My Pet Goat's Bicycle Ride. So it turns out that when 30,000 people in D.C. were told to run for their lives the other day, nobody thought that it might be a good idea to inform Shrub that something was amiss. Maybe they thought that he'd just sit there for seven minutes without doing anything like he did on 9/11, and so there wasn't much confidence that he'd have anything useful to add. And so Shrub kept on peddling his bike, probably smiling and listening to "My Sharona" on the presidential iPod.

Some reporters yesterday thought it might be useful to ask Scotty McMuffin a few questions on why Shrub was kept in the dark. Scotty's response was summed up in one word that he said thirty-four times--protocols.

The only thing I miss about my old job is the time I'd spend each day in my office with the door closed, the lights off, and the glow of the daily briefing from the computer screen. Because I don't watch regularly, I sometimes forget that 9/11 changed everything:

Q Scott, United Airlines got the go-ahead this week to dump $6.6 billion in pension benefits on the U.S. agency that insures these. From the White House's perspective, is this an appropriate way to deal with cost at companies --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, are you talking about United Airline?

Q Yes. Is this an appropriate way for companies like United, other airlines, to deal with their cost structures? And what's preventing this move by United from starting a whole flood of these kind of --

MR. McCLELLAN: A couple of things. We talked a little bit about this yesterday, I think. But, one, there is a court decision relating to this on the bankruptcy proceedings related to United Airlines. The President has worked to make sure that airlines are taking the necessary steps to restructure in the aftermath of September 11th in our changing transportation world. And so many airlines have been working to restructure and adapt to the circumstances.

You're aware after September 11th, there was a need to provide some support to the airlines, and we did.

Some thoughts on how the United story fits in with the Bankruptcy Bill.