See, We All Sacrifice Somehow

For some unfathomable reason, President Bush is widely seen as being slightly out of touch with the reality of the world. Perhaps it's because of his refusal to admit that the Iraq War is a neocolonial disaster or that the economy is tanking for everyone not fortunate enough to have a few million bucks stashed away for a rainy day.

And perhaps it's because of things like this:

Mike Allen from Politico.com: "Mr. President, you haven't been golfing in recent years. Is that related to Iraq?"

Bush: "Yes, it really is. I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be as - to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal."

Allen: "Mr. President, was there a particular moment or incident that brought you to that decision, or how did you come to that?"

Bush: "No, I remember when [Sérgio Vieira] de Mello, who was at the U.N. [heading up the humanitarian mission in Iraq], got killed in Baghdad as a result of these murderers taking this good man's life. And I was playing golf - I think I was in central Texas - and they pulled me off the golf course and I said, it's just not worth it anymore to do."

That's his idea of sacrifice?

Let me get this straight: after five years of refusing to attend soldiers' funerals, refusing to raise taxes to pay for this war, refusing to support expanded educational benefits for veterans - after all that, the Decider claims he's given up golf out of some bizarre gesture of solidarity with those whose loved ones have been killed?

Is he really so shallow as to believe that surrendering the opportunity to make a hole in one at all compares with the agony of losing someone in his useless war halfway around the world?

Unfortunately, after almost eight years of this guy, I think we already know the answer.