How long until this "downhome hokey" act wears thin & we all grow tired of the pretend illiteracy from the President? Shouldn't we expect the president to be very precisely spoken? Very clear? Very sophisticated with language?

Political Wire: In an interview with Time magazine, President Bush declared the war in Iraq a "catastrophic success."Sen. John Edwards responds in the Washington Post: "I, like most Americans, have no idea what that means."

Update 9/4/04: As you'll see from the comments I have been persuaded to dig a little deeper here. Turns out this isn't an example of "all hat & no cattle." I stand corrected. (I'm actually sitting...) I still agree w/ Edwards that most Americans have no idea what this means, but hey, here it is:

• Guardian 3/20/03: "Catastrophic success: Amid their excitement at taking on a depleted and demoralised Iraqi army, US commanders are talking about sweeping triumphantly into Baghdad in a "catastrophic success". By catastrophe, they do not mean a disaster, because they are dismissing the idea of thousands of civilian casualties. Instead they are using a negative adjective - catastrophic - to emphasise the positive, in the way that anyone under 21 describes something that is "cool" as "wicked" "
• New York Daily News 7/31/04: "The U.S. General who routed Saddam Hussein's army in three weeks warned before the invasion that a quick victory could lead to a "catastrophic success" because they were not prepared for postwar anarchy in Iraq."

Please also see the comments.