George Bush is a consummate modern politician, an operator. In that respect he deserves the position he holds which calls for his sense of what smells right. Unfortunately, that means the USA is effectively governed by someone little more ‘intelligent’ than a dog.

The Democrats cannot boast either. Their last President behaved in almost as animalistic fashion as Mr Bush, on top of which they have lost, twice, to a doggish President Bush. It is no wonder the voters stuck with what they knew facing the paucity of the real choice offered them.

Nobody in particular can be put at fault for these things. When politics demands doggish politicians it is accidents of history that lead us where we go, not men, because what smells good is not always the right thing, and because the people who lead us all fit a certain limited size mold, including that nasal political perfection.