BUSH REGIME ORDERS A QUICKIE MEDAL OF FREEDOM AWARD FOR WOLFOWITZ

The Bush Regime tried, but the European allies told them it's a no-go-- and that Wolfowitz has got to go. He's either resigning or getting fired. So the Bushies swallowed hard and started backing down from their unequivocal support. Now all they want to do is somehow save face so that Bush doesn't look like... Bush.

The Bush administration softened its support for World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz yesterday, signaling a willingness to replace him if the bank's executive board resolves an ethics controversy without firing him.

"All options are on the table," said White House spokesman Tony Snow, addressing reporters at a morning briefing. "Members of the board, Mr. Wolfowitz, need to sit down and figure out what is in fact going to be best for this bank..."

The shift of tone at the White House, which nominated Wolfowitz for the post two years ago, is a blow to his struggle to save his job. It came a day after a bank investigating committee found that Wolfowitz broke ethics rules and damaged the integrity of the institution by engineering a large raise for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, while keeping the bank's top legal adviser out of the loop.

This morning's NY Times calls the Regime tactics a "shifting strategy" in the light of facing the reality that there is no support anywhere for keeping the totally discredited Wolfowitz. Now it's just a fight over how badly he-- and they-- will look when he gets booted.

An ABC-TV report indicates he's probably a goner and Matthrew Yglesias has a clear explanation about why the Bush Regime has demanded he not be fired, even at the risk of further straining already strained relationships with... everyone-- and why it's important to bury Wolfowitz' stinking corpse already and move on.


UPDATE: BUSH REGIME EFFORTS ON WOLFOWITZ' BEHALF A COMPLETE BUST

None of the European allies have been paying any heed to Bush and Cheney and their staff's desperate pleas to intercede on behalf of the disgraced Wolfowitz. All Bush wants now is something that will help him look like he is less than a quintessential loser with no clout. But no one is offering even that. "German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz should quit to help restore the agency's credibility, adding that he is not welcome at a meeting in Berlin next week." This is further evidence of the precipitous decline in American prestige internationally, caused by the grotesque mishandling of U.S. foreign policy by Bush, Cheney and Rice.


WORLD BANK THROWS OUT THE TRASH

Wolfowitz is resigning this afternoon according to ABC-TV. What about Gonzales and Rove?