Bush does something good; I am confused and wary.

I did mention that it’s tough to name any good that’s come out of the Bush presidency. And — you must forgive me for seeming cynical — whenever Bush has done something that seems good, there’s always a kicker. Remember when he said he wanted to increase money to charities? But then it turned out they were faith-based charities. Which meant that he was going to funnel federal money into religions. Or remember Mr Bush helpfully offering to fix Social Security? Yeah.

Well, now it looks like he’s done something genuinely unambiguously good.

President Bush will create the world’s largest protected marine area today, designating as a national monument a 1,200-mile-long chain of small Hawaiian islands and surrounding waters and reefs that are home to a spectacular array of sea life, senior administration officials said last night.

Uh, today? Like, now?

What caused this? Perhaps something he watched on TV.

A turning point came in April, when Bush sat through a 65-minute private White House screening of a PBS documentary that unveiled the beauty of — and perils facing — the archipelago’s aquamarine waters and its nesting seabirds, sea turtles and sleepy-eyed monk seals, all threatened by extinction.

The film seemed to catch Bush’s imagination, according to senior officials and others in attendance. The president popped up from his front-row seat after the screening; congratulated filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the late underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau; and urged the White House staff to get moving on protecting these waters.

Okay, I’ll still take it. Even if it’s something he just saw on TV, I’ll take it.

What’s going on? Are we having a Dave situation here? Can someone (perhaps dobbins?) tell me if there’s some kind of huge upside for Big Oil on this? Because I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. I wouldn’t be like this if the last five years hadn’t been what they were.

Also, could someone please get Mr Bush to watch more PBS?