Hightower Lowdown

George W likes to live in his own world. He really believes he served in the National Guard, and he really hates being challenged.

For his second term, George has begun by replacing anyone who might tell him things he doesn't want to hear.

Colin Powell was quickly ushered out the door. Even though he had dutifully (and unwittingly) lied for Bush about those nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, Powell questioned the rush to war, so W has promoted Condi Rice, his worshipful national security advisor, to secretary of state, secure in the knowledge that she won't bother him with anything that goes against his neo-con ideology.

Likewise, his longtime legal lackey, Al Gonzales, has been dispatched to head the Justice Department, where he can grind out memos to rationalize and legalize any little ol' thing that strikes George's noggin. Al's the guy who wrote the White House memo saying that torturing Iraqi prisoners was legally okey-dokey.

Then there's the CIA, which kept sending intelligence reports to the White House warning that the Iraqi invasion and occupation would have messy consequences. So George sent political hack Porter Goss to run the CIA, starting with a purge of top agents who have disagreed with Bush's disastrous policies.

There. Don't you feel better knowing that George won't be bothered by any unwanted advice or unpleasant reports?