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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls President Bush "a total failure" on everything from the economy to the war in Iraq. Pelosi's harsh and unusually personal critique comes in an interview in which she's asked to respond to Bush's criticism of the Democratic-controlled Congress. "You know, God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject," Pelosi replied. She then tsk-tsked Bush for "challenging Congress when we are trying to sweep up after his mess over and over and over again." White House spokeswoman Dana Perino defended Bush. "What the president said is a fact -- this is the longest a Congress has gone in 20 years without passing a single spending bill, so it's clear that the speaker is feeling some frustration at their inability to do so." Pelosi's outburst was a departure. Her usual practice in public has been to call Bush's policies a failure -- not his presidency or him, personally. Pelosi's remarks are the latest evidence of the Democrats' throw-caution-to-the-wind approach to Bush in the waning days of a presidency weighed down by an unpopular war and soaring gasoline prices. >>>