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Zeitgeist Checklist: Scraggly-Haired White BoyWhat Washington is talking about this week.

By Christopher Beam
Posted Friday, April 13, 2007, at 4:43 PM ET

(Continued from page 1)

Banker? I Barely Know Her!
Business. Greasy-haired World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz apologizes for giving plum jobs to a bank employee who happens to be his romantic partner. Since taking over in 2005, Wolfowitz has made fighting corruption a major plank of his tenure, possibly as a distraction technique. The bank's board promises to act quickly in deciding Wolfowitz's fate.

War "Czar" Least Popular Job Since Human Shield
White House. Three generals turn down the job of war "czar"—a new post that, if created, would oversee military and civilian affairs in Afghanistan and Iraq. The lack of interest indicates a strong reluctance to get mixed up in a troubled war effort. Perhaps the administration would have better luck if it called the position, say, Imperial Chieftain, or Grand Vizier of Sand and Sea.

Computer Failure Probably Just Actual Failure
Law. The war over the fired U.S. attorneys gets hotter than Johnny Cash's house: Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, suspended in his sensory deprivation chamber in preparation for next week's hearings, gets served with a subpoena requesting another batch of classified documents. The White House also announces that e-mails dealing with the firings of U.S. attorneys, including many from Karl Rove, have been "lost." Dome-tastic Sen. Patrick Leahy compares the mix-up to the Nixon tapes' missing 18 minutes. Seems more like the digital equivalent of "My dog ate my homework." You know it's bad when even Newt Gingrich thinks you should resign.

So It Goes
Death. Curly-haired Slaughterhouse-Five author Kurt Vonnegut dies at 84—a fact he would probably find hilarious, or depressing, or both. Vonnegut's formative experience as a writer was the 1945 bombing of Dresden, which he called "a work of art." Legions of MFA students pour out Pabst Blue Ribbons in his memory.

Eloquence, Experience, Lymphoma
2008. Potential Republican candidate Fred Thompson reveals he has cancer—a seeming prerequisite for public life these days. Buzz also builds around Newt Gingrich, who defies all expectations at a debate with swoosh-haired Sen. John Kerry and advocates corporate tax incentives to combat global warming. Audience members half-expect "Gingrich" to tear off his mask and reveal himself as Al Gore. Meanwhile, as Sen. John McCain reasserts his commitment to this "necessary and just" war in Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama calls for a "surge in honesty." Obama 2008: Where the "O" is for "Oh, snap."

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Christopher Beam is a Slate political reporter.
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