President on a Mission

Nobody asked about executive power. The closest any reporter came to raising the credibility issue was Martha Raddatz of ABC News, who asked: "You keep saying that you don't want to leave, but is your strategy to win working?"

Bush replied: "If I didn't think it would work, I would change -- our commanders would recommend changing the strategy. They believe it'll work."

But the evidence suggests it isn't working. And nobody asked Bush the critical follow-up questions: You say we have to stay and get the job done, rather than leave. But what if staying isn't getting the job done either?

Briefing Room Follies

The White House announced Bush's 10 a.m. press conference at 8:13 a.m. The timing was ideal if the goal was to have the press corps at a disadvantage. Most reporters -- and newsrooms -- are not even remotely functional that early on Monday mornings.

And it was quite the surprise. The White House's 8 a.m. morning update to reporters stated that Bush had "no public events."

This was Bush's first solo news conference since July 7 in Chicago, and it was held in the temporary briefing room in a building across the street from the White House. The regular briefing room, just a few yards from the Oval Office, is being renovated.

At the end of the briefing, Bush cheerfully assured reporters they would return.

"Absolutely you're coming back. Coming back to the bosom of the White House." Bush said. "I'm looking forward to hugging you when you come back, everybody."

False Dichotomies

Bush's response last week to the court ruling striking down his warrantless domestic surveillance program was not exactly nuanced.

It boiled down to: Are you with the enemy, or with me?

Here's the text of brief comments from Camp David.

"This country of ours is at war, and we must give those whose responsibility it is to protect the United States the tools necessary to protect this country in a time of war," he said.