Wednesday's Washington Post contained a story titled "Bush More Emphatic In Backing Musharraf" (http://www.washingtonpost.com) which reported that Bush strongly supported Musharraf's continued rule, regardless of the Pakistani President's continued imposition of emergency rule and repression of all protests against him. According to Bush, despite everything Musharraf has done to destroy democracy in Pakistan since his coup in 1999, Musharraf "hasn't crossed the line" and "truly is somebody who believes in democracy."

Please, everyone, reread this quote. Then grab the phone and call your Senator and Congressional Representative and demand that they pressure the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Bush from office for mental disability or incompetence.

There have always been questions, some very loud, as to Bush's intelligence. I have never quite bought the idea that Bush was truly stupid, because for me some of the evidence which is supposed to support this theory, especially Iraq, can actually be used to demonstrate how smart he is (once you understand, as do I, that Iraq is going just swimmingly for Bush and his backers in the military-petroleum complex, what with Hillary and Obama saying we'll be there for at least a generation and all).

But Bush's statements in support of Musharraf, a man whose name he didn't know when quizzed on geography during the 2000 campaign, is without a doubt the most troubling thing he's said in office. It reflects such a complete disconnect from reality that it calls into question the President's grasp of reality and his mental competence. If Bush believes that Musharraf actually is a democrat after everything that's happened, after the beatings, arrests, and worse of pro-democracy protesters at the same time he releases Taliban/al-Qa'eda members, then he is not only utterly unqualified to be President, his continued tenure in office constitutes a grave threat to the security of the United States and he should be removed from office by his Cabinet under the provisions of the 25th Amendment, which allows the Cabinet to remove a President in case of disability. This President is clearly mentally disabled, and frighteningly so.

Of course, there's always the chance that Bush is lying about his feelings toward Musharraf. The recently released excerpts of former Press Secretary Scott McClellan's new book, http://www.huffingtonpost.com?, in which he admits that he lied to the American people under direct orders from the President and other top officials, certainly makes this scenario a possibility. If true, then Bush should be impeached, immediately, for engaging in activities that materially support al-Qa'eda, because that's exactly what his duplicitous support for Musharraf is doing.

Either way, every day that George W. Bush remains in office is both a stain on America's name and a threat to our security. Unlike the turkey the President spared a few days ago, he needs to get the ax, either by his Cabinet or the Congress, before he does any more harm to the country.