I Beg Your Pardon...

What did he tell us in the Rose Garden?

My head's still spinning from yesterday's presidential press conference. Here's what I took away from it.

President Bush is pleased with the progress in Iraq and thinks the Iraqi government is "plenty capable" of handling the insurgency. Great! Let them handle it and bring our troops home.

Mister Bush is in favor of taking the "diplomacy approach" with North Korea. Could that be because he doesn't have any other approach to take since the U.S. military is bogged down in Iraq?

We don't have an energy plan? Weren't all those secret talks a few years back between Uncle Dick and the oil bigwigs about coming up with an energy plan? Or did the plan go south when they didn't grab control of the Middle East oil like they thought they would?

The Amnesty International report on Guantanamo was an "absurd" pack of lies told by "dis-assemblers" who "hate America." Well, I'm sorry about that nasty old report, but what did Mister Bush think would happen when he approved suspension of the Geneva Conventions?

President Bush wants us to look upon China as "an economic opportunity." Is this the same China that's in the Axis of Evil, or is he talking about a different China? Or is it the same China, but not in the Axis of Evil any more?

What's really up with the Bolton nomination? Could it be that Mister Bush wants to do the same thing with the UN that he wants to do with Social Security--dismantle it? Funny how Mister Bush doesn't want to release vital information about Bolton's activities, but it's the Senate Democrats who are "stalling."

Much has been made of Bolton's escapades with the State Department, but many don't know that he was a key member of Bill Kristol's neo-conservative Project for a New American Century. His signature appeared on letters written in 1998 to President Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and Trent Lott that advocated use of military force to remove Saddam Hussein from power.

Do you think that might have influenced his shaping of the intelligence on Iraq?

If you haven't seen it yet, check out the video of Bolton in action at the UN at The Huffington Post.

I leave you once again with one of my favorite quotes from Mark Twain:

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."

JLH