I have to believe the "messages from God" will go away once El Presidente El Jefe Jorge Bush is swilling bourbon again and has head stuck in a toilet bowl.

Yes, friends, this is our country at the dawn of the 21st Century: totally screwed. And we--well, not ME--did it to ourselves.

From The Times of London:

The truth about God and George
By Simon Freeman

A senior Palestinian who said that George W Bush claimed to be on first-name terms with God stood by his comments today but conceded that President was using a figure of speech.

Nabil Shaath told the BBC that in June 2003 he heard Mr Bush tell Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Prime Minister: "God would tell me, ‘George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan’, and I did, and then God would tell me, ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq’, and I did."

The White House quickly issued a terse denial last night dismissing the Palestinians Information Minister's comments as: "absurd." Scott McClellan, a spokesman, said that Mr Bush, although a devout Christian, "never said that".

Mr Shaath, whose interview was recorded for Israel and the Arabs: Elusive Peace to be broadcast this month, today stood by his recollection of the meeting but accepted that the statement had not been meant literally.

"It was really a figure of speech (by Bush). We felt he was saying that he had a mission, a commitment, his faith in God would inspire him ... rather than a metaphysical whisper in his ear," he said.

Mr Bush, once quoted as saying: "I believe that God wants me to be president", is a devout Christian and makes no secret of appealing to God for strength, but denies using God to justify his decisions.

Mr Abbas also recalled today how the President told him: "’I have a moral and religious obligation... so I will get you a Palestinian state.’"

Mr Bush launched an impassioned attack on Islamic militants during a speech in Washington yesterday, accusing them of seeking to "enslave whole nations" in an empire stretching from Spain to Indonesia.

Mr Bush's alleged comments have provoked anger among religious groups.

Andrew Blackstock, director of the Christian Socialist Movement, said: "If Bush really wants to obey God during his time as President he should start with what is blindingly obvious from the Bible rather than perceived supernatural messages.

"That would lead him to the rather less glamorous business of prioritising the needs of the poor, the downtrodden and the marginalised."

A BBC spokesman said the content of the programme had been put to the White House but it had refused to comment on a private conversation.

Last month, senior figures in the Church of England questioned America’s sense of "moral righteousness" in its foreign policy.

The bishops of Bath and Wells, Oxford, Coventry, and Worcester, said in their report on countering terrorism: "There is no uniquely righteous nation. No country should see itself as the redeemer nation, singled out by God as part of his providential plan."