Wolfowitz 0-1 Bloggers

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 Wolfowitz's 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 half a million pageviews in the past month. At this point, even if he wins, Wolfowitz has lost.