http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0830-21.htm<snip>
News item: PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- "Pluto, beloved by some as a cosmic underdog but scorned by astronomers who considered it too dinky and distant, was unceremoniously stripped of its status as a planet Tuesday. The International Astronomical Union dramatically ... downgraded the third rock from the sun in new guidelines."
News item: San Francisco--George Bush, beloved by some as just plain folks, but scorned by elitists who consider him too shallow and unstatesmanlike, was unceremoniously reduced in rank Wednesday by the National Association of Presidential Scholars.
After years of debate concerning Bush's qualifications for the job, including some doubt about whether he was actually elected in 2000, the NAPS, in what many members hailed as "a triumph of realism over sentiment," voted to demote Bush from president to "dwarf president."
Wednesday's outcome completed a stunning five-year turnaround during which the 43rd president went from being hailed as the new Churchill, with a 90 percent approval rating, to the subject of debate among his own party members as to whether he is stupid or simply distracted. His approval ratings, meanwhile, have descended into the middle-30s and his dwindling support concentrated mainly among evangelicals who accept his contention that he is God's messenger boy.
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