Sure, Bush regime hacks like former DFA Randall Tobias can be a barrel of laughs, but it's probably not all that amusing if the galoot is your boss

Ooh, that Chimpy--where does he find all this talent?

We believe our pal Al Kamen is sincerely trying to break the habit--the habit, that is, of dishing up additional dirt on Randall Tobias (pictured above with his former boss), who was deputy secretary of state for foreign assistance (DFA) and administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID) until he resigned on April 30, no doubt coincidentally right after being identified as appearing in the phone log of the D.C. Madam. It's just that stuff happens.

In today's Washington Post "In the Loop" column, after offering an item headed This Is It--the Last Mention of Randall Tobias (about a departmental purge of "Websites, reception room walls, printed publications, brochures, PowerPoints, newsletters, etc., to ensure that Agency materials are not maintained, produced, printed, or reprinted, with Tobias listed or shown as Administrator or DFA"), our Al just couldn't help himself:

Actually, We Have One More

Okay, so this is the last Tobias item. Really. No mas. Can barely remember his name. Anyway, we've found one example of why he was so beloved by AID officials. The State Department and AID routinely send lists of top employees up for promotion to the Senate for approval.

State's list went to the Senate just before Christmas and their raises were in their January paychecks. But the list of 20 AID employees up for promotion never went anywhere, the American Foreign Service Association says, because Tobias didn't do anything with it.

So the AID folks lost several months' pay for no particular reason. Finally, after what's-his-name quit over some gals' massages, the AID brass quickly sent up the list and the raises should be in the mail shortly.

Sometimes you wonder where the Bush regime finds these fine candidates for public service. Then you realize there's millions more where they came from--crawling around primordial ooze from coast to slimy coast.