When we first reported on the extramarital affair that was ending Mark Everson’s short tenure at the helm of the Red Cross, we figured that he’d been boning some secretary here in Washington and the age difference or openness of it was so egregious that the Board decided they needed to find an executive with the good sense to keep his dick in his pants. It turns out that Everson’s mistress was actually not inappropriately young or even in Washington - but having an affair with Paige Roberts is apparently never simple. At least we were right about the egregious openness part, anyway. The scandaliciousness continues after the jump.

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Notice that shiny wedding ring? Despite its shine and heft, this prominent Republican apparently managed to ignore it long enough to get his rocks off and it’s costing him his cushy job at the Red Cross.

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Johnson & Johnson (founded 1886) sues the Red Cross (founded 1881) for appropriating their red cross trademark. [CNN]

Not content to let his successor Mike Bloomberg garner all the philanthropic accolades, Rudy Giuliani’s campaign discloses above their generous May ‘06 contribution to the Red Cross of twenty-one cents. MORE »

* Over 1,300 Iraqis have died in the past week due to the sharp uptick in violence. Asks one Iraqi, “And they say there is no sectarian war? What do you call this?” [WP]
* 70% of Americans are against the Dubai port deal, including 58% of Republicans; Bush’s approval rating slips to 34% in NYT-CBS poll. [NYT]
* Coast Guard assessment cited “many intelligence gaps” in Dubai port deal. [WP, NYT, USAT, WT]
* Senate drafts bill to curb earmarks. [WP]
* India meets Bush with a new sense of empowerment. [NYT]
* Intelligence agencies remain in bureaucratic disarray. [NYT]
* Administration will oppose new United Nations panel on human rights. Kofi Annan: “I think we should not let the better be the enemy of the good.” [WP]

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* Administration and Sen. Frist (R-Tenn.) agree on 45-day review of Dubai port deal. Scott McClellan: “We believe, however, the additional time and investigation at the request of the company will provide Congress with a better understanding of the facts, and that Congress will be comfortable with the transaction moving forward once it does.” [WP, NYT, NYT, W$J, USAT]
* States make decisions on the “morning-after” pill as the FDA wavers. [WP]
* Army will reimburse Halliburton subsidiary for nearly $2.4b despite findings of overcharges. [NYT]
* Bush sets off on whirlwind two-day tour of India. [NYT]
* Mike McCurry on the White House press briefings: “It has turned into a theater of the absurd.” Ari Fleischer: “The public perceives the press not as watchdogs but as attack dogs.” [NYT]

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• Plamegate, the opera: “Patrick Fitzgerald kicks things off with ‘Tell me a story,’ followed by the trio with Judith Miller and Matt Cooper ‘I’ve got a subpoena.’ Cooper then has his show stopping duet with Time editor Norman Pearlstine, ‘We’ve run out of options,’ followed by his aria ‘I have been released.’” [Living in a Media World]
• Says Maureen Dowd: “The New York Times is the most fun you can have for a dollar.” She’s even cheaper than we thought. [Daily Texan via Romenesko]
• Anonymity for me but not for thee: Posties bitch about leaks from within the paper. [FishbowlDC]
• Real life: “Free Speech Coalition Files Lawsuit Challenging Utah’s ‘Anti-Spam’ Registry;” the Onion: “Anti-Spam Legislation Opposed By Powerful Penis-Enlargement Lobby” [US Newswire, Onion]
• Red Cross president: “Some people would come home and have a martini. I do beading.” [WP]