President Bush -- Stylin' at taxpayers' (and soldiers') expense

American taxpayers picked up the six-figure tab for the red carpet, walkway and artificial island hurriedly built over a memorial pool so that Bush and French President Jacques Chirac could walk in style to the dais for last week's ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Team "Mission Accomplished" Bush just can't help but gild lilies.

In addition, White House staffers demanded that bleachers erected for several thousand spectators be torn down, limiting the number of guests who could attend the event. "Some 25-year-old White House kid thought they weren't esthetically pleasing," one administration official complained.

The red carpet price tag wasn't anticipated by Pentagon planners, so the $100,000, which has already been paid out to the civilian contractors who did the work, will have to be scrounged from somewhere else.

"That money will have to come out of some account that otherwise would be spent on soldiers," according to a source familiar with the situation.

"'Some 25-year-old White House kid...' one administration official complained."

Hmmm.