The foreign policy of the most powerful nation this planet has ever seen is being managed by a man who is making it up as he goes along. Witness President Bush’s interaction with NBC’s David Gregory this morning. Gregory asked the President why the new era of “Arab-Israeli peace” that the invasion of Iraq was supposed to usher in doesn’t seem to be happening.

Our President’s response:

For a while, American foreign policy was just, Let’s hope everything is calm — manage calm. But beneath the surface brewed a lot of resentment and anger that was manifested on September the 11th.

And so we’ve taken a foreign policy that says: On the one hand, we will protect ourselves from further attack in the short run by being aggressive in chasing down the killers and bringing them to justice.

And make no mistake: They’re still out there, and they would like to harm our respective peoples because of what we stand for. In the long term, to defeat this ideology — and they’re bound by an ideology — you defeat it with a more hopeful ideology called freedom.

Ignoring for the moment that he never got to the “on the other hand” portion of his statement, it’s become truly terrifying the degree to which this administration seems to have no plan, no direction, and really no concern with the rapidly decaying situation across the entire Middle East. Condi plays her piano, Rummy debates vocabulary, and George just parties with the winners of a game show.

Nearly 500 are dead in Israel and Lebanon. More than 6,000 civilians were killed in Iraq in the past 2 months. And 2,571 American soldiers have died in Iraq since we invaded. We need leadership and we need a change.

UPDATE: TPMmuckraker has the full transcript. What the hell is he smoking?

Secretary of State Condi Rice is over there in the Middle East trying to help curb fighting between Israel and Hezbollah terrorists. The jury is still out on her performance thus far, but nonetheless, she’s stressed. You would be too.

So, to reflect her somber mood and blow off some steam, she will play a piano recital in Malaysia this week.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - In keeping with her mood and to reflect the world crises she tackles daily, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to play a somber piece of music to her Asian colleagues in Malaysia this week.

The Association of South East Asian Nations has a tradition of ministers performing usually silly skits at a gala dinner, but Rice, an accomplished pianist, said she was more at ease playing a serious, reflective piece, possibly by the composer Brahms.

“It is not a time that is frivolous. It is a serious time. I will play something that is in accordance with my serious mood,” said Rice, who had just attended a conference in Rome aimed at helping resolve the Lebanon crisis.

SHOW OFF! At least she’s not shoe shopping.