Gone, Baby, Gone

A couple of laughs on the summit's final day, and he's outta here. (By Vadim Ghirda -- Associated Press)

"You're not," Hobson said.

"I guess that's a surprise to me," England said. "I mean, I always thought we were funding these development programs and funding the DOE labs to do this work for us. . . . We'll look into that, sir."

Jeffrey G. Lewis, who writes the blog ArmsControlWonk.com and found this conversation, asks: "Shouldn't the Deputy Secretary know whether or not his department is responsible for the lion's share of nuclear weapons development costs?"

Well, maybe. Not essential, but it probably wouldn't hurt.

Also Ungrateful but Unpunished

Poor Bill Richardson. The Clinton machine has been bashing the New Mexico governor -- and former Clinton administration U.N. ambassador and energy secretary -- for endorsing Barack Obama.

First, longtime Clintonite James Carville compared Richardson to Judas. Other backers of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) grumbled to us that he was an ingrate or traitor as a result of his March 21 move.

Curiously, there haven't been similar high-octane denunciations of other Clinton administration Cabinet officials who are backing Obama: William M. Daley, who was commerce secretary; Federico F. Peña, who was both transportation and energy secretary; Norman Y. Mineta, who was transportation secretary.

Last weekend, a red-faced, angry Bill Clinton, in a private meeting in San Jose with uncommitted California superdelegates, said Richardson had told him he would either support Hillary Clinton or stay neutral, according to news accounts. So it seems it was this alleged lying, as much as anything, that infuriated Clinton the most.

One participant in the meeting said Clinton said Richardson "told me five times to my face that he 'did not have sex with that woman #Gx%MR . . . ERROR 404738! Keyboard Malfunction!!!

Sorry, let's try that again.

One participant in the meeting revealed that Clinton said Richardson "told me to my five times to my face that he would not do that."

Apparently, it made no difference that Richardson -- the country's most prominent elected Latino -- at least had the decency to hold off his endorsement until after the Texas primary, when it really would have meant something for Obama.