The Bush gang — you know, the flailing failures operating the executive branch like the Keystone Kops — believe Bush’s presidency is back on track. Apparently, a widely panned immigration bill is, in the minds of those in the West Wing, what got the White House over the hump.

Relieved White House officials say President Bush has finally broken the cycle of bad news and political setbacks he has endured for months.

The officials say the bipartisan agreement on immigration, backed by Bush and now being considered by the Senate, did the trick. And even though that deal is fragile and under attack from the left and the right, the fact that key Senate leaders of both parties approved it, including Democrat Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Republican John Kyl of Arizona, is seen as a sign that times will get better for Bush as he pursues his second-term agenda.

“Immigration cleared the air,” a senior White House official told U.S. News.

That would be the immigration bill that pushed Bush's approval ratings even lower? The one that is going to struggle to pass?

As a clever friend of mine put it, "Maybe it 'cleared the air' the same way Bush’s 'Clear Skies Initiative' did."