The New Republic’s running an “Ari Fleischer Out-of-the-Loop Watch” in its “Notebook” section. So, how out of the loop is he, according to TNR?:

There was last February’s presidentially authorized strike on Iraq–a mission Fleischer learned about from the press. There was the stem-cell decision, Bush’s most important pre-9/11 policy announcement, which occurred while Fleischer was on vacation and was handled by Karen Hughes. And now Fleischer has admitted that the president never told him about last Friday’s procedure to remove four lesions from his face. After Fleischer failed to mention the procedure in either his morning or afternoon briefing on Monday, curious reporters who noticed marks on the president’s face at a photo op started asking questions. The White House soon released a statement explaining that doctors had removed the lesions, two of which were precancerous, on Friday in the White House physician’s office.

‘Tseems Ari might be having trouble with access…?

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