Another Top Bush Aide Makes an Exit

As the helicopter's rotors slowed, the Bushes slowly approached in the truck. Dressed casually, they hopped out to greet the guests who were in town to discuss issues of great import to the alliance: the precarious situation in Afghanistan, Russian objections to a missile defense system in Europe and Russian resistance to expanding NATO.

Moments later, the guests were loaded into the truck's cab and Bush was back at the wheel to lead them on a tour of the ranch he calls "a little slice of heaven." He cruised slowly past the assembled cameras and scribes, smiling and waving. But rather than pickup truck diplomacy, what the cameras caught was that Bush was not wearing his seat belt.

It was a small enough offense -- and not a legal one, since Texas's mandatory seat-belt laws don't apply on private property. But as luck would have it for the president, it occurred just before the start of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's annual "Click It or Ticket" seat-belt campaign. And that was enough to elevate it into the news.

Back in Washington, White House spokesman Tony Snow seemed a touch exasperated when asked about the president's usual policy regarding wearing seat belts, either when driving his pickup or riding in the presidential limousine. Snow said he has seen Bush use his seat belt, but he couldn't say that the president always did.

"It's always important to wear seat belts, especially when driving slowly on the ranch," Snow said, eliciting laughter from the press corps. "But I think it's, in point of fact, something that -- we encourage everybody to wear their seat belts."

Quote of the Week

During a Rose Garden news conference on Thursday, President Bush was asked by New York Times reporter Jim Rutenberg why Osama bin Laden is still at large. Bush responded:

"Why is he at large? Because we haven't got him yet, Jim. That's why. And he's hiding, and we're looking, and we will continue to look until we bring him to justice. We've brought a lot of his buddies to justice, but not him. That's why he's still at large. He's not out there traipsing around, he's not leading many parades, however. He's not out feeding the hungry. He's isolated, trying to kill people to achieve his objective."

Today marks the debut of the At the White House column for this page. Al Kamen's "In The Loop" column will continue on Wednesdays and Fridays.