Before Elections, Kazakhstan Does a Little Campaigning

Contest Winners, Part I

And now, the winners of the In the Loop Pardon Scooter Contest Part I, The Commutation. President Bush, rushing to ensure that former aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby didn't do any time, was forced to make this a two-step process: first commuting the sentence and then later on issuing a full pardon.

So, the contest will have 20 winners -- 10 for those whose guesses were closest to July 2, the date of the commutation, and then 10 more when the pardon is issued.

Now the winners:

Bill Campbell, campaign manager for the United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area, was the only person who guessed July 2, saying the White House would act "hoping no one will notice in the hustle and bustle of the July 4th holiday."

Wendel Schneider of Bethesda, a managing editor at a consulting company, who guessed July 1, thought Bush would "do it sooner rather than later so as not to make Libby too nervous."

The other eight winners generally reasoned along of those lines.

Those who guessed July 3 were Robbie Callaway of Damascus, a board member for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children; Allen Ahearn, owner of Quill & Brush Booksellers in Dickerson, Md.; Matthew Levine of Suffern, N.Y.; Douglas Murphy, an economic researcher from Addison, Tex.; Ken Kero, a career diplomat working at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin; and retired intelligence analyst Jerry Olek of Greenbelt.

Richard F. Czubaj, a lawyer from Rochester Hills, Mich., and Murray B. Itkin, a computer systems engineer in Upper Marlboro, picked July 4, saying Bush would act then as a symbolic gesture.

Congratulations to the winners, thanks to all for playing, and remember, we're saving the remaining entries for Part II, The Pardon.

Spelling Correction

Tony Fratto calls to assure us that a cheap shot in Wednesday's column about the White House spelling King Abdullah's name as "Abdallah" was misdirected. He'd checked with people at the White House and "the government has always spelled his name with an 'a,' " he said.

Well, actually, the State Department seems to spell it both ways. And the Saudi embassy's Web site spells it with a "u." And the people there oughta know.

Swell Time for a Safari

And a hearty Loop welcome home to Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), just back from a two-week hunting trip to Zambia. Some Alaska media have popped him for being gone while the House voted on Iraq troop withdrawals last week.