“Hmmm, havin’ my baby, la la la…”

From the New York Times:

Appearing also on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Hadley would not say whether Mr. Bush, who plans to attend the Games, would be at the opening ceremony.

He said that Mr. Bush’s schedule had not been completed, but that “from his vantage point, if you listen to what he has said, he has no reason not to go.”

In his ABC interview, Mr. Hadley referred at least a half-dozen times to Nepal when he seemed clearly to be speaking of Tibet. A White House spokesman later confirmed that Mr. Hadley had misspoken.

Cut to: Interior, White House, National Security Adviser’s office. Stephen Hadley, wearing a bluetooth earpiece, sits at his desk. A half-played game of Solitaire glows on the computer. Hadley appears slightly agitated as he contemplates the cards on the screen.

Hadley:

How the hell was I supposed to know that Nepal and Tibet were countries? I thought they were just part of the Chinese united states, like Alabama or Guam are to America! . . . What? No, Condi never told me to familiarize myself with the back story on Tibet . . . No, no, don’t take that tone with me. Oh, right. I’m not as good as you are, then, because I’ve never read any Somerset Maugham. Well, the version I saw starred Bill Murray and took place in Tibet, so that has to count for something! . . .Who? The Dalai Lama? Oh, nice, bring that up again. Why don’t you just sue me because I thought "Tenzin Gyatso" was a Japanese appetizer? Yes, I understand that he’s the spiritual leader for millions of people. I’m supposed to know that he has a name other than "Dalai"? I’m not Mister "Big Shot With the Ladies" Bolton over at the U.N. . . . Wha . . . what do you mean he’s not U.N. Ambassador anymore? When the hell did that happen? Khalizad? Really? I thought you had to be at least a naturalized citizen to hold that job. He emigrated? Get the hell out of here! But wait, I’m confused . . . he was Iraq’s ambassador, wasn’t he? Us? He was representing us in Iraq? Whoa. Now I don’t feel so bad about him always beating me at squash. . . Okay, okay already. I put it in my Blackberry. It says right here "Nepal is a sovereign nation; Tibet is an autonomous region of China" . . . I won’t make that mistake again, I promise. Yes, yes, I know that "sherpa" isn’t just a brand name. . . "Autonomous Region"– what does that mean, anyway? And how is it different from a sovereign nation?

P.S. You’ll be pleased to learn that the A.P., or as I like to call it, the Administration Puppets, purged the transcript of any of Hadley’s stupidity. Can’t have that kind of imbecilitude hanging out there for us DFH types to rag on, now can we?