I keep hearing how smart Gen. Wesley Clark is.

I hear he's a Rhodes scholar.

I hear he can read a novel in 20 minutes.

I hear he graduated first in his class at West Point.

I hear he's a genius.

But I keep hearing him say the dumbest things.

Here's one example. On June 15, he was interviewed by Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press." Asked about President Bush's tax cuts, here's what he said:

Well, first of all, they were not efficient in terms of stimulating the kind of demand we need to move the economy back into a recovery mode, a strong recovery and a recovery that provides jobs. There are more effective ways of using the resources. Secondly, the tax cuts weren't fair. I mean, the people that need the money and deserve the money are the people who are paying less, not the people who are paying more.

I thought this country was founded on a principle of progressive taxation. In other words, it's not only that the more you make, the more you give, but proportionately more because when you don't have very much money, you need to spend it on the necessities of life. When you have more money, you have room for the luxuries and you should � one of the luxuries and one of the privileges we enjoy is living in this great country.

I want you to take note particularly of this sentence: "I thought this country was founded on the principle of progressive taxation."

He did?

Where on earth did he ever get that notion?

Is that what they teach in Arkansas?

Is that what they teach at West Point?

Is that what they teach at Oxford?

Quite the contrary. Here's what the U.S. Constitution says in Article 1, Section 9: "No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken."

Now I know that may be difficult for a Rhodes scholar to decipher, so let me help.

At the time of the founding, the idea of a "progressive" income tax was unthinkable. The only taxes on individuals Congress was allowed to assess had to be based on population rather than wealth or earnings. The idea of imposing "progressive" tax rates on incomes, with richer people paying higher rates, was strictly prohibited by the Constitution.

It took the ratification of the 16th Amendment in the 20th century to clear the way for income taxes of varying rates. And, I might add, there is still some question 90 years later whether that ratification was valid � whether it ever really, in fact, took place.

Taken by itself, this gaffe � which suggests a total ignorance of our nation's founding principles and traditions � could be chalked up to poor planning, verbal miscue, momentary mental confusion.

But it's worth pointing out he made no effort later to retract the statement � perhaps because he was not challenged to do so by the illustrious Mr. Russert or anyone else.

More importantly, this is just one of a series of similar errors. So much so that he's become the source of some pretty potent late-night humor. Here's what Jay Leno had to say more recently:

And Gen. Wesley Clark announced he is a Democratic candidate for president. And apparently, Bill Clinton is advising Clark. Yeah. Although Clark already has been called into question for changing his story three times about a claim he made on "Meet the Press." On "Meet the Press," he said the White House called him right after 9-11 and pressured him to connect Saddam Hussein with 9-11, but he's changed his story three different times. So, I guess, Clinton really is advising him.
By the way, general, there was a country founded on the principle of "progressive taxation." It was called the Soviet Union.