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