The Asshole-In-Chief

(Via 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.

This is just the kind of thing that inspires the very personal repugnance towards Bush that so many of us feel. Here's a man who never fought in Viet Nam, whose children will certainly never have to go to Iraq, disrespecting a man who was a hero in Viet Nam after asking him a question about his son who IS in Iraq. There is no sign of empathy or understanding, no willingness to listen or have a dialogue. There is certainly no humility.

I mean, I didn't serve in Viet Nam, and i am very grateful that I didn't have to go into that hellhole. But, I have respect and compassion for those who did serve, many of whom have been royally shafted by our government since then, and who came to oppose and struggle against the war they fought in.

Bush is an arrogant, self-righteous asshole, and I hope more people like Webb stand up to him. It's too bad he didn't clean Bush's clock. I can't think of anyone who deserves it more.