It's Still Hard Work

WACO, Tex., Aug. 2 -- President Bush is getting the kind of break most Americans can only dream of -- nearly five weeks away from the office, loaded with vacation time.

The president departed Tuesday for his longest stretch yet away from the White House, arriving at his Crawford ranch in the evening to clear brush, visit with family and friends, and tend to some outside-the-Beltway politics. By historical standards, it is the longest presidential retreat in at least 36 years.

The August getaway is Bush's 49th trip to his cherished ranch since taking office and Tuesday was the 319th day that Bush has spent, entirely or partially, in Crawford -- roughly 20 percent of his presidency to date, according to Mark Knoller, a CBS Radio reporter known for keeping better records of the president's travel than the White House itself. Weekends and holidays at Camp David or at his parents' compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, bump up the proportion of Bush's time away from Washington even further.

Now, you may be thinking "How many weeks off does Osama bin Laden get?" But, the White House wants us to realize that it may not be as bad as it seems.

At the ranch, White House officials say, Bush continues to receive daily national security briefings, sign documents, hold teleconferences with aides and military commanders, and even meet with foreign leaders. And from the president's point of view, the long Texas stints are the best way to clear his mind and reconnect with everyday America.

For example, he'll get briefings like the one four years ago on Aug. 6, 2001, "Bin Laden determined to strike in US." And he can still sign documents, unless they happen to deal with brain-dead women, in which case he needs to fly back to Washington. He can hold teleconferences with aides and military commanders, unless he happens to be reading a children's book, or riding his bike. And, as we know, he can meet with foreign leaders and walk hand-in-hand through the bluebells with them.

It is good news that he'll be able to clear his mind, which seems so cluttered with all the details he's so famous for being on top of. (We've all noticed how his precise knowledge of a variety of topics puts his predecessor to shame, haven't we?) And we all want him to reconnect with everyday America, or at least that part of it that lives on ranches in Texas surrounded by Secret Service agents.

(Apparently, Mr. Bush thinks that, in everyday America, five-week vacations are common, and people take it, without worrying about all the work they have to do, or thinking it might give their bosses a reason to lay them off. I'd say he's not the only one who'd like to reconnect with that America.)

Still, who can blame him for wanting some summer fun? It's not like there's a "war" on.

Update: Apparently, his clarity is already showing. Oh, and by the way, there is a war on.

GRAPEVINE, Tex., Aug. 3 - President Bush publicly overruled some of his top advisers on Wednesday in a debate about what to call the conflict with Islamic extremists, saying, "Make no mistake about it, we are at war."

In a speech here, Mr. Bush used the phrase "war on terror" no less than five times. Not once did he refer to the "global struggle against violent extremism," the wording consciously adopted by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other officials in recent weeks after internal deliberations about the best way to communicate how the United States views the challenge it is facing.