Oh, the burden

Steve Benen:

There are quite a few oddities here. First, the notion that Bush “carries the biggest burden” is part of a series of arguments about how the poor president deserves sympathy for sending U.S. troops into Iraq. Last year, for example, Laura Bush said “no one suffers more” than the president when it comes to the war. Shortly thereafter, Cheney, in response to a question about troop casualties, said, “Obviously, the President bears the major part of the burden.”

Does the Bush gang really think we should pity the president, who arguably couldn’t have handled this war any worse if he tried, because his conscience is weighing on him? Maybe some would consider sympathy if they thought he needed it — Bush told a reporter not too long ago, “I must tell you, I’m sleeping a lot better than people would assume.”

For the guy carrying the “biggest burden,” the president seems surprisingly unperturbed.