I did not know that George W. Bush did impersonations (although some might argue he has been impersonating a president for more than six years). Last night, Mr. Bush stuffed a chaw of tobacco in each cheek and did his best impression of Don “Veto” Corleone, making Congress an offer he hopes they cannot refuse. On national television, the godfather of politics brusquely rejected what he called “a rigid and artificial deadline for American troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq.” He asserted that “setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure — and that would be irresponsible.” Mr. Bush is, of course, intimately acquainted with failure and irresponsibility. His administration has been rife with such—although, in fairness, he has managed to make some old-timers recall with a certain fondness the presidency of Warren G. Harding.

In announcing his veto, Mr. Bush also alleged that the Congressional plan for ending his misadventure in Iraq was “a prescription for chaos and confusion.” The President apparently knows a thing or two about prescriptions, as well (not to mention confusion). His buddies in the pharmaceutical industry have presumably been providing him with a steady supply of Viagra to ensure that he does not lose his hard-on for world domination. Unfortunately, no one has bothered to inform Mr. Bush that such a permanent state of priapism is unhealthy—particularly for the Iraqi civilians and American troops who have come to occupy a charnel house.

So President Veto Corleone has issued his response. Early this morning, Harry Reid awoke to find a bloody horse’s head under his bedsheets, and Nancy Pelosi found a dead fish wrapped in today’s Washington Post on her doorstep. How will they respond? Will they allow themselves to be bullied into giving the President what he wants and selling out the American people? Or will they show some backbone and stand up to the White House mob? Stay tuned. The sequel is coming.