Presidential Priorities

Buried deep inside an Elisabeth Bumiller report on presidential activities is this (ever-so-slightly critical) bit:

It was the first time this president had interrupted a vacation to return to Washington, although it was not the first time an emergency had intruded on Mr. Bush's stay at his ranch, as happened when violence between the Israelis and Palestinians escalated over Easter week in 2002.

[snip]

White House officials insisted that politics played no part in the president's decision, even though Republican senators were provided with talking points, apparently by Republican aides, that characterized the Schiavo case as "a great political issue" that resonates with Christian conservatives.

The Carpetbagger Report notes the the bar an emergency needs to clear in order to be serious enough to interrupt a presidential vacation.

To recap, Osama bin Laden, Israel, war, and devastation? Vacation on. The religious right wants action on a woman who has been in vegetative state for 15 years? Vacation off. The man has his priorities.