WASHINGTON -- When things go wrong, they all go wrong for U.S. President George W. Bush. We have watched his approval ratings sag through the summer as his policies in Iraq and elsewhere have begun to unravel. Then came Hurricane Katrina nearly four weeks ago, and it appears that the bottom has fallen out of the administration.

There are patterns of action or inaction that can be observed in a number of the difficulties that have popped up on Bush's watch:

1. Big decisions with meaningful consequences seem to be taken without a full understanding of the consequences. Iraq is a perfect example -- a rush to act and act decisively without proper attention to the next steps.