October 29, 2003 - As the Abraham Lincoln steamed to and fro along the San Diego coast someone put up the big banner to serve as the backdrop for the President's speech declaring victory in what his writers called the Battle of Iraq. The carrier's course was carefully plotted to keep the range of hills along the coastline behind the cameramen and their lenses pointed at the vast Pacific. It was a carefully staged triumphant moment to etch in the mind of the electorate an image of an heroic President. It was an exciting example of the image-makers' art. Six months later the central figure of the triumphal tableau is trying to distance himself and the mission has proved to be far from accomplished and the Battle of Iraq far from over.

Since the Commander-in-Chief was a passenger in the copilot's seat on the 30 mile hop to the carrier's deck their have been more "bumps in the road" than the administration can ignore and the cold pack shoveled into the potholes hasn't improved the surface. The President is trying to sell us on the idea that the well coordinated attacks on the American occupation this past week demonstrate the "good progress" he is making on the ground in Baghdad . Senator Daschle's wry comment was particularly apt when he said that he did not know how much of this "good progress" America can stand.

At least the President has the good grace to be embarrassed by the declaration made by his big banner. Much as he would like to the press hasn't let him squirm away from the "mission accomplished" speech. He wants to pass the buck for his premature declaration to the Navy and the carrier's crew. The "Passed Buck" is becoming the symbol of this administration. Whether the subject is the missing justification for launching the war in Iraq ; the jobless economic recovery; or the intelligence failures in the summer of 2001 the bucks keep flying through the air from hand to hand. The only bucks that stop land in the treasuries of Halliburton and Bechtel.

More than 400 dead and 2000 wounded are dismissed as bumps in the road and America is beginning to ask just how long the road is going to be and wondering whether or not the driver may have taken the wrong turn. Ask the man behind the wheel about it and he replies, "I thought you were driving!"