Wonkette

Robert Zoellick has been in charge of the World Bank for less than two weeks and already everyone hates him. China, Russia, Mexico, Argentina, and a couple other countries we don’t give a shit about are all pissed at Bob for publishing a report mentioning how shittily all of those countries are governed. MORE »

PNAC pnabob Robert Zoellick has been pnominated to replace Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank. MORE »

• Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick is resigning to join the private sector, conveniently for the New York Times‘ ongoing series on officials working in domestic security who’ve found the private sector more lucrative [WP, NYT, NYT]

• Barack Obama has spent the recess “touring the country at breakneck pace,” is strongly considering an ‘08 run. [WP]
• Duncan Hunter releases list of his pet earmarks for the ‘07 budget. [WP]
• At least 19 California towns have paid millions of dollar to a single DC lobbying firm to influence their own congressman, Rep. Jerry Lewis. Lewis has close ties to the firm, which “drawn the attention of a federal investigation into the relationships between lobbyists and lawmakers.” [LAT]

• Senate vote on immigration legislation is set for today; Karl Rove “got a cold reception” from Republican lawmakers. [WP, NYT, LAT, USAT]
• Legal analysts say FBI raid on Rep. William Jefferson’s congressional office was probably legal; Reps. Hastert and Pelosi demand seized documents be returned. [WP, WP, NYT, LAT, USAT]
• Cheney wanted to “get all the facts out,” according to Lewis Libby’s testimony; new filing indicates the vice president may be called to testify. [WP, NYT, LAT]
• Speaker Hastert is “in the mix” of the FBI’s investigation of congressional corruption, ABC News maintains despite denials from the Hill and the Justice Department. [ABC News]
• Database of immigrants will need more than $1B in upgrades; labor, big business, and civil-liberties advocates oppose the plan. [WP]
• Prosecutor says David Safavian, former procurement official, repeatedly “lied, concealed and misled” investigators about his dealings with Jack Abramoff. [WP, NYT]
• Loss of unity among Republicans is fueled by worries about the election. [W$J]
• Fiscal conservatives take on Republican leadership in attempt to reduce earmarks and pet projects. [NYT]

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While Condoleezza Rice is busy doing bicep curls, her State Department underlings are doing heavy lifting in the gossip department. For some reason, lately we’ve received a fair amount of State-related scuttlebutt. Here are some highlights.

A tipster tells us: “The U.S embassy in Sudan held a private dinner at their residence. [U.S. Charge d'Affaires] Cameron Hume was dropping the usual comments about the Sudanese goverment. A couple of Sudanese businessmen — incidentally, they don’t support the GOS whatsoever — felt he was being over the top. One told the ambassador that his comments were inflammatory and did nothing to foster better relations between the two countries. This is where it gets good. Apparently the man has a temper. So he said that they were like the businessmen in Nazi Germany and they indirectly supported the regime. They told him that his tone wasn’t acceptable. This is where it gets better. He told them to ‘Run tell your goverment and your Prophet too.’”

OH NO HE DIN’T!!! And did he draw a cartoon of the Prophet too? (If you think we’re making this up, the broad outlines of the story are confirmed by this news account.)

Additional gossip — concerning Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and the infamous Pamela Willeford, Ambassador to Switzerland and Dick Cheney hunting partner — appears after the jump.

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Hoping to signal that he’s a man of the people, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick decided to appear with a panda — because he knows how much everyone in the District just adores cute, young pandas. MORE »