George Bush decided to be more introspective than usual yesterday during an Oval Office interview with American Urban Radio Networks. When asked about his relationship with blacks during his tenure as president, he actually admitted that it was probably his fault that black people don't like him very much. But if you know it's your fault and you don't really do anything about it, what does that say?

“I guess people get images in their mind in the political world where they just don’t get to know a person’s heart. I’m sure it’s my fault that I wasn’t able to go into some African-American communities and share my heart,” Bush said.

“Secondly, I am a Republican and there is a suspicion of being a Republican. You hear, ‘Aw, Bush is a Republican. He doesn’t care about us.’ And I understand that. And our party has to do a better job of making sure our policies are viewed as hopeful policies. I guess that’s the reason why,” he said.

“I was disappointed, of course,” Bush said of his inability to curry favor among blacks. “When I was governor of Texas they got to know me pretty well down there and I got a pretty sizable African-American vote, which I was proud of. When I ran for president I got whomped pretty significantly in the African-American community and I was disappointed, truly disappointed.”

He was so disappointed that he made sure to avoid appearing before the NAACP for most of his presidency.

Also, way to be careful not to mention Hurricane Katrina! Or that war that all of those young people, many of them blacks, are dying in. Because that would be just a little too honest. [AAS]