Bush being on vacation reminds me of this Iowahawk report, from happier times two years ago (before most people had heard of Al Qaeda) about the tribulations of pampered reporters in Crawford, Texas.

E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post described a common experience of the visiting press. "When I arrived in Crawford, I had a sudden craving for a quick brioche and mineral water, and set out in search of a decent Belgian patisserie," he recalled. "Two hours later, the horrible truth dawned on me. In Crawford, there are no decent Belgian patisseries."

Panic stricken, Dionne said he began asking for help from local passers-by.

"I kept asking them, 'where can I get a brioche? Where can I get a brioche?', only to see blank stares," he recalled. "Finally, one man in a pickup truck said he hadn't heard of that brand of beer, but offered me a Shiner Bock."

Tragic.

This seems to suggest that Crawford has Belgian patisseries, just not decent ones. One can just imagine the dismay that the refined visitor must feel upon discovering that the Belgian patisserie that had seemed so promising is one of the inferior Texas-style patisseries.

Are you certain Dionne wasn't being facetious? This seems a bit thick even for him. Then again, Washington D.C. can do funny things to the mind, and entirely unfunny things to the soul.

I certainly read it as a parody, but sometimes deliberate comedy really is funnier than inadvertent self-parody.

Not often, but once in a blue moon.

Did anyone actually read the piece? Hint: it's by Iowahawk.

Well, I certainly wasn't dumb enough to comment on the piece before I'd read it. No way. That would be...uh...dumb.

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