it doesn't mean anything. After all, the Professor is stranded on the same island.

And TVLand once promoted "Green Acres" with this tag line: You used to think it was just stupid, but now you know it's surreal.

That line crossed my mind when I saw a cable news canned retrospective of the Bush-Blair relationship. It featured a clip of the much-younger duo in casual mode. Bush, in his leather bomber jacket, declared to the press that he and Blair, sort of frisky Hugh Grant—looking in semi-tight jeans and slightly oversized pullover sweater, would work well together because they both like the same brand of toothpaste.

And on such a strong bond a totally pointless war was launched.

Remember, it's not just stupid, it's surreal.