It's said that people in the oil business shrug off losing huge amounts of money -- they simply expect that sometimes there'll be big gains and sometimes there'll be big losses. Supposedly rich kids don't worry much about what can go wrong in their lives because they figure someone will help them out if things get too bad. Alcoholics lose the ability to assess the harm they're doing to themselves and others. And fervent believers in God regularly assume that God will protect them from danger.

George W. Bush has been all of these things. No wonder he has no ability to judge risk.

We've heard that Bush's tax plan is bold. His Iraq war plan is bold, too. His North Korea policy? Well, that seems to be nonexistent. But what they all have in common is the notion that nothing can really go wrong.

Deliberately creating massive deficits won't really hurt us. Ignoring North Korea won't open the door to calamitous acts of aggression. Attacking Saddam won't lead to desperate chem/bio attacks. Pissing off the Arab/Muslim world won't lead to more terrorism in years to come. Alienating allies from France to Turkey, from Russia to Mexico, won't have disastrous long-term consequences.

Easy come, easy go. Dad, get me out of this. Screw it -- let's have another drink. The Lord will provide.