As it has been one of the big news stories of the
last week, world-wide attention was focused on Maine due to the arrival
of several high-profile out-of-towners, President George Bush and
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Whether a protester or a supporter of
the President’s policies, all Mainers can agree on one thing: thank God
it didn't rain.

    Anyone in Maine who has invited out-of-state guests
to visit has likely encountered the situation in which the guest,
looking at the calendar, packed for summer, only to arrive to
slate-gray skies and a biting wind. The host can only offer an awkward
shrug and an extra sweater. But when the weather is right, the host can
swell with pride, gesture to the amazing landscapes and give a
you-wish-you-lived-here-too nod.

    Even Mainers who hope it rains on the President
every day of the rest of his life give partisanship a short vacation
when it competes with pride of place.

    Bush’s (or someone’s) decision to pick Kennebunkport
over the west Texas dirt farm in Crawford he usually forces visiting
dignitaries to visit seemed to be a sign that the President may be
softening his cowboy attitude.

    But it seems that the mild Atlantic air of his roots
failed as an elixir to break the President of his string of poor
decisions. Still shaking sand from his socks, Bush effectively pardoned
I. Scooter Libby for a criminal conspiracy engineered in the White
House itself. While disappointing to say the least, anyone who is
surprised by that decision should get out of the sun and find some
shade.

–Ward Peck