The Vacation President

The very next day, as Dana Milbank and Mike Allen wrote in The Post in April 2004, Bush ran into reporters while playing golf at a nearby country club and "seemed carefree as he spoke about the books he was reading, the work he was doing on his nearby ranch, his love of hot-weather jogging, his golf game and his 55th birthday."

Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote in the New York Times in August 2006 that Bush was actually cutting short his time in Crawford that summer for symbolic purposes. "Last August . . . began with highly publicized protests by [Cindy] Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, and ended with the image of the president on vacation while New Orleans drowned, an image that helped start his slide in popularity."

Nevertheless, he was on vacation as Israel dropped bombs on Lebanon later that month.

Julie Mason noted in the Houston Chronicle this past August that Bush was fast approaching Reagan's record. She wrote: "The 1,600-acre ranch has proved a durable haven for Bush, who often disappears into its varied landscapes for days or weeks at a time without public appearances. He has an attractive stone house, shaded swimming pool, miles of rugged bike trails and law enforcement at every entry point keeping people out."

In my May 8, 2006, column, " Would Bush Rather Be Fishing?", I wondered if Bush doesn't really enjoy his day job. A few days earlier, when asked by a German tabloid to name the most wonderful moment of his presidency, Bush said it came while he was on vacation, fishing on his private lake.

Middle East Watch

A little over three months ago, Bush was speaking optimistically about bringing peace to the Middle East before leaving office. Instead, things have gone from bad to worse.

Glenn Kessler wrote in Sunday's Washington Post: "As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads back to the Middle East this week, three months after Bush hosted a peace conference bringing together Israelis and Arabs in Annapolis, prospects for peace have shifted dramatically. There has been little clear movement in peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, while the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas has shown increasingly that it can set the region's agenda. . . .

"Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator, said that key players in the region are moving beyond the Bush administration. . . . 'Everyone is sucking up to the Iranians,' he added.

"The signs of American irrelevance are apparent throughout the region. . . .

"Ghaith al-Omari, a former adviser to Abbas and now advocacy director for the American Task Force on Palestine, faulted the Bush administration for not nurturing a process that it started. . . .

"'There is no push from the Americans,' he said. 'We are still waiting to see what they will do. It is surprising how little has happened. If you guys are going to run out of steam, why create all these expectations?'

"'It is a big question mark,' said Martin Indyk, director of the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy. 'The impression one gets is that this administration is out of juice.'"