washingtonpost.com - Al Kamen's In The Loop ColumnAl Kamen's In the Loop column reports on the latest comings and goings in official Washington,from White House personnel to lobbyists to members of Congress.If You Don't Show Up, Everybody Talks About You- April 30, 2008 The New York Times has been taking hits of late for its new policy of boycotting the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner. The Times apparently has decided that the media-politician chumminess is unseemly and maybe even borderline unethical.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/29/AR2008042902561.html?nav=r... Wacky Canadians Still Believe in Privacy- April 25, 2008 Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff caused a little ruckus up north a couple weeks ago as he was pushing his plan to share databases of international air travelers' fingerprints with the Canadians, Brits and Aussies.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/24/AR2008042403617.html?nav=r... The Baghdad Embassy, a W Hotel- April 23, 2008 There's been constant grousing that the gigantic, $750 million U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is way too big and expensive, even though it came in at scarcely more than 20 percent over budget (and nearly a year late).http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/22/AR2008042202465.html?nav=r... Yes, We Can -- Eh- April 18, 2008 Virgin Mobile Canada, which has been featuring U.S. political figures in newspaper ads for its cellular telephone service, has, as promised, unveiled a trio featuring Sen. Barack Obama (D- Ill.). These follow ads starring former New York governor Eliot L. Spitzer as Love Client No. 9, who is tired of being "treated like a number," and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), depicted thinking, "I wish my bill weren't so out of control."http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/17/AR2008041703870.html?nav=r... At a Portrait Party, a Portrait of Party Tension- April 16, 2008 Monday's unveiling of former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright's stunning official portrait brought back many folks from her days in charge, including former deputy secretary Strobe Talbott, undersecretary Thomas Pickering, chief of staff Elaine Shocas and spokesman Jamie Rubin.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/15/AR2008041502791.html?nav=r... A Tribute for a Washington Painter by Way of Holland- April 13, 2008 When the elevator doors slide open, and you're in Willem de Looper's big show of big Washington paintings at American University Museum, the first one you see is a 1965 abstraction that isn't only an abstraction: It's also a tulip. Elegiac, transitory, decorous and Dutch, it sets a tone.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/11/AR2008041101157.html?nav=r... Chvez Family Values- April 11, 2008 Okay. Everyone says Iraq and other commitments have stretched the armed forces dangerously thin. But how much longer will Washington tolerate Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez's deliberate provocationshttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/10/AR2008041003357.html?nav=r... Go Back to Iraq or Attend a Chamber of Commerce Function Tough Call.- April 11, 2008 Check your calendars! We got an e-mail Wednesday evening from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker will not, repeat, will not, be able to make it to the Chamber on Monday.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/10/AR2008041003358.html?nav=r... Gone but Still Giving- April 9, 2008 You could call it Cash From the Living Dead. No, not a sequel by George Romero, but a way some folks stay politically active and influential even after their demise.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/08/AR2008040803035.html?nav=r... Gone, Baby, Gone- April 4, 2008 President Bush hates long, windy meetings, and NATO sessions can drag on and on. That may be why Bush suddenly left the final session of the Bucharest summit last night -- not bothering to wait for the official group photo. He hustled back to the hotel so unexpectedly that he left some of his motorcade behind, including the press pool, our colleague Peter Baker reports.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/03/AR2008040304318.html?nav=r... |