Imagine working 18-20 hour days for 6 years. And that's just on weekends.

White house staffers are already historically known to have among the busiest and most taxing jobs (pun not intended), but the Bush Administration appears to have amped that by several orders of magnitude. Rabid attacks from the Left, in-party disagreements, scandals, port outcries, a vice president who definitely isn't gun-shy, and a whole bunch of other things (including That War) have been weighing not only on the public's consciousness, but taking a toll especially on White House people who appear to be at risk of running out of the magic mojo that ups work ethics that would make even the most tireless robots weep.

Anyone with a ton less work to do would want a big break, but alas, no such luxury for these folks, and with Bush's approval ratings not in top shape, there's no respite in the horizon anytime soon from being in a perpetual state of almost-emergency, and all that sleep depravation is already starting to manifest in different ways, including apparent lapses in judgment.

More from the Washington Post.