Fred Barnes -- White House guest

How much more enamored of your own glamor and importance can you get, than starting a column with this?

It turns out you only have to attend a White House Christmas party to find out where President Bush is headed on Iraq.

I'm so impressed. Fred Barnes, as he repeated reminds us in this little conceit, attended a White House useful tool cattle call and dutifully reports the president is in command and has a plan. A plan that has a snowball's chance in hell of working despite Fred's assurances it has a credible prospect of suceeding. (Yeah Fred, I have a credible chance of hitting the lottery tonight too. I did buy a ticket, but the odds still aren't in my favor, or of this plan.)

Nonetheless, Mr. Barnes graciously tenders his sage advice to the Decider in Chief.

The sooner Bush orders the plan into action, the better chances are that next Christmas he'll be telling White House guests that winning in Iraq is not a goal. It could actually be happening.

Yeah and Santa might really show up on my rooftop this year with 8 tiny reindeer. How times do these self-important pundits get to predict victory before they become the laughingstock they deserve to be?

Update: Heretik joined Freddy at the punchbowl.