Choice Bits From WaPo’s Dan Froomkin

Yesterday, the Washington Post's Dan Froomkin said Bush would deliver a speech today to “several hundred members of the Council on Foreign Relations” but that he would not allow questions afterward. At least at this venue in the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC there will be no handpicked military sycophants or intimidated worker bees to loudly applaud. Although, Froomkin said, the Council on Foreign Relations members have good manners and are respectful, so they no doubt will applaud politely when pauses indicate applause is expected. Other Froomkin items of note: “Plame Watch: Richard B. Schmitt writes in the Los Angeles Times: 'Valerie Plame, the diplomat's wife whose secret resume was exposed in a newspaper column that eventually led to the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is leaving the CIA on Friday, people familiar with her plans said.' “Woodstein Speaks: Raja Mishra writes in the Boston Globe: 'The Watergate-era reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein offered a spirited defense yesterday of anonymous journalistic sources, at a Harvard forum that explored the parallels between the Nixon administration they covered as young reporters and the current Bush presidency.’ "Here, Bernstein was much more openly critical of Bush, while Woodward said his books, which he described as 'neutral,' offered a sufficiently detailed glimpse into the White House without being overly didactic. "But Bernstein, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine, said the Bush administration's penchant for secrecy resembles the presidency that the two reporters helped topple more than three decades ago. He suggested that the Bush administration's scrutiny in the CIA leak case also was similar to the problems faced by Nixon as the Watergate scandal unraveled. "'I think it is, in a little different way, happening again,' Bernstein said.” “Twins Watch: Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts write in The Washington Post that the First Twins were spotted ‘dining at Dino in Cleveland Park Saturday night.’ “Just last week, the New York Post spotted Barbara Bush ‘snapping up a pair of Beja Boots for $300 at the Terra Plana shop on Elizabeth Street.’ “But wait. According to a recent Associated Press story about their dad getting summoned for jury duty in Crawford, State District Judge Ralph Strother told reporters that ‘one of Bush's twin daughters, Barbara, received a jury summons for his court a month ago. Someone called to reschedule her jury service, saying she would be out of the country for the next six months, the judge said.’" “Out of the county, maybe.” Froomkin said.