Al-Hayat's Raghidah Dirgham wrote last week to dispel misconceptions among Arabs about American politics. She said that the notion that Bush will spend the end of his administration as a "lame duck" is just not true. According to her, Bush will be as powerful, as vigorous and as credible (in the eyes of US voters), as he was when he was first elected president, and with the same amount of "political capital," all analysis to the contrary in the American press, notwithstanding.