He wants to be Big in Paris

If he's not Harry Potter, he must be ... Lance Armstrong! In the relentless pursuit of the right comparison point for Dubya, topicality always helps and so today the European edition of the Wall Street Journal (subs. req'd) ponders the lessons of Lance's hard-won esteem in France to the absence thereof for The Exalted One:

The Texan's unprecedented streak remains clouded by doping suspicions among some observers, even though he is the sport's most-tested athlete and has never failed one ... Yet in the end Mr. Armstrong seems to have won a measure of begrudging respect from the French that that other famous Texan -- George W. Bush -- hasn't. (Could Saturday's guest appearance by Senator John Kerry have anything to do with that?) [Kerry=French, geddit?] ... Next year's Tour will see the crowning of a new champion -- and, one might hope, a new way of looking at an old one.

Now in context, that final clause seems to mean that the "old champion" is Dubya, since they've already granted that Lance is popular. One problem though -- could Dubya pass drug tests with the perfection that Lance managed?