Dana Milbank is away. Washington Sketch will resume when he returns.

Tim Pawlenty is an uncommonly forthright man.

House Republicans can't seem to make up their minds.

It was a tender moment between the Senate's two oldest members: one infirm, the other indicted.

Barack Obama has long been his party's presumptive nominee. Now he's becoming its presumptuous nominee.

"It seems that we are hosting an anger management class," Republican Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas told his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee yesterday morning.

Congress, its support at 14 percent in the latest Gallup poll, is having some self-esteem issues. Yesterday, lawmakers happened upon a novel solution.

Don't ask, don't tell. And, whatever you do, don't ask Elaine Donnelly to tell you what she thinks about gays in the military.

The generals were nervous.

John McCain's pastors have gone to ground.

The rehabilitation of John David Ashcroft has been a wonder to behold.

It was another day of turmoil in the capital. The Federal Reserve chairman again tried to reassure jittery markets. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he wanted more troops in Afghanistan to put down the growing insurgency. And just before 4 p.m., President Bush stepped onto the South Lawn for what he called a "historic" moment.

For months, if not years, congressional Democrats had craved the chance to pounce on Doug Feith, the former No. 3 at the Pentagon and the brains behind the Iraq WMD claims, torture policy and other great adventures.

Karl Rove had never been so agreeable.

The ghost of Rummy is proving difficult to exorcise.

Como se dice "pander" en Español?

The waiters were still clearing the breakfast dishes yesterday when John McCain's most prominent adviser raised the subject of erection enhancement.

Think you're worried about the economy? Phillip Swagel is a wreck.

At this rate, the October Surprise won't be very surprising.

Throughout the Bush presidency, he toiled in secrecy deep within the White House, a mysterious and feared presence who never stepped into the sunlight of public disclosure.

One shudders to think about how much carbon dioxide was emitted into the atmosphere by members of the United States Congress yesterday as they bemoaned high gas prices.

Hillary Clinton was taking the elevator up to her Senate office yesterday for the first time since she lost the Democratic presidential nomination when one of her aides, Philippe Reines, warned her about the condition of her office.

Here's something to ponder as you park your Prius: What if gas guzzling isn't the problem?

The people's representatives set aside the hard work of governing yesterday and instead stretched their minds in the unfamiliar field of literary criticism.

Luke Russert has his father's sense of mischief. Speaking to the well-heeled mourners at Tim Russert's funeral yesterday, he read his father's favorite biblical passage: To whom much is given, much is expected.

If ever there was a case that cried out for enhanced interrogation techniques, it was yesterday's Senate appearance by the Pentagon's former top lawyer.

If John McCain keeps dancing like this, he's liable to break a hip.

The tomatoes attacked us brutally and without warning. Yesterday, our leaders struck back against the pernicious produce.

The House had a busy day yesterday. There was the Amtrak bill, an extension of unemployment benefits, and legislation on NASA's budget.

It was billed as a post-primary unity event at Democratic National Committee headquarters yesterday. But the unity fell apart before the opening "thank you all for coming."

It was hotter than the Sumatran jungle in Woodley Park for yesterday's unveiling of the National Zoo's latest animal exhibit.

During the campaign, it was her opponent who owned the lofty rhetoric. But on the day she finally conceded defeat, it was Hillary Clinton's words that soared.

Now, here's a change we can believe in.

NEW YORK "What does Hillary want?"

MILBANK, S.D. It is a measure of the peculiarity of this year's presidential race that the road to the Democratic nomination runs through Milbank.

Leave it to the Democrats to make a hash of democracy.

Bush loyalists watching Scott McClellan kick off his media tour yesterday must have felt a revulsion akin to Dr. Frankenstein's.

"Anybody seen Steve Hadley? Anybody seen Steve Hadley?"

Here are some things we can look forward to learning about Barack Obama:

As oil hit a new record of $134 a barrel yesterday, lawmakers summoned energy executives to Capitol Hill for the latest in a series of ritual immolations. But this one felt more like "The Price Is Right."

LOUISVILLE Suspend what you know, or think you know, about the Democratic presidential nomination, and picture yourself in the Marriott ballroom here for Hillary Clinton's Kentucky victory celebration.

MAYSVILLE, Ky. Black Knight: "I move for no man." King Arthur: "So be it." (Chops off knight's left arm). Black Knight: " 'Tis but a scratch."

House Republicans may be heading off a cliff in November, but give them credit for perseverance. Even after the new slogan they floated -- "The Change You Deserve" -- was discovered to be trademarked ad copy for the antidepressant drug Effexor, GOP leaders decided to go with the rollout anyway.

Customer: "Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now."

In his career in public service, Bob Barr has performed many important roles.

It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for congressional Republicans. Now, on the cusp of Mother's Day, comes this: A majority of the House GOP has voted against motherhood.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. They say it's all over but the shouting. Fortunately, Hillary Clinton does that part very well.

RALEIGH, N.C. The Democrats are putting the "stale" in stalemate.

Dispatches from the twilight of a presidency:

By tradition, the proper gift for a fifth anniversary is something made of wood. Jack Murtha must know this, for in observing the fifth anniversary yesterday of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech, he gave the president a rhetorical two-by-four to the head.

The incredible shrinking presidency of George Walker Bush hit a new milestone yesterday: The commander in chief turned to sorcery.

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, explaining why he had waited so long before breaking his silence about his incendiary sermons, offered a paraphrase from Proverbs yesterday: "It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

Mistakes were made. But not by him.

Lt. Col. Billy Hall, one of the most senior officers to be killed in the Iraq war, was laid to rest yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery. It's hard to escape the conclusion that the Pentagon doesn't want you to know that.

PHILADELPHIA

McKEESPORT, Pa.

You know times are tough when the American president and the British prime minister start talking about the good ol' days of the Blitz.

"In our nation," President Bush told Pope Benedict XVI at the White House yesterday, "faith and reason coexist in harmony."

So much for the liberal media.

The alleged D.C. Madam once threatened the likes of a United States senator, a deputy secretary of state, and the man who created the war doctrine of "shock and awe." But the Madam's criminal trial this week has turned out to be less shock and awe than shock and ewww.

What does Gen. David Petraeus have in common with the alleged D.C. Madam? More than you might think.

You can't tell the enemy in Iraq anymore without a scorecard.

Meet Alan Schwartz, welfare recipient.

It's (semi) official: We're in a recession.

International financial markets are in turmoil, gas is pushing $4 a gallon and a recession looms. But don't worry, folks: The House Energy and Commerce Committee is on the case.

Last September, President Bush flew down to Sydney and urged Australian voters not to reject the leader he dubbed his "man of steel," Prime Minister John Howard.

Who says Hillary didn't come under sniper fire?

The rites of spring have returned to the capital. The daffodils are blooming. The Easter eggs are rolling. The perch are running. And members of the Bush Cabinet are warning about entitlement calamity.

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the War Resisters League, Code Pink and other antiwar groups vowed to "shut down the IRS" with a "blockade" outside the agency's headquarters yesterday.

The Supreme Court justices -- presiding over a chamber without television, cameras or PDAs -- have long been reluctant inhabitants of the modern world. Yesterday, the nine robed ones traveled all the way back to 17th-century England.

A group of Jewish leaders announced that it was having a public meeting yesterday to discuss the 2008 presidential election. Representing John McCain: former secretary of state Lawrence Eagleburger. Representing Hillary Clinton: former White House official Ann Lewis. Representing Barack Obama: "a high-level representative of Barack Obama's presidential campaign (TBA)."

Psst. Congress has a secret.

"Let us unite in banishing fear."

Confused about the state of the 2008 campaign?

The woman accused of running a prostitution ring allegedly patronized by Eliot Spitzer told one of her call girls that the New York governor had been known to "ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe."

It may be time to put the phone references on hold.

COLUMBUS, Ohio Hillary Clinton's campaign plane was flying above the clouds Tuesday evening en route to a primary-night celebration here when it unexpectedly hit severe turbulence.

SAN ANTONIO It took many months and the mockery of "Saturday Night Live" to make it happen, but the lumbering beast that is the press corps finally roused itself from its slumber Monday and greeted Barack Obama with a menacing growl.

The bulletin reached President Bush toward the end of his news conference yesterday.

Chief Justice John Roberts was pained.

They are in the last throes, if you will.

SAN ANTONIO Mike Huckabee could read the writing on the wall.

HIDALGO, Tex. Hillary Clinton, drubbed by Barack Obama in 10 straight votes, flew down to this dusty border town on Wednesday to make her last stand for the Democratic presidential nomination. But where was the cavalry?

HOUSTON, Feb. 19 In the lavatory aboard Barack Obama's campaign plane, a cartoon shows the Clintons attempting to roast Obama in a cauldron. Bill stirs, Hillary adds salt and pepper. But Obama is smiling, and all that emerges from the pot are bubbles labeled "Hope."

Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson could have been the secretary of ennui as he slouched in the witness chair before the Senate banking committee yesterday.

The world might look very different today if Congress had spent as much energy probing Iraq for weapons of mass destruction as it did yesterday examining Roger Clemens's derriere.

Hold your nose.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, who lost five contests over the weekend and ousted her campaign manager, has had trouble getting into gear. So where did she go yesterday? Why, a transmission factory, of course.

President Bush's approval rating has sunk to such depths -- a new Associated Press poll found it at a record-low 30 percent -- that he could just about fit all of his supporters into one room.

He may have wasted $50 million in his botched bid for the presidency, but Mitt Romney executed a flawless exit from the race yesterday.

NEW YORK A presidential campaign is a series of turning points, and for Hillary Rodham Clinton, a crucial one came at 9:46 p.m. here last night in a ballroom seven stories above Midtown Manhattan.

HAMILTON, N.J. On Tuesday night, Americans will finally learn whether John McCain can wrest the Republican presidential nomination from his powerful and well-funded opponent: Rush Limbaugh.

ALBUQUERQUE Barack Obama was still glowing when he faced the press corps Friday morning.

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Willard Mitt Romney was here in the home of Charlene and Greg Bennett on Thursday morning for a "kitchen table discussion" to tout his economic policies when his thoughts wandered to repasts past.

DAVIE, Fla.

SANFORD, Fla. Just when it seemed nothing else could go wrong for Rudy Giuliani, the actor Jon Voight got up to introduce the candidate at an airport rally here Monday and found a malfunctioning microphone.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.

HOUSTON, Feb. 19 In the lavatory aboard Barack Obama's campaign plane, a cartoon shows the Clintons attempting to roast Obama in a cauldron. Bill stirs, Hillary adds salt and pepper. But Obama is smiling, and all that emerges from the pot are bubbles labeled "Hope."

Dana Milbank is away. Washington Sketch will resume when he returns.

Tim Pawlenty is an uncommonly forthright man.

House Republicans can't seem to make up their minds.

It was a tender moment between the Senate's two oldest members: one infirm, the other indicted.

Barack Obama has long been his party's presumptive nominee. Now he's becoming its presumptuous nominee.

"It seems that we are hosting an anger management class," Republican Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas told his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee yesterday morning.

Congress, its support at 14 percent in the latest Gallup poll, is having some self-esteem issues. Yesterday, lawmakers happened upon a novel solution.

Don't ask, don't tell. And, whatever you do, don't ask Elaine Donnelly to tell you what she thinks about gays in the military.

The generals were nervous.

John McCain's pastors have gone to ground.

The rehabilitation of John David Ashcroft has been a wonder to behold.

It was another day of turmoil in the capital. The Federal Reserve chairman again tried to reassure jittery markets. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he wanted more troops in Afghanistan to put down the growing insurgency. And just before 4 p.m., President Bush stepped onto the South Lawn for what he called a "historic" moment.

For months, if not years, congressional Democrats had craved the chance to pounce on Doug Feith, the former No. 3 at the Pentagon and the brains behind the Iraq WMD claims, torture policy and other great adventures.

Karl Rove had never been so agreeable.

The ghost of Rummy is proving difficult to exorcise.

Como se dice "pander" en Español?

The waiters were still clearing the breakfast dishes yesterday when John McCain's most prominent adviser raised the subject of erection enhancement.

Think you're worried about the economy? Phillip Swagel is a wreck.

At this rate, the October Surprise won't be very surprising.

Dana Milbank is away. Washington Sketch will resume when he returns.

Dana Milbank is away. Washington Sketch will resume when he returns.

Tim Pawlenty is an uncommonly forthright man.

House Republicans can't seem to make up their minds.

It was a tender moment between the Senate's two oldest members: one infirm, the other indicted.

Barack Obama has long been his party's presumptive nominee. Now he's becoming its presumptuous nominee.

"It seems that we are hosting an anger management class," Republican Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas told his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee yesterday morning.

Congress, its support at 14 percent in the latest Gallup poll, is having some self-esteem issues. Yesterday, lawmakers happened upon a novel solution.

Don't ask, don't tell. And, whatever you do, don't ask Elaine Donnelly to tell you what she thinks about gays in the military.

The generals were nervous.

John McCain's pastors have gone to ground.

The rehabilitation of John David Ashcroft has been a wonder to behold.

It was another day of turmoil in the capital. The Federal Reserve chairman again tried to reassure jittery markets. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he wanted more troops in Afghanistan to put down the growing insurgency. And just before 4 p.m., President Bush stepped onto the South Lawn for what he called a "historic" moment.

For months, if not years, congressional Democrats had craved the chance to pounce on Doug Feith, the former No. 3 at the Pentagon and the brains behind the Iraq WMD claims, torture policy and other great adventures.

Karl Rove had never been so agreeable.

The ghost of Rummy is proving difficult to exorcise.

Como se dice "pander" en Español?

The waiters were still clearing the breakfast dishes yesterday when John McCain's most prominent adviser raised the subject of erection enhancement.

Just last Thursday, President Bush spoke of his Freedom Agenda spreading democracy across the globe: "We are standing with those who yearn for liberty."

Dana Milbank is away. Washington Sketch will resume when he returns.

HIDALGO, Tex. Hillary Clinton, drubbed by Barack Obama in 10 straight votes, flew down to this dusty border town on Wednesday to make her last stand for the Democratic presidential nomination. But where was the cavalry?

What's in a symbol? Should a soybean become one? A slice of cake? What about the act of walking?

HIDALGO, Tex. Hillary Clinton, drubbed by Barack Obama in 10 straight votes, flew down to this dusty border town on Wednesday to make her last stand for the Democratic presidential nomination. But where was the cavalry?

What's in a symbol? Should a soybean become one? A slice of cake? What about the act of walking?