Once again, President Bush leads a nation in mourning.(Chicago Tribune)

Byline: Bob Kemper

WASHINGTON _ Under a shroud of fog and rain in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, Saturday was to have been a respite for President Bush. Between planning for a possible war in Iraq and making last-minute preparations for the release of his 2004 budget on Monday, Bush was to enjoy as much of a break as any president is allowed.

Having just finished his daily intelligence briefing, Bush was preparing for a day in his cabin at Camp David, when his chief of staff, Andy Card, came in with the news. Card had been channel-surfing in his own cabin when he came across the NASA channel at about 9 a.m. EST and decided to watch the shuttle Columbia land.

It never did, Card told the president. For the second time in his brief presidency, George W. Bush watched America plunge into tragedy. And while still grappling with the fallout from the tragedy of Sept. 11, Bush took up the additional emotional burden of once again leading a nation in mourning.

The Columbia disaster struck as Bush is preparing Americans, and indeed the world, for the possibility of war with Iraq. He has said the decision to fight would be made in "weeks, not months," with the administration scheduled on Wednesday to present new evidence to the U.N. Security Council that is intended to convince the skeptical allies that war may be their only option.

The sagging economy, too, haunts Bush. He has proposed a new package of tax cuts to stimulate it, but is under fire from Democrats who say his plan does little to boost the economy while showering the wealthiest Americans with tax breaks.

Bush begins a new budget fight with Democrats Monday, when he sends to Congress a $2.2 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2004 that projects record budget deficits.