Smart enough to be president

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo., Sept. 6 — The God-fearing folk of this rural hamlet must have been mighty scandalized Monday evening when President Bush dropped by to tell them about a previously unappreciated problem.

“We’ve got an issue in America,” the president said in discussing the need to limit malpractice awards. “Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country.”

For Bush, it was the second time in three days that he announced an unintended policy position. In Erie, Pa., on Saturday, he said: “I went to the Congress last September and proposed fundamental — supplemental funding, which is money for armor and body parts and ammunition and fuel.”

Presumably he meant “money for body armor and parts.”