COUNT THIS ONE AS A SQUANDER:

Summoned for Jury Duty, President Sends His Regrets (RALPH BLUMENTHAL, 12/02/05, NY Times)

There was a scheduling conflict, so a certain McLennan County rancher will not show up Monday in Waco for jury duty after all.

"The president has other commitments," said the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan.

No problem, said Judge Ralph T. Strother of State District Court, though President Bush's name had popped up on a random list of Texans summoned for jury service. Judge Strother said he had now given Mr. Bush, who owns a 1,600-acre ranch outside Crawford, a choice of six other dates from January to June 2006.

The White House is generally smarter than that.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 2, 2005 6:03 AM