The GOP's Poland Problem

Kevin Drum makes hay with Bush's peevish Poland statement. Now, I doubt that Bush's whining about Poland's massive contributions to the coalition will become a big story. But I can't believe that Kevin passed up an opportunity to make the obvious historical tie between Bush's Poland gaffe and Ford's much more memorable Poland gaffe:

In 1976, non-elected incumbent Gerald Ford went into a debate with Carter as Carter was sinking like a stone in the polls after coming out of the Democratic convention with a huge lead. One Ford mistake ultimately was credited with saving the election for Carter. Answering a question about the communist enslavement of Poland, Ford said that the people of Poland were free.

What is it with clumsy, inarticulate, Republican president's when it comes to talking about Poland in debates?