Ordinary people.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Denis Murphy

WHATS GOING ON OVER THERE, DENIS? President George W. Bush asked. We were alone in the Oval Office. He was talking to me but looking over my shoulder at a New York Yankees-Texas Rangers baseball game on TV. When Texas scored, he pumped his arm like Tiger Woods. He cant stand New York. No wonder, 80 percent of the city voted against him.

Presidents have sometimes flown me in for talks when they are worried about the Far East, as they call our region. This was my first invitation from Bush.

I boarded Air Force One somewhere in Central Luzon (at an airport Im not allowed to talk about). I had the plane to myself. Its the only way to fly: You can phone anyone in the world from the Pope to Saddam Hussein, work out in a gym, take a sauna or order any meal you can think of and later sink …