In a column that seems certain to irk Ds and Rs alike, Nick Kristof argues that President Bush is a man of high intelligence and good character who nonetheless needs to be sent packing post haste, in no small part due the very qualities that the columnist so admires.

It's an interesting take, and one I probably would have agreed with (or at least sympathized with) a year or two ago. Post Abu Ghraib, though, I just can't; there's something very rotten at the heart of any administration that (a) allows the United States of America to become a bona fide abuser of human rights in the eyes of the world, and (b) doesn't seem to grasp (or to even care about) the terrifying moral implications of what went on in that horrible place.

As a result, I find myself unable to give Mr. Bush the benefit of the doubt on the character question anymore, which means that I tend to hold him responsible for things that I might let slide as "just politics" otherwise, like choosing to tell us only the good news (and, indeed, there is some) from Iraq. Or lying about John Kerry's health care plan. Or standing by while his henchmen savaged the war record of an honorable man who showed up for duty when his nation called.

And that's the larger problem with reelecting George Bush, I think. In one way or another, he's managed to use up his store of goodwill with just about everybody except his core supporters, which means that half of this country and most of the rest of the planet will implacably oppose each and every one of his initiatives for the next four years.

That's a recipe for a failed presidency, folks. And, as a certain campaign could tell you, the world is just too dangerous right now -- too wolf-filled, in fact -- to take that kind of a risk with America's future.