Problems at the Parks? But How?

Better still for his fans, Feith -- now a teacher at Georgetown University, a visiting scholar at Harvard's Kennedy School and a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford -- is working on a memoir of his five years at the Pentagon. It's to be published, perhaps late this year, by HarperCollins and promises to put into context Feith's contributions to the administration's efforts to launch the war.

Since former CIA director George Tenet's book, which is not likely to deal kindly with Feith, is due out this spring, be sure to frequently check the Web site, http://www.dougfeith.com.

If you've never heard of Feith, there's a handy tab: "About Doug Feith" with a brief bio and with his own "Remarks at My Farewell and Award Ceremony" at the Pentagon in August 2005.

Moving On

Ken Mehlman, former Republican National Committee chairman and before that White House political director, is heading back to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

Mehlman practiced law for three years at the firm before entering politics. He worked on the House side for two Texas representatives and later served as national field director for the Bush campaign in 2000 and campaign manager in '04.

Meanwhile, Thomas DiNanno, deputy assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the Department of Homeland Security, is leaving after six years in the administration to join the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Alexandria consulting on infrastructure-protection issues.

That leaves only one member of the original Tom Ridge White House-DHS team still on board -- the assistant secretary for infrastructure, Bob Stephan. DiNanno was recently tasked with building the department's chemical security office, leaves a small but dedicated staff pushing hard to meet a congressionally mandated April 4 deadline to work up a regulation to secure about 20,000 U.S. chemical plants.

Harmonic Convergences Dept.

The fox? The henhouse? The White House yesterday said it had tapped Michael E. Baroody, longtime top official and most recently executive vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, to be chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Baroody started his career in 1970 working for Sens. Roman Hruska (R-Neb.) and Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and then moved on to the Republican National Committee, the Reagan White House and the Department of Labor. He joined NAM in 1990 and served as senior vice president for policy and communications.

He was seen as the main internal candidate to succeed NAM President Jerry Jasinowski, who retired in 2004, but lost out to former Michigan governor John Engler. Insiders say Engler effectively sidelined Baroody.

In a statement yesterday, Engler said that "this is an excellent nomination and is in everyone's interest."

Thanks -- I Think

This week's Emily Litella award . . .

Reporters yesterday pressed White House spokeswoman Dana Perino on news reports that the administration is backing away from its absolute claims that North Korea has a uranium-enrichment program. This was based on intelligence the White House used to buttress its case that the regime was part of the "Axis of Evil."

"Have you checked into this North Korea story," a reporter asked, "what -- exactly what our intelligence says about the North Korean uranium-enrichment program?"

"I did try to check into it," Perino said. "I think what I need to do is refer you to the intelligence community." Ah, yes, a crowd long known for on-the-record briefings on its sources and process. "We've said for a long time," she said, that "North Korea is an opaque regime," so it's hard to be sure what they're doing.

"I'm sure the intelligence community continually tried to assess and reassess and look at the information that they have," she said. "What we do know is that North Korea tested a nuclear weapon. . . . So, from our standpoint, that's what we know is happening at the moment. In regards to intel and what they knew and when they knew it, I think I'd have to refer you back to them."

Never mind.