No, he really was that stupid.
It just goes to show how far you can go with a very, very powerful father who is friendly with a number of Supreme Court judges.
That being said, I don't entirely blame GWB for some of the things that happened during his tenure.
GWB was thick. Of that I have no doubt. The problem and danger with having a thick President is that it opens all sorts of doors for deeply unpleasant, but far more intelligent people to manipulate him. Enter, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft, Paul Wolfowitz, and many, many other world class s**tbags who made it their business to take control of the Presidency.