During the past few months, things have ground to a halt -- almost everything, in fact, as the nation observes a paralysed president and, worse, a catatonic government. Many of us cringe at what might befall us next -- another hurricane, another terrorist act, an international crisis -- because we realise our government has little ability to deal with anything.

The simple explanation of how all this has come about is our disastrous invasion of Iraq, but that is only a starting point. In the past few days, the Bush administration has admitted that all international issues, except Iraq, have been put on hold -- not only for the president himself but also for Condoleezza Rice, his secretary of state.

North Korea, Palestinian territories, Venezuela (the so-called trouble spots) are being ignored as high-level trips overseas that have been in the planning stages for months have suddenly been cancelled.

Will this total focus on Iraq (which includes Iran) result in anything positive? The answer to this question is readily available if we simply look at the past few years. Each new plan for winning the war in Iraq is followed by another new plan, ad nauseum, as the Bush administration pursues its relentless fixation on Iraq.

America no longer has a functioning Department of Justice, which is probably exactly what the administration desires. Alberto Gonzales's Justice Department ceased functioning once he lost his moral authority to lead the office. He's a joke but also a toad, and the sad thing is that he's so unaware of his own inadequacies that he has no grasp of what has happened to his credibility.

And the Department of Justice itself? There have been so many resignations of lawyers serving directly under Gonzales that if a major legal issue needed a quick decision, who will act on it? But that's all to the president's advantage, as enemy combatants are tortured and citizens' rights evaporate as quickly as lawyers exit from the Justice Department.

Homeland Security is probably the biggest joke at the moment, and also the major concern. Homeland Security currently has thirty percent of its positions vacant. The world remembers Katrina, and the massive failures of Homeland Security to deal with that disaster. But should another hurricane or act of terrorism hit home, who would be in charge? To whom would authority be delegated?

Too many of us believe that utter chaos will prevail should a major catastrophe befall us. And it's certainly no relief to think that lightening never strikes twice in the same place. It does.

Most of the regulatory offices of the United States government haven't operated at any level of competence for years now. The Bush administration knew that it couldn't change the laws to limit regulation (of our food, for example, or our pharmaceuticals), so they took another approach: under-fund all government regulatory agencies, so they can't perform the oversight mandated by law.

Our food is tainted, miners die for lack of proper mine inspection, imports from China (most recently) bring death to human beings and their pets.

Two years ago, an attempt to strangle the United States Postal Service and privatise it failed -- only because most people send their messages electronically these days. But we came close to another major push for out-sourcing. Big Business thrives as never before, while profits multiply with minimal governmental regulation.

During the Cold War, those of us who work in Washington, D.C., used to joke that the Russians could easily invade us if they simply waited for a major

snowstorm. Washingtonians are absolutely paralysed by snow.

If they're in their automobiles when a snowstorm arrives, they often abandon them wherever they are. The Russians are past masters of snow, so the joke was that all they needed to do to take over Washington was wait for a major snowfall.

Mother Nature is unaware that the United States government has no capability to deal with natural disasters. As for any terrorists -- homegrown or imported -- I'm certain they're laughing at the state of our paralysis.

So what about the average American, you may ask. Has he caught on to what is really going on in America and overseas? Sadly, most Americans regard the office of the presidency as sacred -- the holder can do no wrong. But, lately, there has been an increased awareness of things as they really are.

George Bush's popularity has dropped to the 35th percentile, only one percent above Richard Nixon's 34%, days before he resigned, though it took Americans years to realise that Nixon was a fraud.

So, maybe there's hope, even though George Bush will never resign. But I'll bet that before Bush's presidency is over, his ratings will be far below Richard Nixon's, making him the most unpopular president in modern history.

Small comfort, when one thinks of the damage that can still be done in the president's remaining eighteen months.

Charles R. Larson is Professor of Literature at American University, in Washington, D.C.