I should know by now never to be surprised by anything Bush says. And yet, I’m still occasionally shocked.
Matt Yglesias noted yesterday that Bush is so concerned about Kerry’s talk of a draft that his comments on the issue are becoming increasingly ridiculous. From this week’s interview with the AP:
Q: Mr. President, you said there would be no draft. You made it very clear. But how can you say that? What — don’t you preserve that option? What if something happens in Korea or Iran? How can you —
Bush: I believe we’ve got the assets and manpower necessary to be able to deal with another theater, should one arise.
This is easily the craziest thing Bush will say this week and it fits comfortably in Bush’s Top 10 list of all-time nuttiest remarks.
Where is this so-called “manpower”? If there was an international crisis and Bush had to deploy thousands of troops or risk global catastrophe, where would he find them? Does Bush think Saruman is making a bunch of Orcs for him? Or maybe a clone army on Camino? Where are these so-called “assets”?
Justin Logan explained, “This is insane. Everybody — right, left, neocon, libertarian, paleo, whatever — acknowledges that we’re stretched about as far as we can go.” That’s true; Bush is convinced that we’ll be able to deal with another theater with troops that appear to exist only in his imagination.
If Bush is hoping to debunk the Kerry charge that he’s out of touch with reality, he’s off to a really bad start.