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President Dangles 'Exclusives' Abroad to Compete With Newsmakers at Home
When in Bahrain . . .
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Who's Blogging  |
We thought at first it was just our colleague, washingtonpost.com staff writer Chris Cillizza, who was going hirsute for the primary season. But then we caught a glimpse of the newly bearded White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten during the president's Middle East trip and began wondering if a trend was underway.
Apparently not. Turns out that Bolten, who somehow manages to be both workaholic policy wonk and Harley-riding rebel bachelor at the same time, was not making a permanent image makeover nor registering any kind of subtle protest. ( George Stephanopoulos grew a beard during his Clinton White House days to cover the fact that his face was breaking out from all the stress.)
And in fact, the beard is already gone. "I shaved it off yesterday morning," Bolten e-mailed on Friday. "It was an Xmas vacation beard that I extended for the MidEast trip, where it helped me blend in."
Sheik Josh? Hmm.
The Man for Moscow
Bush moved quickly last week to replace departing Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns with another guy named Burns, Ambassador William J. Burns from Moscow. Now as the president looks for a new envoy to the Kremlin, the buzz around town has it that he may pick a guy named John. Or maybe John. Or even John.
The names floating around the administration water coolers as possible contenders for the next Moscow ambassador are a trio of career diplomats: John M. Ordway, John R. Beyrle and John F. Tefft. All three have served as deputy chief of mission in Moscow in the past decade, and all three are ambassadors in places once part of the Soviet bloc: Ordway in Kazakhstan, Beyrle in Bulgaria and Tefft in Georgia.
Quote of the Week
"I can tell you, when we get the legislation, we're going to run like a bunny here to get the relief out."
-- Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson on how fast tax rebate checks could get out if an economic stimulus package is passed.
