But there's still plenty of violence outside the fortified Green Zone.
Because Ellen Knickmeyer and Anthony Shadid write in The Washington Post: "Political violence surged Thursday along many of Iraq's ethnic and sectarian fault lines, while Shiite and Sunni Arab political leaders haggled past a third deadline without reaching accord on a draft constitution.
"As the two-day death toll around Iraq reached 100, fighting between two powerful Shiite militias in the southern city of Najaf subsided, with 19 reported dead overall. The clashes Wednesday night and Thursday between the Mahdi Army, loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, and fighters allegedly linked to the government-allied Badr Organization were the deadliest between Iraqi militia forces since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003."
Anyone Care About the Deadline?
The official White House position is now that the blown deadline for the constitution is not important.
For the record, here's Bush on June 25: "Prime Minister Jafari has assured me that his Government is committed to meeting its deadline to draft a new constitution for a free Iraq."
Here's Bush on June 28: "By taking these critical steps and meeting their deadlines, Iraqis will bind their multiethnic society together in a democracy that respects the will of the majority and protects minority rights."
Here's Bush on August 11: "We have made it clear that we believe that constitution can be and should be agreed upon by August 15th. And so I'm operating on the assumption that it will be agreed upon by August the 15th."
Roberts Watch
Jess Bravin writes in the Wall Street Journal: "The Navy attorney assigned to represent a Guantanamo prisoner facing war crimes charges before a military commission is confronting a dilemma: How to proceed now that the case has been injected into the Supreme Court nomination battle?
"A three-judge appeals court panel last month rejected Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift's challenge to the commission's legality. One of the judges was John Roberts, who in April heard arguments about the Bush administration's policy as he was discussing a Supreme Court appointment in private conversations with the White House. On July 15, when Judge Roberts met with President Bush for the job-clinching interview, he joined a ruling in favor of the defendants, who included Mr. Bush. . . .
"Now, Cmdr. Swift has until Sept. 2 to decide whether to file a formal challenge to Judge Roberts's participation in the case with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit where Judge Roberts has served for two years."
Dog Wags Tail
Blogger Taegan Goddard yesterday called attention to a recent story by Edward Barrera in the San Bernardino Sun about Bush's expected visit to Rancho Cucamonga next week.
Barrerra wrote that White House spokesman David Almacy said the reason that Bush is in Crawford, Tex., for five weeks is due to the renovation of the West Wing of the White House.
I spoke to Almacy yesterday, who said that, in fact, the renovations of the West Wing -- including the replacement of the Oval Office floor -- are taking place because he's away, not the other way around.
Almacy explained that he was just taking exception to the notion that Bush is on a five-week vacation. "The only week he had no public events was this past week," Almacy said.
Meanwhile, back at the White House, "the staff is still working and the country is still being run," he said, but some staff are on vacation and it's "fairly quiet."
Westward Ho
George E. Condon Jr. writes for the Copley News Service: "President Bush plans to take his campaign to shore up sagging support for the war in Iraq to San Diego next Tuesday with a speech at North Island Naval Air Station.
"The Coronado speech will be the third and final Iraq pitch during the president's five-week vacation as Bush attempts to blunt the growth in anti-war sentiment and a drop in his approval ratings. . . .
"Bush will leave his ranch again Monday, traveling first to Arizona and then Rancho Cucamonga for events related to Medicare. He will spend Monday night in San Diego before his address at North Island."
Lance Watch
Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who went biking with President Bush last week, now faces an accusation that urine samples he provided during his first championship in 1999 tested positive for the red blood cell-booster erythropoietin, or EPO.
Here's Armstrong with Larry King last night on CNN:
"ARMSTRONG: When I peed in that bottle, there wasn't EPO in it. No way.
"KING: Did anything like this come up when you rode with President Bush? Was any discussion of this?
"ARMSTRONG: You know, this all came out a few days after that.
"KING: I know, a little after. But because of all the allegations over the years, did it ever come up?
"ARMSTRONG: No. It never came up once."
Bush and Mother Teresa
What's the difference between President Bush and Mother Teresa? Serious question.
Caroline Daniel profiles Jim Towey, the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, in the Financial Times.
"It is hard to ignore the giant picture of President George W. Bush praying -- head bowed, fingers clenched -- in Jim Towey's office," she writes.
But Towey, who handled Mother Teresa's legal work for 12 years, "notes differences between his two bosses. 'President Bush doesn't portray himself as a super-Christian. He is very private about his faith. I work with people who are very devout Christians who say let's pray together. He doesn't do that. He is all business in the Oval Office. With Mother when you got in a car, the first thing she would say is, let's say a prayer. In a plane with her you would pray half of the flight.' "
What's in Karl's Bag?
In Wednesday's column, I called attention to this photo of Karl Rove arriving in Idaho, and I asked what might be in his bag.
A few of the responses from readers:
"FBI report on Cindy Sheehan." (Roger Wolvington, Boulder, Colo.)
"If you followed the wires that seem to be coiling out of the bag, you'd find the device that is responsible for the suspicious bulge seen on Bush's back that made so much news during the campaign." (Dan Catlin, Potsdam, New York)
"Dirty tricks." (Frank Higgins, Arlington)
The Corrente blog is soliciting even more suggestions.
