Bush clueless

If there were ever a perfect example of how entirely clueless our President really is, it's in this article in today's NY Times.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 — President Bush made clear in a private meeting this week that he was concerned about the lack of progress in Iraq and frustrated that the new Iraqi government — and the Iraqi people — had not shown greater public support for the American mission, participants in the meeting said Tuesday...

More generally, the participants said, the president expressed frustration that Iraqis had not come to appreciate the sacrifices the United States had made in Iraq, and was puzzled as to how a recent anti-American rally in support of Hezbollah in Baghdad could draw such a large crowd. “I do think he was frustrated about why 10,000 Shiites would go into the streets and demonstrate against the United States,” said another person who attended.

Gee whiz, I wonder why these people don't just love us for all the good things we've done for them. Tens of thousands dead, civil war, no electricity, religious fanatics forcing everyone to grow beards or wear burkas ... Everything is just hunky dory, isn't it?

I can just see him sitting there, his mouth hanging open, with question marks in his eyes, looking stupid.

The article also praises Bush for turning to outside experts:

The White House began to open its doors to a wider range of views earlier this year, after acknowledging that months of complaints after Hurricane Katrina that the president and his team were isolated — “living in a bubble” was a frequent refrain — had gotten through. But that accelerated after Joshua B. Bolten became White House chief of staff in the spring.

But, it sounds to me as if the “experts” were carefully selected to mirror existing White House thinking. Here's an example:

One of the participants at the Monday lunch, Eric Davis, a Rutgers University political science professor who previously served as director of the university’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, released a text of his remarks.

Mr. Davis said he discussed the regional upheaval that could follow if Iraq descended into chaos or was allowed to divide along ethnic lines. “I believe that the American people do not fully understand the potential domino effects that the collapse of Iraq into disorder and anarchy would have on the Middle East and the global political system,” he said.

If that isn't the White House line, I don't know what is.