NORMAL GEORGE

Oddly touching piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about a private visit president Bush just made to a ward for children with cancer. I don’t want to gush like Peggy Noonan, but I was quite affected by the story. Bush’s rapport with the kids seems genuine; the tour was conducted in private without media (the AJC interviewed patients afterwards); Bush’s weepiness may in part be explained by the childhood loss of his own sister to leukemia. Key passage: “President Bush was absolutely wonderful to these kids,” said clinical director Lydia Gonzalez Ryan. “I was really surprised at the attention he gave them. He didn’t leave one family out. He was charming, he was funny, and he was genuinely interested in how bone marrow treatments were done. . . . It was the best day of my life.” No one could seem to answer the question of the day: Why was the president visiting this particular children’s hospital? “I don’t know. I’ve been so busy with German shepherds and Secret Service, I haven’t had time to ask that question,” said Gonzalez Ryan.”