President, Congress Ready to Begin the Next Round

No Freedom Fries, Though

Is French President Nicolas Sarkozy's newfound coziness with Bush paying off in unexpected ways? Swoop, a well-informed Web site that tracks American foreign policy for foreign readers, reports that French intelligence services are receiving sophisticated anti-riot equipment from their U.S. counterparts -- timely information, given the recent riots in Paris suburbs.

No on-the-record comment from the Bush administration, but one official noted that the countries have cooperated closely on terror and law enforcement issues since long before Sarkozy took office in May.

Close to the Heart?

The president seldom talks in public about his past struggles with liquor, but there seemed to be a touch of the personal in his response Friday to the founder of an AIDS service center in Zambia. During a meeting, she told Bush about how alcohol abuse has plagued some families that use her center.

"That alcohol will get you every time," Bush interjected.

The Great Divide

A humorous interchange unfolded in the Rose Garden on Wednesday, as Bush appeared with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to bless their new peace initiative. Just before Bush spoke, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia and other aides made their way to the side to get a view.

Rice was urging Livni and Qureia (also known as Abu Ala) to stand together for a photo, but Barak, a former prime minister, was standing in between the two. "I will always divide them," Barak joked, to chuckles all the way around.

The Presidential Bookshelf

During an interview last week with columnists, Bush offered a rundown of what's on his bookshelf lately, according to Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard. Bush has just finished "The Great Upheaval," Jay Winik's account of the revolutionary period of the late 18th century, and is now reading "A Confederacy of Dunces," the novel by John Kennedy Toole. Bush told the group he plans to turn next to a book about the 1800 presidential election, "A Magnificent Catastrophe," by Edward J. Larson.

Waiting Away in Margaritaville

One more secret successfully kept by a tight-lipped administration: Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, a Bush favorite from Texas, showed up at a Mexican restaurant in Arlington on Thursday night expecting to have dinner with her pal, Rice -- only to be greeted by a surprise 50th birthday party organized by her husband, Robert. Guests had an hour to enjoy margaritas before her arrival, so the shouts of "surprise" were said to be particularly rousing, reports my colleague Peter Baker.