Bush's Idea of Sacrifice

"Annual National Press Club comedy routines he's participated in: All of them.

"Times he played guitar while the Gulf Coast was drowning: 1

"Estimated number of returning veterans not being treated for PTSD and other disorders: tens of thousands.

"He's biked, run, worked out, met with members of athletic teams, thrown out first pitches, dismissed the importance of finding Osama Bin Laden, opposed expanding the GI Bill, but our troops and country can go to sleep happily assured that their Commander In Chief is not dissing their sweat and sacrifice, blood and tears by playing any of that dastardly golf stuff."

Blue Girl, Red State blogger Warren Street is skeptical of Bush's explanation: "Actually, it is far more likely that Bush quit playing golf because he was suffering from knee problems throughout the latter half of 2003," he writes.

And a Wonkette commenter suggests: "Has he thought about giving up Iraq for golf?"

A History of Cluelessness

In my March 25 column, Cheney's Unforgivable Egotism, I wrote about the vice president's incredible assertion that it is Bush -- not the soldiers and Marines who fight and die, or their families -- who is bearing the biggest burden of the war. Said Cheney: "The President carries the biggest burden, obviously; he's the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans. But we are fortunate to have the group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm's way for the rest of us."

Just a week before that, Tabassum Zakaria of Reuters quoted Bush as telling a group of U.S. military and civilian personnel in Afghanistan that he envied them: "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you . . . in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger."

Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote in the New York Times in December 2006: "The nation might despair, but not Mr. Bush; his presidential armor seemed firmly intact."

She noted: "On weeknights, the Bushes watch football or baseball on television, 'to try not to worry a little bit,' Mrs. Bush told CBS."

And Bush has repeatedly made clear that he is not overly troubled. People magazine asked Bush in December 2006 if he had trouble sleeping. As Karen Travers blogged for ABC News, his response was: "I must tell you, I'm sleeping a lot better than people would assume."

In June 2005, Bush told board members of the Radio-Television News Directors Association. "I'd say I'd spend most of my time worrying about right now people losing their life in Iraq. Both Americans and Iraqis." But then he added: "You know, I don't worry all that much, other than what I just described to you. I attribute that to . . . I've got peace of mind. A lot of it has to do with my particular faith, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that a lot of people pray for me and Laura . . . I'm sleeping pretty good. Seriously. I get asked that. There's times when I hadn't been. I've got peace of mind."