‘I wish I hadn’t said that’ (Guardian)

Here’s something I wish Bush hadn’t said:

I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will try to the best of my ability, to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

But he’s set to say that again come Thursday. But I’ll be in an exam, so I won’t have to see him say it. At least not live, anyway.

As much as I mock him, I do think it’s good of him to come out and say that he regrets saying these things. Certianly not the kind of thing you’d catch Mr Blair doing. Although I think Blair would be in a better position now if he had just come out and said that he regretted certain statements a while ago, even if he couldn’t bring himself to say ‘sorry’; though it would be a bad idea to do so now, as that would get his Iraq failures right back on the front pages for weeks. Of course, Mr Blair thinks it’s a great strength to appear to be sticking to your guns, and never admitting you were wrong. He hasn’t got a reverse gear. And back in ’97 that was a good thing. But it’s not serving him as well as an alternative strategy could at this moment in time.

So does this make George Bush a better leader than Tony Blair? No. But it doesn’t exactly make Blair look great, either.