Maureen's Back From Vacation

NY Times columnist Maureen Dowd appears to be rested and ready to continue the textual assault on the Chimp. Here's today's offering on the state of the Iraq war and Cindy Sheehan's efforts in Crawford. (And our buddy Paul Hackett makes a cameo appearance, too.)

Here's a bit of it:

"It's amazing that the White House does not have the elementary shrewdness to have Mr. Bush simply walk down the driveway and hear the woman out, or invite her in for a cup of tea. But W., who has spent nearly 20 percent of his presidency at his ranch, is burrowed into his five-week vacation and two-hour daily workouts. He may be in great shape, but Iraq sure isn't.

It's hard to think of another president who lived in such meta-insulation. His rigidly controlled environment allows no chance encounters with anyone who disagrees. He never has to defend himself to anyone, and that is cognitively injurious. He's a populist who never meets people - an ordinary guy who clears brush, and brush is the only thing he talks to. Mr. Bush hails Texas as a place where he can return to his roots. But is he mixing it up there with anyone besides Vulcans, Pioneers and Rangers?"