George W. Bush is such a
tool.
Before you right-wingers get your panties in a wad, even you have to admit the guy is ignorant of even the most rudimentary political history (which is why we are in a war right now, BTW.) If not, he must think we are tremendous chumps.
Case in point: The line-item veto.
Here is a direct quote from Bush:
"The only way a President can affect that which is inside the bill, other than vetoing the entire bill, is to be able to pick out parts of a bill and express displeasure about it through a line-item veto. I hope the Congress will give me a line-item veto."
If he only bothered to open a book, or even ask one of the sycophants that hang off of his ass like remora on a shark, he would know that Republican Senator Bob Dole got a legislative line item-veto through Congress in 1996. The problem was, the GOP did not want President Clinton to have the "advantage" of using the item veto, so its date of effectiveness was made 1997. Then, when Clinton was re-elected, the GOP fought to have the line-item veto thrown out in court, and succeeded in 1998.
I mean, this isn't ancient history. Everyone involved is still alive, and most of them are still participating in government. Yet our President acts as if the concept was never introduced in congress before. What a nimrod.
This is yet another example of not only Bush's ignorance, but the fact that the GOP wants powers that only it should be allowed to wield.
Postscript May 2005: I bet this also happens to the filibuster compromise as well. The GOP wants goodies for themselves, and will destroy what they built to keep it away fromt he dems if they ever get back into power.