For a few weeks, the background of the left-leaning blogosphere has been muttering that George W. Bush's famed inarticulation and inability to express himself have not been lifelong problems. Ten years ago, said James Wolcott and others, he spoke clearly and forcefully in debates; he understood his own positions and explained them without hesitating or stumbling. Today, he can't even remember not to say "Saddam Hussein" when he means "Osama bin Laden."

This QuickTime movie has some evidence of it, though, with clips from Bush in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial debates, as well as 2004 debate and speech segments showing him on good and not-so-good days. Remotely diagnosing the President with pre-senile dementia seems no better to me than Charles Krauthammer remotely diagnosing every Democrat he's written about as mentally ill.

Still, there's a pretty obvious decline in Bush's communication skills. When running for President, the cause has to be relevant, just as Bob Graham's (and Dick Cheney's) cardiac health and John Kerry's prostate cancer were and are relevant. Why did President Bush skip his annual physical this August, too?

No stories online yet, but from what I heard on KTLA via satellite, his publicist confirmed within the hour that he had a heart attack yesterday at his home in New York, and fell into a coma. He died tonight without coming out of it, from what I can gather.

It's just two days after John Kerry mentioned him in the debate as an inspiration, and a need for embryonic stem cell research. He did so well on Smallville, even with a surprise appearance in last season's finale, that we all wanted to think he would beat it, that he'd walk again - maybe even fly.

Someday, with scientists and researchers that he inspired and helped fund though his tireless efforts the past decade, they'll cure these injuries, and we'll all remember who helped make it happen. For now, I'm just very sad.

I was 12 when Superman: The Movie came out. I did believe a man could fly.