The Week

■ Hey, Howard, you should simply tell ’em, “Those who skied, also served.”

■ Was President Bush’s Thanksgiving trip to Baghdad political? Was it designed to provide an image—Bush serving turkey and fixings to troops—to supplant an earlier one—Bush on the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, in front of the banner declaring “Mission Accomplished”? The answer to both questions is yes, and why not? Politics at its most serious is about intentions and the means to achieve them; as circumstances change, so must the means. When Bush landed on the Lincoln on May 1, a mission had been accomplished: As Bush said, “major combat operations” had “ended.” He added that there was still “difficult work to do in Iraq.” It has proved more difficult, probably, than he expected. But unlike Bill Clinton, he has not sulked, held all-night bull sessions, or asked Dick Morris to take ten polls. He has adjusted his tactics to the situation on the ground, and he went to Baghdad to bond with the troops, and to show America, Iraq, and the world that we would beat the assassins. Call it politics—and leadership.

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■ Hey, Howard, you should simply tell ’em, “Those who skied, also served.”

■ Was President Bush’s Thanksgiving trip to Baghdad political? Was it designed to provide an image—Bush serving turkey and fixings to troops—to supplant an earlier one—Bush on the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, in front of the banner declaring “Mission Accomplished”? The answer to both questions is yes, and why not? Politics at its most serious is about intentions and the means to achieve them; as circumstances change, so must the means. When Bush landed on the Lincoln on May 1, a mission had been accomplished: As Bush said, “major combat operations” had “ended.” He added that there was still “difficult work to do in Iraq.” It has proved more difficult, probably, than he expected. But unlike Bill Clinton, he has not sulked, held all-night bull sessions, or asked Dick Morris to take ten polls. He has adjusted his tactics to the situation on the ground, and he went to Baghdad to bond with the troops, and to show America, Iraq, and the world that we would beat the assassins. Call it politics—and leadership.