Bush: "I Mean, Why is Iraq Such a Dangerous Place Today? Any of You Soldiers Over There Have Any Idea?"

The least self-aware president in history? You decide.

Here's President Bush, to the troops in Iraq during today's hilariously scripted teleconference:

"I wish I could be there to see you face to face and thank you personally. Probably a little early for me to go to Tikrit. Perhaps one of these days the situation will be such that I’ll be able to get back to Iraq."

Then this revealing line, suggesting the troops might be in Iraq well beyond January 20, 2009:

"Thank you for all your work. When you [get] back to the United States, if I'm hanging around, come by and say hello."

And this, from the well-protected comfort of Fortress White House:

"I'm going to assure you of this, that so long as I am the president, we are never going to back down, we are never going to give in, we'll never accept anything less than total victory."

Nice.