Bush and the original George W.

I guess I can understand something resembling desperation, but Dubya's inclination to compare himself to previous presidents is more than a little annoying and inappropriate. This week he went to the ultimate, implicitly comparing himself to George Washington(!).

Here's the Bushlet's quote: "George Washington's long struggle for freedom has also inspired generations of Americans to stand for freedom in their own time. Today, we're fighting a new war to defend our liberty and our people and our way of life." (Bush has also compared himself to Harry Truman, FDR and Teddy Roosevelt.)

There's one conceivably valid comparison. During the Revolutionary War General Washington was on the defensive most of the time and lost most of the battles until the very end, and the Bushlet seems convinced that he (or those he sends from his safe Oval Office) will win eventually in Iraq.

Otherwise, it's so unwarranted as to be laughable. Bush's forces aren't the "ragged Continental Army" but the mighty empire. And far from endorsing the idea of going to war to "spread freedom" around the world, Washington explicitly warned against such foolishness. The Iraq war, a war of choice, not necessity, was precisely the kind of war Washington would have hated. Here's some wisdom from his Farewell Address of 1796, which more politicians would do well to read and heed:

Washington urged Americans to avoid "overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty." He warned against "excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another" And his bottom-line advice was: "The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible."

Still good advice, on Washington's real birthday and any other day.