have smart president
whereas in the past we have
had dumb presidents …
Adapted from the opinion piece How Much Humiliation Can JD Vance Take? By Dana Milbank (April 7, 2026 NYT) Where Mr. Milbank writes:
While anonymous White House officials let it be known that the vice president was skeptical about the war in the lead-up to the invasion, Mr. Trump has cut off that route of escape, saying Mr. Vance was “maybe less enthusiastic about going, but he was quite enthusiastic.” Mr. Vance is reduced to maintaining that war is OK now because “we have a smart president whereas in the past we’ve had dumb presidents.”
Mr. Milbank is referring to a scene in the Oval Office that was reported in Buzzfeed by Curtis Wong who writes:
The heated exchange between Vance and RealClearPolitics reporter Philip Wegmann went down at an Oval Office press event, during which Wegmann pointed to reports of the vice president’s skepticism on Operation Epic Fury while asking if he was “completely on board with the current war” in Iran.
“Look, I think that I know what you’re trying to do, Phil, you’re trying to drive a wedge between members of the administration, between me and the president,” Vance said. “What the president said consistently, going back to 2015, and I agreed with him, is that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.”
“We have taken this military action under the president’s leadership,” he continued. “I think all of us, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, should pray for success and pray for the safety of our troops.”
When Wegmann pointed to Vance’s “past statements,” however, the vice president doubled down.
“I think one big difference, Phil, is that we have a smart president, whereas in the past we’ve had dumb presidents,” he said. “And I trust President Trump to get the job done, to do a good job for the American people and to make sure that the mistakes of the past aren’t repeated.”
It should be understood that when the current vice president said this, he was standing next to the current president.
You can’t make this stuff up.
The current vice president is a relatively young man.
He will get to live with this for a long time.
As has been said, its hard to land this airplane.
No Haiku For You 