Barney's Office

Late breaking news today comes from the Western Dog House in Crawford, Texas. The President has directed the First Dog Barney to immediately start working with White House decorators to set up an office adjacent to the Oval Office. Barney is so-oo-o excited! At this writing he's going with natural silk draperies stenciled with milk bones and fire hydrants, finished off with leash tiebacks. His first official directive is for staff to keep that pesky Mrs. Beasley out of the power wing and in the kitchen where she belongs.

You all may remember that when Bush was meeting the heaviest resistance to his Iraq policies, he vowed that he would not change course, even if it got to the place where his only remaining friends were Laura and Barney the Bushes' black Scottish terrier. With today's resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, it looks like that day has arrived.

First, there was that touching scene on the White House lawn a couple of weeks ago when the First Amigo parted with his turd blossom Karl Rove before heading off to Crawford on an ATV for his August break. The dust of his departure had not even settled before Tony Snow started hinting to the press that he's about finished with trying to communicate Bush's message and may be leaving soon as well. Then, on Friday John Warner, Virginia's senior Senator and key supporter of the administration's Iraq war policies, returned from Baghdad and started pushing for troop withdrawals--soon.

The final blow showed up in this morning's paper. Apparently, Laura has decided not to accompany the President on a state visit to Australia. The official excuse is that she's suffering from a pinched nerve, but I think staff slipped up and told her exactly how long the flight to Australia with hubby will be. So, you can appreciate Barney's sense of urgency. He has until mid-September to get an office up and running to be able to support Bush when he has to tell the American people that our troops are in a quagmire in Iraq. . .