Sooooo tired: A savvy Pensito Review reader coined the expression “outrage fatigue” a while back, which aptly expressed the ennui many of us feel when we are confronted with the most recent outrageous antics of Bush Co. Well, apparently, about two-thirds of Americans are feeling “Bush fatigue,” according to an April Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey.

The survey found that 62 percent of Americans agree with the statement, “I am tired of all the problems associated with the Bush administration.” In comparison, during the latter part of the Clinton administration 71 percent expressed a similar sentiment in August 1999, and 72 percent in September 2000).

Of course, “Bush fatigue” varies by party affiliation. Most Democrats (82 percent) and independents (69 percent) expressed weariness with the administration, compared with just 30 percent of Republicans.

The survey indicated that the sense of a need for change crosses party lines: Nearly half of moderate and liberal Republicans (48 percent) and about a third of conservative Republicans (31 percent) say they want the next president to offer policies that are different from Bush Co.’s. Overwhelming numbers of independents (81 percent) and conservative and moderate Democrats (91 percent), as well as virtually all liberal Democrats (98 percent), want the next president to set a new policy course.

The real danger of Bush fatigue, of course, is that once one slips into the sticky morass of political ennui, it’s hard to pull oneself out of the tar pit of indifference (I love to mix metaphors!). “Tired of Bush” could develop into “tired of politics,” which would spell trouble for the potential policy change that many of us are wearily hoping for.