His Mission is to Pacify Iraq

A few months ago, Dubya's spinners were busy pushing comparisons of him with Winston Churchill. But there is one characteristic that Dubya shares with another famous British Prime Minister: William Ewart Gladstone. They both like to destroy wood. From our days sitting in history classes in Ireland, we recall the image of Gladstone retreating to his home at Hawarden to chop wood and solve "the Irish Question." As for Dubya, well, the Washington Post has a funny story today recounting the origins of a nasty scratch on his face which has drawn stares at the Summit of the Americas, and a relevant detail is that:

Besides exercising, Bush's biggest release from his job is chain sawing branches into huge piles in the summer, with Secret Service agents hovering nearby to protect him from falling limbs as he trims.

Apparently, the agents missed one branch and it swiped Dubya on the way down. Gladstone's critics took a very dim few of his immersion in smashing wood, as this 1997 British House of Commons speaker notes (by way of criticising the modern day Liberals):

[Mr. Austin Mitchell, MP] I am reminded of Lord Randolph Churchill's attack on Mr. Gladstone. There was a huge crowd of Liberal supporters watching the great statesman chop down trees on his estate at Hawarden. Those present watched him fell the trees in a frenzy of exertion. They were all given a chip of wood by the great man himself before they were led away. Lord Randolph said, "Here they come with major problems, but what about the Balkans? Chips. What about the economic situation? Chips. What about all the other problems? Chips."

What about the budget deficit, Iraq, the Israel-Palestine roadmap, Osama? Chips.

UPDATE: By printing an anecdote based on a criticism of Gladstone by uber-Unionist Randolph Churchill, this blog in no way endorses the corresponding political views of Churchill Senior over those of Gladstone, the latter having displayed a more progressive attitude towards Ireland.