Troubles Follow Bush

"Mattlage expressed frustration about the ongoing anti-war protest taking place near his property, and said other neighbors are also getting aggravated by all of the protest activity on their quiet country road. . . .

"U.S. Secret Service and McLennan County sheriff's deputies went to Mattlage's home on Sunday afternoon to urge restraint, and the situation appeared to calm down a bit after Mattlage spoke with law enforcement and vented to reporters."

Cheney Watch

Troy Hooper writes for the Denver Post: "Renowned journalist Bob Woodward predicts Dick Cheney will be the Republican Party's presidential nominee in 2008 and that the vice president could face Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton in a dramatic partisan showdown. . . .

"Woodward on Tuesday listed a number of reasons it is 'highly likely' President Bush might implore Cheney to seek the Oval Office.

" 'He would be 67 if he ran and was elected. Reagan was 69. Republicans always like the old warhorse. . . . Nixon was 68,' said Woodward. . . . 'Both parties like to nominate vice presidents. . . . Cheney would do it, and I think it's highly likely, so stay tuned.' "

A Woman in the Kitchen

Laura Bush couldn't persuade her husband to nominate a woman as Supreme Court justice. But when it was time to make her own hiring decision, the first lady picked a woman to run her kitchen.

Candy Sagon writes in The Washington Post how Cristeta Comerford, a 10-year veteran of the White House kitchen, is the first woman -- and first minority -- to hold the position of White House executive chef.

Marian Burros writes in the New York Times: "Ms. Comerford's White House kitchen colleagues and Walter Scheib III, whom Mrs. Bush asked to resign as executive chef in February, got together yesterday afternoon at a bar in Georgetown to toast her success. 'We're shooting the breeze and talking about how good it is that Cris got a promotion,' Mr. Scheib said. 'There's unbridled joy that Cris got the opportunity, and we've come to an agreement that she will do phenomenally well.' . . .

" 'She and I were like two fingers crossed, mentor and protégée,' said Mr. Scheib, who was a holdover from the Clinton White House. 'I don't see her choice as a radical departure from anything.' "

The White House announcement came just hours after a Burros story in the New York Times about why the job had remained open so long.

"One reason . . . is that Lea Berman, Mrs. Bush's social secretary, had hoped to snag a high-profile chef, according to some of the candidates.

"That effort had to be abandoned: there is little incentive to leave a high six-figure income and the possibility of lucrative endorsements, book contracts and speaking engagements to become what is essentially a private chef with the occasional state dinner thrown in, and for a salary of $80,000 to $100,000.

"One person mentioned as a candidate, Eric Ziebold, the chef at CityZen in Washington's Mandarin Oriental Hotel, has superior credentials: he was chef de cuisine at Thomas Keller's French Laundry in the Napa Valley in California. But he was not interested in the job (he would not say whether he was asked directly or indirectly). 'It's not a good career move,' Mr. Ziebold said."

Poll Watch

A Newsweek poll last weekend concluded that "61 percent of Americans polled say they disapprove of the way President George W. Bush is handling the war in Iraq. . . .

"And when asked about the reports that White House adviser Karl Rove may have leaked classified information about Valerie Plame, a CIA agent, 45 percent say, from what they've heard or read about Rove's involvement in the case, that they believe he is guilty of a serious crime; 18 percent say he is not guilty of a serious offense and 37 percent say they don't know, the poll shows."

And Will Lester writes for the Associated Press that not since Richard Nixon has a president's standing with public been this low at this point in their second term.

This Week's Schedule

Judy Keen writes for USA Today: "Unless something happens to draw him out, he won't be seen in public for the rest of this week.

"Bush is not quite halfway through a five-week stay in Texas. The first couple of weeks away from Washington featured public appearances almost every day, including trips to New Mexico and Illinois and news conferences with his economic and foreign policy teams. This week is pure vacation: fishing, biking and his favorite ranch activity: clearing cedar. Next week, he'll be back on the road, including a trip to the West Coast."

Late Night Humor

From Conan O'Brien, via the Los Angeles Times : "In Crawford, Texas, President Bush met with his defense team and his foreign policy team. They briefed Bush on the state of global affairs, and he showed them how to pop a wheelie on a mountain bike."