An Observer Of His Own Presidency

Perhaps the most striking aspect of president George W. Bush is his inability to actually take responsibility for anything. I'm not sure quite where this comes from - daddy, drink or denial, or some gruesome combination of the three - but check this out:

I don't know -- the biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn't just people in my administration; a lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence. And, you know, that's not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.

Observe the passive constructions. The description of others. "People in my administration." "Prior to my arrival." Everyone got it wrong but him, the one person ultimately responsible for getting it right. And then this stumble backwards into the truth:

I don't spend a lot of time really worrying about short-term history. I guess I don't worry about long-term history, either, since I'm not going to be around to read it -- (laughter) -- but, look, in this job you just do what you can.

He sure did, didn't he? We can also conclude from the interview that his decision to authorize the torture of prisoners from the Oval Office did not compromise his principles. And you know what? I don't think it did.

(Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty.)