By Steve Clemons

The pups feel as if they have been neglected on the blog a bit. They send particular greetings to Senator Chuck Hagel for his vote today.

REMARKS BY THE FIRST LADY AND WIFE OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN, MRS. ABE AFTER A VISIT TO GEORGE WASHINGTON’S MOUNT VERNON ESTATE Mount Vernon Mount Vernon, Virginia, 1:51 P.M. EDT MRS. BUSH: Well, I’m so happy to have the opportunity to welcome Mrs. Abe to Washington.

Bob Wright is the new P.T. Barnum of some of the most interesting virtual political and policy web-discussions anywhere at Bloggingheads.tv. He invited me to spend about an hour with him yesterday discussing Barack Obama’s speech, currents in our evolving foreign policy, and general takes on Iraq, Iran, the Middle East broadly, and China.

The US began building walls throughout Baghdad in early April, hoping to limit population flows and establish obstacles to vehicle-born bombs. The theory is as simple as “If we keep the bad guys out, then we win,” according to 1st Lt. Sean Henley.

From World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz’s message to Bank clients and staff in its annual “Integrity Report“: We must also ensure that Bank staff continue to maintain high standards of conduct. . .

Some political leaders like Chuck Hagel have flirted with the idea, but only flirted. Others like John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich have been more serious. Dennis Kucinich has now filed articles of impeachment against Vice President Cheney, with a slight delay because of Cheney’s blood clot news, but nonetheless — Kucinich has taken action.

Barack Obama has perhaps unintentionally overstated both his targets and the current realities of America’s global aid assistance in his recent foreign policy speech. He then calls for a doubling of a fictionalized amount of current American aid to an annual outlay of $50 billion/year.

Carl Bernstein book on Hillary Rodham Clinton slated for massive release in June. Could influence the primary environment. Low key “Office of Special Counsel” launches highest profile investigation in its history. Promises to “leave no stone unturned” in investigation of U.S. attorney firings.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has hired mega-lawyer and Bill Clinton’s legal counsel Bob Bennett to defend him against allegations of misconduct at the World Bank. Here is the zinger quote from the New York Times article by Steven Weisman on Bennett and Wolfowitz: “I am very worried about the rush to judgment,” Mr.

President Bush doesn’t like to lose battles over his political nominees. The White House’s tenaciousness on this front was clear in a 21 month long battle and three major drives to get John Bolton confirmed as US Ambassador to the United Nations — a battle that President Bush and his team finally lost.