Iraq Scorecard

"Reruns are not kind to this White House's scripted costume drama of May 1; the seams show," says political theater critic Frank Rich. "More and more viewers recognize that the banner reading "Mission Accomplished" in the "Top Gun" spectacle was idle set decoration, especially given that the number of American casualties in that mission has more than doubled since then. They know, too, that the president's uniform was from stock, and perhaps by now have heard how his speech was deliberately delayed almost three hours after his tailhook landing so that it would fall into that magical twilight hour that cinematographers find most romantic." New York Times 091403

What a Turkey!
It was a Norman Rockwell/Martha Stewart moment. If you felt a twinge of culinary anxiety when you saw the photo, take heart. The bird was a fake, a gastro-porn creation juicy enough for the cover of Gourmet magazine, not the real deal. Thanksgiving headlines suggested the President sliced and served this bird to the troops. Actually, it was a table decoration, and the guys got theirs from cafeteria steam tables. But it's the thought that counts.

"White House officials do not deny that they craft elaborate events to showcase Bush, but they maintain that these events are designed to accurately dramatize his policies and to convey qualities about him that are real," writes Mike Allen in the Washington Post (120403). As media maven Mary Matalin explained to Allen, "You have to figure out how to capture the Bush we know, even if it doesn't come through in a speech situation or a press conference. He regularly rejects anything that is not him."

Curious people would like to know more about the self-dramatizations the President has rejected.