FRANCE IS NOT AN ALLY OF THE US
By the time you read this, it is possible that things may have calmed down again. But so bad are relations between the Bush administration and "Old Europe" that Richard Perle, head of the Pentagon's policy advisory board, now says France is no longer an ally. Speaking at a seminar even before the Nato row blew up, he said "Unless we recognise that France is not the ally it once was and develop a strategy to contain our erstwhile ally, we'll not be talking about Nato in a few years." Germany, he added for good measure, is not such a worry because the chancellor has been largely rejected by his own people.
JOHN ASHCROFT'S MIGHTY EAGLE
The world had a lucky escape when President George W Bush, attended by almost all his cabinet, trooped up to Capitol Hill to give his State of the Union address. As always, one cabinet member was elsewhere to ensure continuity of government if some terrorist emulated the plot of a Tom Clancy novel and flew a jumbo jet into the building. This time, the designated heir was Attorney General John Ashcroft, a Christian fundamentalist whose family church in Springfield, Missouri, features members of the congregation speaking in tongues. Ashcroft, who thrilled a rally at Bob Jones University by declaring "We have no king but Jesus," is a member of the Assemblies of God, the world's largest Pentecostal denomination. Ashcroft's evangelist father ran the church's education division. Ashcroft has long irritated his Justice department staffers with daily prayer meetings and singalongs of his own inspirational and patriotic ditties. (Sample: "Let the mighty eagle soar/soar with healing in her wings/as the land beneath her sings/only God, no other kings...") Now Ashcroft has really annoyed them, and most cops and prosecutors in the country, because he has just undermined the plea bargain system. Jairo Zapata, an alleged hitman for Colombian drug dealers, reached a deal with local federal prosecutors under which he promised to tell all he knew in return for a guarantee of no death penalty. Zapata spilled his guts, but then Ashcroft personally broke the deal and insisted that the prosecution demand a death sentence. Criminal lips have suddenly been sealed across the country.
WHEN WILL HILLARY BE PRESIDENT?
Bill Clinton is back on the campaign trail, this time for another bright, young, southern centrist Democrat, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. Not only did Clinton telephone Blair to ensure that Edwards got a useful photo-op meeting at Number 10, he also spends hours on the phone with Edwards helping on speeches. The conventional wisdom among Democrats is that Clinton doesn't want a Democrat to win in 2004-that would queer the pitch for Hillary's bid in 2008. But the Edwards connection is useful insurance. If the lacklustre economy does to Bush the younger in the next two years what it did for Bush the elder when Clinton beat him in 1992, Hillary could then get a vice-presidential slot. She could even do better than that: recent polls show her far ahead of all the other Democratic contenders. A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll puts her at 39 per cent among Democrats, a 24-point lead over second-placed Senator Joe Lieberman.
With Bill's backing, Hillary has secured a crucial party post as chair of the Senate Democratic steering and co-ordination committee. This is the liaison panel with national, state and local Democratic groups around the country on issues and policy initiatives, a golden opportunity to build ties and store up favours around the country. She has also got a seat on the Senate's armed services committee, an open door into the campaign contributions of the one sector of the American economy that is booming under Bush. Even the new McCain-Feingold limitations on fundraising won't stop Hillary. Harold Ickes, the Clintons' old political consigliere from New York, is setting up a "527 group"-an independent campaign organisation that can still raise money for "issues" rather than individual candidates.
RUMSFELD DINES OUT IN OLD EUROPE
So where did Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld get the idea of dismissing France and Germany as "Old Europe"? From a dining club, of course. There's a small German restaurant that goes by that name on Washington's Wisconsin Avenue, just north of Georgetown. It's popular with military types nostalgic for the mit Schlag and Sauerkraut cuisine they got to know serving in the US army in Germany.
BEDTIME FOR BUSHIES
Since the first family likes to get to bed before 10pm, social life in Washington has been somewhat restrained. At a recent awards ceremony at the Kennedy arts centre, Bush's staff demanded that the finale take place right after the introduction, so the president and Laura could slip away early. Better had been expected from Bush's younger appointees. But Liz Cheney, daughter of the vice-president and the new deputy assistant secretary of state for the middle east, is also refusing invitations to events that end after 9.30pm. Liz, who has carved out a $100m budget next year for social and education reform in the Arab world, pleads the need to rescue babysitters for her children of seven, four and two. Arab diplomats are most unhappy.
