Post Christmas Sales (Job)

The image the White House is painting these days is of a chastened president reaching out to all comers about what to do to get out of the mess that is Iraq.

This famously arrogant and closed-minded commander in chief is now like a Talmudic student, eargerly seeking counsel for his urgent questions from wise men and women (many of whom he and his lackies dismissed when they were certain Iraq held weapons of mass destruction).

What a difference a few thousand dead, the loss of one branch of government and record-low approval ratings can have.

Tends to focus the mind.

But not too much. You see this president, despite some valuable advice from the Iraq Study Group, has decided to keep looking for answers he can live with. This 'Where's Waldo?' approach to a foreign policy disaster amounts to him seeking a response he can sell.

And that, sadly, will now have to wait til after the holiday. Really, what's the rush? A few more market bombings, a handful of IEDs killing US troops. It isn't like there is a war on.