Shafted

The President's Thanksgiving in Baghdad had a Churchillian flair at a time when symbols count as much as strength of arms. Too bad Virginia's government is not reading from the same page. Pinwheels and Orange Peels describes a holiday season letter from the Grinch.

And then... Canadians are smug points to an aside made by the President as he and Condi Rice made their way from Crawford to Baghdad disguised as a normal couple. This is one more reason to believe despite everything that has happened and everything we have yet to endure that times are changing for the better.

Bush surreptitiously left his ranch in an unmarked car with tinted windows, riding with Rice and secret service agents. Other Secret Service agents left at the ranch were not told the president had departed. Rice and the president wore ball caps; Bush said he pulled his low on his face and slouched down in his seat to avoid being recognized by an airfield guard.

"We looked like a normal couple," Bush said of himself and Rice.