Come on. Bush has made mistakes, and he has pursued bad policies, but *this* is a non issue, and it is stupid and unconstructive to pretend that it somehow shows that he is a dimwitted bigot. Target *real* issues.

“There’s a lot of people in the world who don’t believe that people whose skin color may not be the same as ours can be free and self-govern.”
That’s a true statement, the only issue with it is why he said “ours”. Considering that Bush was talking in the context of the US-Canadian relations wrt Iraq, and considering that the US is 70% non-Hispanic white, and Canada even more white, I think he was probably (foolishly but correctly) saying “our” skin is mostly white and very little Arab, which is the group racists keep saying cannot self-govern.
(He might even have meant “ours” as in “mine and yours”, since he was talking to a white reporter.)

But is this really the most important part of the comment? The fact is that lot of people in the world do believe that skin color affects the ability of a people to be free and self-govern. And Bush’s response is unequivocal: “I reject that. I reject that strongly. I believe that people who practice the Muslim faith can self-govern. I believe that people whose skins aren’t necessarily — are a different color than white can self-govern.” For all his faults, this is a good notion.

Remember, this has been questioned on the left and the right, and Bush’s lack of inclusive language is not as important as the fact that there is nothing inherent in being a Muslim or an Arab that precludes self determination.