Have you noticed? President Bush no longer refers to himself as "the president." (Example: Before the war he would discuss what"the president" must do under this or that circumstance.)

This is a plus--sort of. I always found it grating that he referred to himself that way. It reminded me of stuffed shirts who refer to themselves in the third person.

But more is at stake here than mere style. Bush seems finally to have come to terms with the fact that he is actually president of the United States. Gone is the deliberate distance he created between himself and the office.

But there is a downside. He could now be so comfortable as president that he becomes reckless. Unfortunately, there are signs of recklessness almost daily. His Socil Security/tax/judges agenda seems reckless. It presupposes that people will follow him wherever he wants to take them--even over a financial cliff.

A little less hubris might be in order. Those polls he keeps dismissing maybe are worth a second look. He might discover that they are telling him something important.