in 1993, john podhoretz discussed his book, "hell of a ride." the book describes the white house from the perspective of mid-level staffers and their euphoria following the persian gulf war to their depression after the 1992 loss. you can watch a re-aired the program now on booktv. c-span: john podhoretz, author of "hell of a ride", one of the quotes in your book near the end is, "he didn't believe in anything very much except that he wanted to be president, and finally somehow, through some fluke of nature called ronald reagan, he made it. in the final analysis, george bush's presidency was kind of a cosmic joke." do feel that way? >> guest: yes, i wrote the words so i guess i feel that way. you are reading the conclusion for which the 220 pages prior to it set up. the book, i think, builds to a point at which it would be fair and legitimate to make that criticism. it's a little bit tough to begin that way because it seems so extreme, but the animating theory of the book is that the bush presidency was largely the result of his running on the r