Mission Accomplished

So if we're understanding Shaq correctly, the past few NBA MVP awards have been tainted, but being lauded by the current Commander-In-Chief is juuuust fine. No taint there.

Other highlights of the Miami Heat's White House championship ceremony on Tuesday:

• President Bush commended the Heat by saying: "They had the stars, everybody knew who they — who the stars are, but it was the capacity to play together, to put the team ahead of themselves, that enabled them to be here at the White House." He then introduced the players ... with the stars, Shaq, Dwyane Wade and coach Pat Riley using a special, separate entrance from the rest of the team.

• Despite Riley leaving the Heat for health reasons while the team was mired in a terrible slump, Bush did not use the term "cut and run" even once.

• Riley said: "I voted for the man. If you don't vote, you don't count." Since Riley's from Florida, can we assume he meant more than once per election?

Bush Honors Heat, But With Mixed Emotions [MSNBC]