Instead of "The War on Terror" various administration honchos (including Rumsfeld!) were starting to call it something like "The Global Struggle Against Extremist Islamic Ideology." But Dubya knew better. He squashed that bug fast. He used "The War on Terror" slogan very pointedly in practically every other sentence of a short speech he gave before heading off to Crawford. Why? It's simple. Try to picture the title banner that whooshes into place every time Fox reports on Iraq reading "The Struggle against Extremist Islamic Ideology" instead of "War on Terror." Just try to picture that.

I think this was much more powerful when it was just Cindy, all by herself, insisting on an accountability moment. You can't imagine counter-demonstrators lining up against just her in an effective way, can you? That would have looked bullying. As it was, over the weekend, it started to look "equal." Cindy, and maybe a few other moms, OK. But I fear -- I hope I'm wrong, I pray I'm wrong -- but I fear that the more this turns into a mass of antiwar people gathering at the gate, the more it looks like retro 60's business as usual and turns into a big blob of whatever that will be grist for all the mills, to be interpreted in accordance with whatever they already think.

The real reason he makes those manly "crisp decisions" is that he is in a perpetual rush to put burdensome moments behind him. And he can no longer turn to alcohol for insulation.