Bush: 'I'm the decision-maker' on Iraq

There are times when listening to Bush speak borders on the surreal.

Today I had one of those out of body experiences, when I know that one of us is living in a different quantum time zone from the other, because both of our realities are so far apart. It happened while he was talking about sending more troops to Iraq.

He said this:

President Bush, on a collision course with Congress over Iraq, said Friday "I'm the decision-maker" about sending more troops to the war. He challenged skeptical lawmakers not to prematurely condemn his buildup.

"I've picked the plan that I think is most likely to succeed," Bush said in an Oval Office meeting with senior military advisers.

The president had strong words for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who are lining up to support resolutions opposing his decision to send 21,500 troops to Iraq. He challenged them to put up their own ideas.

"I know there is skepticism and pessimism and that some are condemning a plan before it's even had a chance to work," the president said. "They have an obligation and a serious responsibility therefore to put up their own plan as to what would work."

Am I the only person to find that statement breathtaking? What was The Iraq Study Group's Report if not "their own plan as to what would work"?

Bush is now pretending that report simply doesn't exist and asking those who oppose him, "Well, what's your plan Smart Ass?" The fact that he didn't like the plan hardly negates it out of existence.

Every time I think he can't be more dumb, he goes and surprises me all over again.

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tag: Iraq war study group, James A Baker, Stay the course, , Bush, surge and accelerate