Yet another reason why Paul Wolfowitz should have resigned
weeks ago. With the media seemingly unable to get its hands on the World Bank’s
final report on its president’s behavior, newspapers such as the Washington
Post are looking elsewhere for material – specifically, the question of
marital status.
The calls usually start: "Why do you people always . . . " Of late,
there have been a couple e-mails and calls demanding to know why the media
often refer to World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz’s companion, Shaha Riza
as his "girlfriend" when, they insist, she’s his mistress, because
Wolfowitz is not divorced from his wife, Clare.
Meanwhile, the blogs are printing much
juicier gossip about Wolfowitz and his disliked aides Kevin Kellems, Robin
Cleveland, and Suzanne Rich Folsom. (The phrase "found lying naked in a
drunken state in a stairwell" appears.) None of this had to happen, but
if people insist on staying on well past their welcome, then dirt will inevitably
start to be thrown.
Of course, Washington being Washington, a lot of this gossip has probably been
in circulation for a while. But now it’s appearing on websites which have received
pageviews in the past month. At this point, even if he wins, Wolfowitz has
lost.