Is Bush back on the bottle?

Now Mr Osato is far too small time to have any contacts in Washington or the senior side of the US Government - but he is struck by the writings of the New Statesman's North American correspondent, Andrew Stephen (who is somewhat better connected.

Rumours persist here (and I have heard them repeated at a very senior level in the UK, too) that Bush has actually resumed drinking; I throw this into the mix not to sensationalise, but because I have now heard the rumour repeated at a sufficiently high level that I believe we must face the possibility that it might be true.

Of course, the rumours may not be true, but if they are, if Bush is even thinking about cracking open the Smirnoff, it's yet another sign that the American people (or, more to the point, the Supreme Court) chose a man who isn't cracked up for the job.

Fortunately daddy Bush's troops seem to be coming over the hill - top US columnist Maureen Dowd compared the situation to a parent trying to deprogramme a child taken away and brain washed by a sinister cult. Better late than never, I suppose...