POTUS wins this round

From this morning's press conference, one of my my favorite moments was when the Prez responded to this question: "What would you say is the biggest mistake you've made during your presidency, and what have you learned from it?"with the following:

"Answering Dickerson's question.

The last time those questions were asked, I really felt like it was an attempt for me to say it was a mistake to go into Iraq.

And it wasn't a mistake to go into Iraq. It was the right decision to make.

I think that there's going to be a lot of analysis done on the decisions on the ground in Iraq. For example, I'm fully aware that some have said it was a mistake not to put enough troops there immediately-- or more troops.

I made my decision based upon the recommendations of Tommy Franks. And I still think it was the right decision to make. But history will judge."

But better than that, he slapped sillier the "journalist", here:

QUESTION: I wonder if you can tell us today, sir, what, if any, limits you believe there are or should be on the powers of a president during wartime.

And if the global war on terror is going to last for decades, as has been forecast, does that mean that we're going to see, therefore, a more or less permanent expansion of the unchecked power of the executive in American society?

BUSH: First of all, I disagree with your assertion of unchecked power.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BUSH: Hold on for a second, please.

There is the check of people being sworn to uphold the law, for starters.

There is oversight. We're talking to Congress all the time.

And on this program, to suggest there's unchecked power is not listening to what I'm telling you. I'm telling you, we have briefed the United States Congress on this program a dozen times.

This is an awesome responsibility, to make decisions on behalf of the American people. And I understand that. And we'll continue to work with the Congress, as well as people within our own administration, to constantly monitor a program such as the one I described to you, to make sure that we're protecting the civil liberties of the United States.

To say unchecked power basically is ascribing some kind of dictatorial position to the president, which I strongly reject.

Why hasn't he been saying these sort of things at least two or three times per year since he took office the first time? And, how is it that the "journalists" -- and people like Harry Reid -- can continue to sell the fiction that Bush is anything other than an ELECTED EXECUTIVE held to the powers that the CONSTITUTION (the same system which guarantees comparable -- yet not identical -- powers to the legislative and judicial) grants him? There are checks and balances, even during this wartime.

Sadly, sometimes I believe there are more checks than balances.