What's the Plan?

" 'In the first march I went to (opposing Vietnam) there were 10 of us. This is huge,' Baez told relatives of fallen U.S. soldiers Sunday before performing a free concert just up the road from the ranch."

Revisiting the Sheehan Decision

Mike Allen writes in The Washington Post: "When Cindy Sheehan showed up outside President Bush's ranch on the fourth full day of his five-week working vacation to talk about a son who had been killed in Iraq, he declined to meet with her -- a decision that has been widely second-guessed, even by some Republicans. The way that choice was made, and the reasons for it, provide a vivid illustration of several hallmarks of Bush's style, including his insistence on protocol, his concern with precedent, his resistance to intrusions and his aversion to hand-wringing.

"According to the accounts of several advisers, Bush and his aides concluded that it would be a mistake to yield to Sheehan's demand for a second meeting with Bush to discuss the death of her son, Casey, who was killed in Iraq at the age of 24 last year when his Army battalion was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. The president had made it clear, going back at least to a California railroad swing during his 2000 campaign, that he does not care to meet with protesters or to reward them."

Lance Watch

Reuters reports: "Cycling superstar Lance Armstrong pressed President Bush to boost federal spending on cancer research during a visit to his ranch, but the two did not discuss the Iraq war, which Armstrong opposes. . . .

"The president, whose favorite sport is mountain biking, went with Armstrong on a 17-mile bike ride on Saturday through the sunflower fields and canyons of Bush's 1,600-acre (640-hectare) Texas ranch. They later went for a swim and had lunch. . . .

"In an indication that Armstrong did not overtake the president in the bike ride, a White House spokesman said the cycling champion was careful to respect 'the first rule of biking.' "

The New York Times noted that Armstrong "told USA Today last month: 'The biggest downside to a war in Iraq is what you could do with that money. What does a war in Iraq cost a week? A billion? Maybe a billion a day? The budget for the National Cancer Institute is $4 billion. That has to change. It needs to become a priority again.' "

Revolt of the Religious Right?

Newsweek's Howard Fineman tells NBC's Matt Lauer this morning that too much role for Islam in the Iraqi constitution would be "dangerous for the president politically . . . because his core support in the Republican party are religious conservatives, Christian activists, and I'm told that some leading Christian leaders here in the United States have told the administration . . . that if the constitution ends up being one that enshrines Islamic law, and lessens the possibility of religious freedom in Iraq, that American religious conservatives are going to be very upset with this president."

Dead Right

CNN's documentary " Dead Wrong, Inside an Intelligence Meltdown" on Sunday, hosted by David Ensor, was better at raising questions than offering answers.

" 'Dead wrong.' That's how the commission appointed by President Bush describes U.S. intelligence in the lead up to the Iraq War," Ensor said in his introduction.

"Despite public warnings before the war, no weapons of mass destruction have been found. But the commission's searing report left unanswered a critical question. Should anyone be held accountable?"

David Gregory, NBC's White House correspondent, is shown asking: "Did this commission not ask the tough questions? Did they not challenge some of these assumptions? And doesn't ultimate responsibility rest with the president of the United States?"