Dubya losing the benefit of the doubt

At the beginning of May, back when the vast majority of Americans still gave George W. Bush the benefit of the doubt, moviegoers flocked to the new blockbuster, Spider-Man, taking grim comfort in the film's sober mantra: "With great power comes great responsibility."

A long two months later, that phrase is looking less like a steely confirmation of resolve and more like a warning bell clanging around the U.S. President's neck as he noisily expands Washington's power at home and abroad.

Americans understood from the first hours after the Sept. 11 massacre that some recalibration of Washington's policing abilities was required to face the awful new threat of Islamo-cultists bent on slaughtering as many U.S. civilians as possible.

But even in those bitter hours, hawks and doves alike cautioned Bush and his administration to tread lightly on the treasured Constitution and to act out of principle instead of self-serving interest, if he wanted bipartisan support.

Nearly 10 months later, signs abound that the grace period is over. Bush's approval rating has fallen steadily from 88% to a still-impressive 70%, while polls show Americans are now worrying far more about the rattled economy than the possibility of a terrorist attack. It remains to be seen how Bush's once-reassuring tagline as America's "first MBA president" will sound after more and more of his CEO pals are dragged off in shackles for the mammoth accounting cover-ups that have been battering the stock market almost every day.