The Meeting Trap

Also, see this WaPost story about the second-guessing, hand-wringing inside the Bush Camp over his hesistation to deal with Sheehan initially. Of particular interest, note how still a considerable problem that Bush's camp has with meeting Sheehan is simply setting up that meeting, as though by simply granting a meeting against their custom, a Slippery Slope of meetings will cascade down upon them and stifle their very being:

A former White House official said the Sheehan decision reflected a policy that Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. has enforced for five years on everyone from donors to governors to top aides. "If you want a meeting with the president, you will never get it," the official said. "If you need a meeting with the president, you will get it 100 percent of the time. Otherwise, he'd have a thousand meetings a day."
Two days later, Bush explained his approach to journalists invited to ride mountain bikes on his ranch. "I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say," he said. "But I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life."

...
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush's focus on the long term rather than the immediate is "part of what, to his supporters, is steadfastness and, to his critics, is stubbornness."

"If you allow those who are the most vocal and most antagonistic to get a meeting with the president for fear that publicity will hurt you if you don't, you're creating incentives for your critics to become even more antagonistic and more vocal," Fleischer said. "Then, you're forever stuck in: Will you or won't you meet? You'll no longer lead. You'll just wrestle with meetings."

Wha...? That's what this is about, the worry over meetings? Talk about out of touch, talk about asinine, talk about ridiculous, vacuous, uncompassionate, absurdity.

Ok, Bush. Like you say:

"But I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life."

Bush's Life: Like a Breakfast Cereal, Without the Tedious Meetings.