Thanks, but no thanks

If I was Barney, I'd steer clear of George W. Bush's boots for the next couple of days.

Congressional Dems have told the president what he can do with his "invitation" to come to the White House and "discuss" their bills to fund his war.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking Tuesday at a news conference in San Francisco, forcefully rejected Bush's invitation -- as had Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada several hours earlier at a Capitol appearance.

"What the president invited us to do is to come to his office so that we could accept, without any discussion, the bill that he wants," Pelosi said. "That's not worthy of the concerns of the American people. And I join with Sen. Reid in rejecting an invitation of that kind.

"Leader Reid and I have long said to the president (that) we want to talk to you -- the American people want us to work together. They want us to fund the troops, they want us to wind down this war. And let's work together to do that," she said.

That "invitation" was a breathtaking strategic mistake on the president's part. It reeks of a freelance operation. He had to have issued it in complete defiance of what Rove and Cheney were telling him. It was an unmistakable sign of weakness. If his position on this matter were stronger, he never would have reached out to the Democrats this way. What an embarrassment. He is probably punching through the sheetrock tonight.