Inside the Beltway

Bush supporters

“Most uneventful bus ride,” reads the official White House pool report surrounding President Bush’s campaign swing through Minnesota. “Only notes of interest along way were the smiling guys waving outside Jake’s Exotic Dancers, just outside St. Paul.”

Rather embarrassing

“The truth of the matter, of course, is

We rely on anonymous sources,

On political hacks,

Certifiable quacks,

And extraterrestrial forces.”

— F.R. Duplantier

Changing guard

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton tomorrow will join in the debate over National Guard and Reserve duty — although this New York Democrat, unlike CBS anchor Dan Rather, isn’t as concerned about whether President Bush served his fair share decades ago.

Instead, the Center for American Progress, the Association of the U.S. Army, and the Center for Peace and Security Studies will hold a day-long summit at Georgetown University on the future of the National Guard and Reserve.

Besides Mrs. Clinton, a host of military-defense and homeland-security policy-makers will reassess the roles of the reserve component in meeting the nation’s changing and expanding security needs. Among those testifying: Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Security Paul McHale, Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.

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