What a jerk

This is at least the second time I know of Bush making the following boast in recent weeks:

"I delegate to good people. I always tell Condi Rice, `I want to remind you, Madam Secretary, who has the Ph.D. and who was the C student. And I want to remind you who the adviser is and who the president is.'

He "always" tells her this. When they are together, to hear him tell it, he never fails to remind the Secretary of State that even though she has a Ph.D. and he was a "C" student, she is the advisor and he is the president.

What an ass.

I mean, it's not as though Rice would need to be reminded of such a thing. I'm sure that she is quite aware of the fact she is not the president. But he needs to rub it in her face all the same.

You think your little Ph.D. means somethin', Condi? Well, guess what? It didn't make you president, did it? Nah, I'm the president and you're the advisor. What do you think about that?

Very good, sir. Will there be anything else?

Yeah, tell Josh to run out and grab me a bag a' donuts.

And here's the other thing. It's not as though Bush is a high school dropout who somehow managed to become president by sheer force of will. The man has a bachelor's degree from Yale and an MBA from Harvard. He would be considered very highly educated by almost any measure, but he still feels compelled to belittle intellectuals for all their fancy book learnin'.

Even with all of the advantages he has enjoyed, George W. Bush is plagued by an epic, tragic insecurity.

When historians look back on the mess that Bush made of his presidency, they would do well to start with that.