What? Whaddaya mean "the mic was on?"

Just days after responding to every question about Mideast violence with a quip about roasted pig, George W. Bush continues to restore honor and dignity to the American presidency.

He got caught cursing again in front of a microphone he didn't know was on.

Bush was talking privately to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a lunch at the Group of Eight summit in St Petersburg about an upsurge of violence in the Middle East, not realizing a microphone was transmitting what he said.

"I think Condi (Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) is going to go pretty soon," Bush said.

Blair replied: "Right, that's all that matters, it will take some time to get that together." Rice said on Sunday she was thinking of going to the Middle East if it would help.

Blair said Rice has "got to succeed" if she goes to the region. Bush replied: "What they need to do is to get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this sh--."

Not one word, though, about Israel's over-the-top response to the abduction of their soldiers. Not one word about a cease fire from both sides. Just more locker room tough talk from an increasingly brittle paper tiger.

By refusing to acknowledge any responsiblity on the part of Israel for the violence, George Bush has destroyed the ability of the United States to act as an honest broker in this conflict. At this point, what could he or Secretary Rice possibly say to the Arabs that they would be willing to hear?