Troubles Follow Bush

"Once Sheehan starts acting like a politician, say some Republicans and even some Democrats, she will become just another voice in the debate -- easy, in other words, to neutralize. But until then, Bush's team cannot fire back hard, as it usually does when it is criticized. Sheehan must be handled, as an adviser to the President put it, 'very carefully.' And that's what it has been struggling to do."

Anne E. Kornblut writes in the New York Times: "The sleepy summer air has been punctured by a blast of antiwar energy, with carloads of activists appearing every afternoon to join a vigil begun by the mother of a soldier who died in Iraq.

"Flowers are delivered by the dozen at Camp Casey, as the muddy outpost established by the mother, Cindy Sheehan, near the Bush ranch is now called. White crosses have been hammered into the dirt, pink banners strewn across the trees, the police posted at bends in the road to wave gawkers along. . . .

"But even before Ms. Sheehan arrived, this sort of challenge was not entirely an unexpected one for Mr. Bush, who by the end of this summer will have spent more time away from the White House than any other president in history. His five-week sojourn at his 1,600-acre ranch offers the protesters ample opportunity to camp out for extended periods in front of the national media at a time of sharp spikes in the casualties in Iraq, and as public polling data suggests the lowest support for the war since it began."

In brief remarks to the press on Friday, Bush responded to Sheehan this way: "Part of my duty as the President is to meet with those who've lost a loved one. And so, you know, listen, I sympathize with Mrs. Sheehan. She feels strongly about her -- about her position. And I am -- she has every right in the world to say what she believes. This is America. She has a right to her position. And I've thought long and hard about her position. I've heard her position from others, which is, get out of Iraq now. And it would be -- it would be a mistake for the security of this country and the ability to lay the foundations for peace in the long-run, if we were to do so."

Previous Meetings With Grieving Families

Responding to Sheehan's request for a meeting, the White House trumpeted the fact that Bush has already met with her once, along with about 900 other family members of 272 soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Amanda Ripley writes in Time: "A senior aide who was present at many of the meetings estimates that a little less than 10% of the relatives tell Bush their loved ones died in vain. 'He's had a couple wives who were very upset,' says the aide. 'They didn't yell at him or hit him or anything like that. But on more than one occasion, they've made very clear their position.' "

Holly Bailey and Evan Thomas write in Newsweek that, based on reports from a few grieving family members, the president sometimes appears quite stricken in those private meetings. But what's not at all clear is "whether Bush's suffering is essentially sympathetic, or whether he is agonizing over the war that he chose to start."

Bailey and Thomas describe several emotional meetings, including one after which Bush "paused in the middle of the room and said to the families, 'I will never feel the same level of pain and loss you do. I didn't lose anyone close to me, a member of my family or someone that I love. But I want you to know that I didn't go into this lightly. This was a decision that I struggle with every day.' . . .

"His shoulder slumped and his face turned ashen. He began to cry and his voice choked. He paused, tried to regain his composure and looked around the room. 'I am sorry, I'm so sorry,' he said."

Shotgun Blast

Fox News reports how one of Bush's neighbor expressed his protest fatigue on Sunday.

"Larry Mattlage created quite a stir earlier in the day when he fired his shotgun over his property. The Crawford rancher told reporters he was practicing for dove season.