The New York Times checked in over the weekend with the sort of folks who still really love George W. Bush, and the words of praise we heard were pretty much the ones we'd expect. The president is "God-fearing," said one young woman. He's a "man of principle," said a man. "I'm not sure of anything he's done," said a pro-Bush junior at Brigham Young University. "But I like that he's religious -- that's really important." Added BYU freshman Jaren Olsen: "He's strong, and he doesn't waver. I like that he is for the family, that marriage should only be between a man and woman. And the war, we need to finish what we started."

We don't know what's on young Jaren's summer reading list -- somehow, we're guessing it's not War Room -- but perhaps we can be so bold as to suggest Newsweek's latest on the gay marriage debate.

The president used his weekly radio address Saturday to throw his weight behind a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage, and he'll make another push for the amendment during a White House Rose Garden event today. So George W. Bush, "man of principle," really cares about this stuff? So much so that it's worth taking a couple of days away from Iraq and Iran and immigration and everything else to back a constitutional amendment that has absolutely no chance of passing?

Not so much, it seems.

An "old friend" tells Newsweek's Debra Rosenberg that Bush's interest in outlawing gay marriage is "purely political." "I don't think he gives a shit about it," the friend says. "He never talks about this stuff."