Dumb but not Stupid?

Let me state right now that I'm no fan of Dubya. In fact the number of questionable policy decisions he has made is legion (even given my belief it was unlikely Iraq would of been sorted out without some sort of military intervention). However this venerable "quote" was mentioned last night:

“The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur.”

I did question the source but no one could remember where it was from although there was a consensus it hadn't come from an email. However it is a continual source of frustration that stuff that circulates on the internet often get re-reported in the mainstream media as fact. While I would like to believe the quote the evidence I've found so far hasn't convinced me.

While its easy to paint Bush as the village idiot I think thats a dangerous road to take. Despite what the conspiracy theorists would have you believe I think you still have to be a pretty intelligent to get to the top of the political heap (although I have no doubt that large bags of money and influence help, especially in the US). Otherwise you run the risk of underestimating your opponent, something I'm sure Sun Tzu would have something to say about.