You know, sometimes I think that Bush must be one heck of a clueless dude.

From “The Hill”:

President Bush has pledged to work with the new Democratic majorities in Congress, but he has already gotten off on the wrong foot with Jim Webb, whose surprise victory over Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) tipped the Senate to the Democrats.

Webb, a decorated former Marine officer, hammered Allen and Bush over the unpopular war in Iraq while wearing his son’s old combat boots on the campaign trail. It seems the president may have some lingering resentment.

At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.

Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.

“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.

Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t. It’s safe to say, however, that Bush and Webb won’t be taking any overseas trips together anytime soon.

Now, Webb should have taken Bush’s question for what it was worth- an expression of concern for Webb’s son. But that said, I think his answer is a fair one, and since Webb has been to war while Bush was skipping out of his Air National Guard duty (said ANG slot obtained by his politically connected father) I think Webb is far more entitled to answer the question that way than Bush is to be a prick about it.

I mean, what are the odds that either of the Bush daughters are going to join the military any time soon? Or ever?

The story sums up the problem with Bush- to him, he doesn’t care whether his decision to send people to war was right or not. He does have personal concern for people (I’ve read enough about him being a fairly warm guy in person to believe that) but he doesn’t seem to be able to see the link between his crappy policy decisions and people’s suffering.

He’s just clueless when it comes to the Iraq war. He thinks it’s going to be the defining legacy of his Presidency, and in that he’s right- only instead of being spoken about admiringly, he’s going to be reviled for screwing things up so badly.