Paul Wolfowitz's Blues

Across America, the lapel ribbon has been enlisted as a sign of solidarity and support for a variety of causes. We have yellow for the troops, pink for breast cancer research, red for AIDS relief ... and now blue, for putting Paul Wolfowitz out of a job.

In the midst of the Wolfowitz corruption scandal at the World Bank, staffers have donned blue lapel ribbons on their lapels as a show of solidarity.

"Blue ribbons are everywhere, " reports a spokesperson for the World Bank Staff Association. "The blue ribbon is a way of responding to concern about the fitness of certain high level officials to represent the World Bank's agenda around the globe."

Mind you, the ribbons are in no way officially associated with the removal of Wolfowitz. No, sir, that would be inflammatory. World Bank staff members are just trying to establish a widespread symbol of commitment to good corporate governance.

"The idea was generated completely spontaneously by people saying 'What can we do, as we see an institution we care so deeply about being sent so off course?' It's an affirmation, not an opposition," the spokesman explained.

The blue ribbons first started appearing on lapels around the World Bank's H Street headquarters in Washington about 10 days ago. No word yet on how widely the trend has spread among other offices, or whether there is particular significance to the color blue.

But the spokesman says that in the capital, World Bank staffers are making trips out to craft stores in the suburbs because everyplace in the District is selling out of blue ribbon.

"In the days of Soviet revolt, they had what they called color revolutions," the spokesman said. "This is the blue revolution."

by Liz Gunnison