Cincinnati: In a moment largely unnoticed by the throngs of people in Lebanon waiting for autographs from the president of the United States, George W. Bush stopped to hold a teenager's head close to his heart. Lynn Faulkner, his daughter, Ashley, and their neighbor, Linda Prince, eagerly waited to shake the president's hand Tuesday at the Golden Lamb Inn. He worked the line at a steady campaign pace, smiling, nodding and signing autographs until Prince spoke: "This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9-11." Bush stopped and turned back. "He changed from being the leader of the free world to being a father, a husband and a man," Faulkner said. "He looked right at her and said, 'How are you doing?' He reached out with his hand and pulled her into his chest."
"I could hear her say, 'I'm OK,' " Faulkner said. "That's more emotion than she has shown in 21/2 years. Then he said, 'I can see you have a father who loves you very much.' And I said, 'I do, Mr. President, but I miss her mother every day.' It was a special moment."
This is the sort of thing you want people to see, but then you don't -- you know that when Ted Rall and Michael Moore get close to it they'll get their odor all over it. -Fred