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In today's New York Times, Alessandra Stanley points out to us the uncanny parallels between the television appearances by Madonna and George W. Bush.

The similarities are easy to spot. For one thing, they're both famous. They're both under fire, and their approval ratings couldn't be much lower.

Both showed viewers an unfamiliar side of themselves. The president, whose political identity is founded on an image of unwavering cowboy resolve, looked uncertain and chastened behind the lectern, at one moment staring downward and gnawing his lip in a rare tableau of weary anxiety.

The singer known for saucy aplomb was as prim and cautious as a politician, even if her clipped duty-free British diction undercut some of the poignancy of her appeal.

That is a good point. It's kinda hard to win the hearts and minds of the American public when your fake accent makes you sound like a prick.