Numb and Dumber

You really get a good sense of the pathetic yin and yang of the executive branch of our government today. In one corner is the idiot king, who introduces a black musician entertaining the White House barbeque with the following:

I want to thank our Chef, Paul Prudhomme, from New Orleans, Louisiana -- one of the great chefs in America. Thanks for coming, Paul. (Applause.) I thank Tony Snow and his bunch of, well, mediocre musicians -- (laughter) -- no, great musicians. Beats Workin, thanks for coming. (Applause.) Kermit, come up here. Kermit, we're proud to have you.

MR. RUFFINS: Well, thanks for having us.

THE PRESIDENT: Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers, right out of New Orleans, Louisiana. (Applause.)

MR. RUFFINS: Thank you. Thanks for having us. We're glad to be here.

THE PRESIDENT: Proud you're here. Thanks for coming. You all enjoy yourself. Make sure you pick up all the trash after it's over. (Laughter.)

God bless you, and may God bless America. Thanks for coming. (Applause.)

In the other corner is the Dark Prince, who simply ignores an executive order that he doesn't feel applies to him:

Vice President Cheney's office has refused to comply with an executive order governing the handling of classified information for the last four years and recently tried to abolish the office that sought to enforce those rules, according to documents released yesterday by a House committee.

Arrogance, hubris, and an almost inconceivable level of incompetence and buffoonery. A fairly toxic mix. Even if they hadn't invaded a country that posed no threat to our own, displaced millions of individuals, caused the slaughter of untold thousands in two countries, isolated America and exposed the inherent limitations of a military that was generally considered invincible, and caused grievous damage to our international reputation that will take a generation to repair, I think we'd be in serious trouble with these two.