If You Don't Show Up, Everybody Talks About You

But if only graduates and undergraduates are eligible to vote, then, percentage-wise, he's doing much better than she is. Not that these petitions matter to either of them.

A Year of Living Dangerously

Meanwhile, the New York Sun reports that Paul D. Wolfowitz, Feith's former boss at the Pentagon, said Monday at a forum on Feith's new book on the Iraq war that the administration was "pretty much clueless on counterinsurgency" in the first year of the war.

After that, of course . . .

Much Better Than the OMB Choir

Not busy this morning? Not working on oil-drilling applications? Then stop by the Interior Department at 11:15, for what our invite from Bureau of Land Management deputy director Henri R. Bisson says is an "exciting educational multi-media event . . . that will feature live music by the BLM Band," a group that will be flown in from around the country.

The event, called "The BLM -- Come Meet Us Again," is a chance to hang with colleagues and "learn more about our agency's roots, our strengths, and our diversity. I strongly encourage you to join us."

Don't have wheels? Not to worry. Shuttle buses are being provided from offices on L Street NW to headquarters on C Street NW, and vans will be going to and from the regional office in Springfield. "Refreshments will be provided." Retirees are invited, too.

The Huevos Were Worth It

Yet another reason to learn Spanish: The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson reported the other day that Mexican authorities were holding a U.S. soldier who said he accidentally drove across the border with guns, knives and ammunition while looking for a place to park.

The Star reported that Spec. Richard R. Medina Torres said he'd been driving all night and wanted to park in El Paso and walk across the border to Ciudad Juarez for breakfast Monday, but ended up driving over an international bridge and into Mexico.

Torres said he misunderstood an El Paso gas station attendant's directions and then realized where he was. "I started asking people at the front gate, 'Where can I turn around?' " said Torres, who speaks no Spanish.

Torres said that, when asked, he immediately told Mexican officials he was traveling with an AR-15 assault rifle and a .45-caliber handgun, both personal weapons.

But His Dad Was a Good Guy

The long-pending -- since July 11 -- nomination of retired Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, to be assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs finally got through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday in what Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) called "a close call."

Biden and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said they had reservations about Kimmitt's management skills. Nelson cited a Pentagon inspector general's report of concerns about his management style, including his temper, which caused "management and morale problems," according to Congressional Quarterly.

Biden noted he was very close to Kimmitt's father, who worked on the Hill years ago, and said he therefore would be willing to give Kimmitt the benefit of the doubt: "I hope Mr. Kimmitt . . . understands with the delay his misconduct has caused . . . that he will be chastened." The nomination goes to the Senate floor for action.

Nonstop Material

"Craig Blames Congress for Airlines' Decline," said the headline on yesterday's news release from Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho).

Craig "blamed the decline of the U.S. airline industry on the country's dependence on foreign oil and on Congress's failure for 20 years to enact a national energy policy that includes new technologies, conservation and increased development and production of existing domestic energy sources."

And overzealous cops in airports?

(Sorry. So cheap. Really gonna miss this guy.)