I would disagree

A judge in the US state of Texas has agreed to allow President George W Bush to postpone jury service - on the grounds he is busy running the country.

Now, it's true that, technically, Dubya is the president, and thus would have an excuse for avoiding jury duty.

Except that it doesn't seem like he's really working that hard at running the country. Unless by "running the country" one means "running the country into the ground." After all, this is the president whose vacations would make a Frenchman envious.

Not all of us have the luxury of spending more than a quarter of our time on vacation, but then, this is no ordinary president.

Besides, all those days clearing brush on the Crawford ranch really eat into Dubya's time to do other things, like serve on a jury, or meet with the mother of a slain G.I. Or act like he gives a damn.

At least if he's going to shirk jury duty, he ought to try to come up with a better excuse than the "I'm the president" business.

Then again, Dubya certainly has shown a propensity for being above the law in his nearly five years in office.