On political moments. (Scan).

Retired Naval commander Lewis McIntyre sent us a copy of a letter he recently dispatched to Democratic Senator Robert Byrd. Some extracts:

Senator Byrd,

As a retired Naval officer, with two Gulf carrier deployments under my belt, I find your criticism of President Bush's visit to the USS Lincoln offensive in the extreme! This is the first time that the Commander in Chief took time out of his busy wartime schedule to pay a visit to thank those who served in the line of fire, in a way that was both dramatic and meaningful to those on the carrier. Perhaps if LBJ got off his fat behind to do something similar, our troops' morale in Vietnam might not have been so low.

As an officer I am extremely sensitive to styles of leadership. That is, after all, our stock in trade. And it was not lost on me that the President spent about 30 seconds shaking hands with the Admiral and other brass, and then spent the next 45 minutes putting himself at the disposal of the people who make that ship work: the yellow shirts, the green shirts, the purple shirts, the chiefs, the sailors. Not dressed out in formal uniform (I understand at Bush's request), but in their greasy, smelly, sweaty working uniforms. He put himself at their disposal. Nineteen- or ...