Press core in shock over Bush remarks while Congressional Democrats remain silent as usual.

President Bush stunned reporters during a White House meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi when he unexpectedly volunteered that he believed Osama bin Laden's taped message released one week before the 2004 election helped him defeat Senator John Kerry.

King Pin Maker or Trapped Rat?
Grinning ear-to-ear for a change instead of smirking, Bush told the gathering, "I thought it would help remind people that if bin Laden doesn't want Bush to be the president, something must be right with Bush." The president side stepped a follow up question asking if perhaps Osama deliberately released the tape right before the election to help Bush win rather than hurt his chances because he preferred Bush over Kerry.

Congressional Democrats and Senator Kerry were strangely quiet on Bush's controversial assertions. Some pundits say they missed a huge opportunity to embarass the president by pointing out that by giving bin Laden credit for swinging the election he had elevated Al Qaeda to virtual super power status. Others on Capital Hill were wondering if Bush's unannounced trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and his recent cheerful mood, indicated that he knows about something big that they do not, such as the yet to be announced capture of the elusive Al Qaeda leader himself. However, a senior member of the Black Congressional Caucus who wished to remain anonymous wasn't buying into such rumors. "We've heard than line how many times now? I'm afraid 'Osama bin missing' is still missing."

That Prozac Smile?
Political analyst Marge Johnson had another explanation for Bush's "Osama swung the election my way" remarks. "For a long time the president has been complaining bitterly in private that many in the country still don't believe he really won the 2004 election, with his political enemies claiming that exit polls showing Kerry ahead were really right, and that what really swung things Bush's way were all those rigged Diebold voting machines."

Meanwhile, in professional circles the president's recent jovial mood has more mundane and down to earth explanations. According to Dr. Dupak Singh, a clinical psychiatrist at the Columbia School of Medicine, "I have been prescribing Prozac for twenty years, and I think I know a Prozac smile when I see one. How else can you explain such an upbeat mood when the latest polls show the man's approval ratings have dropped to 34%? In addition, Prozac is a very effective treatment for chronic smirking and we haven't seen a single smirk from him for weeks."

Cheney in 12 Step Program?
Later that same afternoon, a still smiling Bush -- some said it was the same exact smile he'd been wearing for the entire day -- was interviewed by ABC New's Elizabeth Vargas, whom he told, "I've been up in the polls, and I've been down in the polls -- it's just part of life in the modern era." The president neglected to mention that it's been almost three years since his approval ratings have reached as high as 50%.

Asked by Vargas about how the vice president was doing in the wake of his shooting and near killing of his hunting parnter, Bush said he told Cheney, "Dick, this got you, didn't it? And he said, 'It sure did.' I said, Well, if you feel like it, you ought to share it with the American people." It was not clear what Bush meant by "it" and "this"? It might be something better told in private to a counselor in a twelve step alcohol addiction treatment program.