Re: On Luthor and Bush:
I don't think Kelly apologised for that issue, because I know there was some press afterwards where he was like, "Meh." I responded by not buying the issue. I always thought Kelly was the weakest link in the Morrison/Waid/Kelly triumvirate of JLA-awesomeness anyway.
None of the Superman-writers did the effort beforehand, though. I think Loeb (or Kelly who was on "Action" at the time IIRC) admitted that they created "Luthor as president" without an exit strategy (if you'll pardon the reference).
Which is what went horribly wrong.
They should've known what the hell they were doing.
Or at least, sat down at some point over lunch, and figured out where they were going.
I think Luthor as an Evil President had great potential as an idea. I could've totally seen that as building up to a Big Summer Crossover (and after "Last Laugh", they really could've used a good one). The Downfall of President Luthor, or something. You have baggage including OWAW, NML, framing Bruce Wayne for the murder of Vesper Fairchild -- there's no way Luthor didn't do some pretty illegal things during his time in office.
In this entirely-theoretical finale, all this stuff could've been used to stop the guy and bring him down. Superman and Batman working together to bring down President Lex. I would've bought it.
But that's right! They gave him to Loeb! And Luthor's grand plan involved shooting up with kryptonite (you know, the stuff that gave him cancer a few years back), macking Amanda Waller, and mildly injuring Batman. The grand climactic finale of "President Lex" ended us as six-issues of rubbish before being forgotten about.
(incidently, I still argue that's the reason the major companies keep pairing McGuiness with Loeb. So we're distracted by the pretty art and don't pay attention to the story. It didn't work)