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the zeitgeist checklist: What Washington is talking about.

Zeitgeist Checklist: Karl Rove Rap EditionWhat Washington is talking about this week.

By Christopher Beam
Posted Friday, March 30, 2007, at 5:52 PM ET

(Continued from page 1)

6. New This Week [UP ARROW]

Kangaroo Court
Terrorism. Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks pleads guilty to providing material support for terrorism, becoming the first prisoner to be convicted under the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Hicks, who could be sentenced to up to seven years, may have to serve his time back on that other lawless, God-forsaken island: Australia.

7. Last Week: 7 Weeks on List: 3 [SAME]

Four Play
Sports. Washington braces itself as Georgetown reaches the Final Four for the first time since Iran-Contra. The other semifinal game: a grudge match between Florida, the reigning champions, and UCLA, still smarting from their loss to the Gators last year.

8. Last Week: 3 Weeks on List: 40 [DOWN ARROW]

Resurgency
Iraq. A series of sectarian attacks threatens to jumpstart the ongoing civil war. A truck bomb explodes in a Shiite district; Shiite gunmen go door to door executing Sunnis in Tall Afar; suicide bombs and car bombs shred crowds, killing nearly 100 in one day. Maybe that's what John McCain means when he says we're "starting to turn things around." Meanwhile, the Green Zone gets pummeled by rockets and mortars day after day. Commanders propose retaliation in the form of a Karl Rove concert.

9. Last Week: 2 Weeks on List: 2 [DOWN ARROW]

Cancer Spreads Across Party Lines
Health. White House press secretary Tony Snow announces that his colon cancer has returned and spread to his liver. What with Elizabeth Edwards' announcement last week, cancer has shown itself to be remarkably nonpartisan and will likely endorse Unity08. Elsewhere, officials from the World Health Organization suggest that circumcisions could prevent 5.7 million AIDS infections in Africa over the next 20 years. Legions of carpet-bagging mohels book the Brooklyn-Khartoum flights.

10. New This Week [UP ARROW]

Exhibit A
Corruption. Smithsonian chief Lawrence Small resigns over what one senator calls his "Dom Perignon lifestyle." As the institute's most successful fund-raiser ever, Small clearly wanted a few more perks than free IMAX tickets. He doesn't get a severance package, but those $2 million in housing and office expenses over the last six years should do him just fine.

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Christopher Beam is a Slate political reporter.
Illustrations by Vivian Selbo.
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