We now have a government running on the political philosophy of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog.
You're absolutely right, but unfortunately that seems to be what works in today's America.
If Bush did nothing else, he proved the idiom that nice guys finish last. Bush, probably because of his upbringing, refused to criticize the Clinton administration or any of it's advisers. Obama and Axelrod clearly have made a completely different tactical decision. From what I can tell, so far it's working beautifully.