Bush's Idea of Sacrifice

There's considerable evidence that Bush, who assiduously avoided combat during the Vietnam War, simply doesn't understand the sacrifices involved in war. In a January 2007 interview with PBS's Jim Lehrer, Bush was asked about shared sacrifice and responded: "Well, you know, I think a lot of people are in this fight. I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night. I mean, we've got a fantastic economy here in the United States, but yet, when you think about the psychology of the country, it is somewhat down because of this war."

At a June 14, 2007 White House briefing, then-press secretary Tony Snow insisted that Bush was on the front lines of the war "every day."

And in April 2007, first lady Laura Bush asserted that 'no one suffers more' than the president and she do when watching television footage of the carnage in Iraq.

The Moronic Interview

Has there ever been a more moronic interview of a president of the United States than the one conducted yesterday by Mike Allen? The only one I can recall that comes close was in June 2005, when Fox anchor Neil Cavuto asked Bush about John Kerry's Yale grades and the Michael Jackson trial's effect on public policy discourse -- without asking a single question about the war.

Allen's interview started off with seven questions about Jenna Bush's wedding, and went downhill from there.

The only really critical question came from a reader, who asked: "Do you feel that you were misled on Iraq?" Bush predictably ducked it.

Here are some of Allen's own questions:

"Mr. President, I know you're going to hate this, but I'm hoping that we may twist your arm and talk about baseball for just a moment. (Laughter.) Mr. President, you're a Major League Baseball team owner again. Everyone is a free agent. You have a Yankees-like wallet. Who is your first position player? Who's your pitcher?"

"Now, Mr. President, you and the First Lady appeared on American Idol's charity show, 'Idol Gives Back.' And I wonder who do you think is going to win? Syesha, David Cook, or David Archuleta?"

"All right. Mr. President, who does the better impression, Will Ferrell of you, or Dana Carvey of your father?"

"And speaking of impressions, our friend, Robert Draper, author of 'Dead Certain,' said you do a great impression of Dr. Evil from 'Austin Powers'."

Politico headlined its main story from the interview: " Bush warns of Iraq disaster". But Bush didn't actually say anything new to that effect.