No Kidding!

With the number of dead Americans in Iraq at 972, Bush will no doubt speak of the progress there -- the "one more democracy participating in the Olympics" crap.

There have been more Americans killed so far in the first eight months of 2004 than from March through December of 2003.

Many in GOP Want Bush to Downplay Iraq
By RON FOURNIER, (AP)

NEW YORK - Nervous Republicans are urging President Bush to unveil a robust second-term agenda at his convention next week to shift voters' focus from the unpopular war in Iraq and other issues that are a distraction to his re-election drive. Some contend the party should ditch the GOP-fueled controversy over rival John Kerry's combat record in Vietnam.

[...]

Many voters have soured on the war in Iraq, and their discontent has hurt Bush's approval ratings. With the death toll of U.S. troops nearing 1,000, several of the Republicans said Bush's political team doesn't realize how angry and anxious Americans are over Iraq. Each death dominates local news, often in a battleground state. Bush acknowledged Thursday in an interview that he miscalculated the postwar scenario in Iraq.