Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speechwriter, says:

I suspect people pick up with Mr. Bush the sense that part of his drama, part of the story of his presidency, is that he gets to be the romantic about history, and the American people get to be the realists. Of the two, the latter is not the more enjoyable role.

Americans have always been somewhat romantic about the meaning of our country, and the beacon it can be for the world, and what the Founders did. But they like the president to be the cool-eyed realist, the tough customer who understands harsh realities.

With Mr. Bush it is the people who are forced to be cool-eyed and realistic. He’s the one who goes off on the toots. This is extremely irritating, and also unnatural. Actually it’s weird.

When I got home from work yesterday, Matt wasn’t there, so before I went back out again, I stuck a Post-It note on his computer with the following message to tell him where I’d be:

therapy then gym

Then it struck me that those are both names of Manhattan gay bars.

They would be, wouldn’t they.

I’m going to be in Vancouver (the one in Canada) on business next week from Wednesday through Saturday.

Any ideas, suggestions, or recommendations of what to do there?