by Frank James
A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important or interesting (or both) Washington-related stories.
Top Iraqi officials are increasingly impatient with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the slow pace of government accomplishments and the never-ending violence, with the Iraqi vice president recently tendering his resignation and other top leaders also considering resigning.
Despite bipartisan calls for disclosure of earmarks from lawmakers last week, only five of 21 Illinois legislators answered a reporter's request to fully disclose all their earmarks.
President Bush vetoed legislation that would have provided stem cell research more federal funding, the second time he has done so, as he called for the study of tissue that wouldn't destroy human life.
U.S. envoy Christopher Hill made a rare trip to North Korea in an effort to boost the international efforts to get that nation to abandon its nuclear program.
The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts appears to be very much like its predecessor William Rehnquist in the way it approaches legal precedents in that it has shown it will overturn prior high-court rulings. But the extent of which it will do that still remains unclear.
Departing British Prime Minister Tony Blair is being considered by the Bush Administration for the role of special envoy for Palestinian governance who would report to the Quartet of nations trying to achieve Middle East peace.
New polls showed Sen. John McCain's support eroding further in the key early states of Iowa and South Carolina, as his support of the Iraq War and the controversial immigration legislation, as well as the expected entry of Fred Thompson in the race, continue to take their toll.
Sen. Hillary Clinton was surrounded by aides during her White House years who have re-emerged as her inner protective circle in her campaign for the presidency.
Presidential campaigns, because of campaign-finance rules, increasingly rely on bundlers, generally wealthy people who know other well-heeled folks who they approach for campaign contributions that add up to tens of millions of dollars.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's possible presidential bid has caught the anxious attention of many of the would-be contenders, especially his predecessor mayor, Rudy Giuliani, because of the vast personal wealth Bloomberg could bring to his campaign.
• 
• 
• 
Post a comment
(Anonymous comments will not be posted. Comments aren't posted immediately. They're screened for relevance to the topic, obscenity, spam and over-the-top personal attacks. We can't always get them up as soon as we'd like so please be patient. Thanks for visiting The Swamp.)