Ken writes:

> This time I respectfully but completely disagree with Wirt...    :-)
>
>  ...  My guess is John is pretty close to the mark.  CTW is IMO a
>  pretty smart "political animal";  and I do indeed expect her to want
>  to run for office again....

>  Anyway, I'll put my $$ (at least a few) where my mouth is:
>
>  I'll bet Wirt a dinner at La Posta that CTW stays in her current
>  position AT LEAST until the end of the Federal FY (6 months);  I'm
>  thinking she will likely stay until the end of the CY, and possibly
>  even longer.

While I truly don't have any evidence one way or the other about Whitman's
thoughts, I do consider the fact that her private March 6th briefing memo to
President Bush that strongly advocated the adoption and support of the Kyoto
greenhouse emission limits has already "leaked" out to the world to be fairly
strong evidence of her (or someone within her staff's) displeasure.

From all reports, Bush values loyalty, if not outright fealty, over every
other attribute. I am sure that he would tend to see this leakage as a form
of betrayal. It's this level of disharmony that leads me to suspect that she
might resign early, even if she thought it best for her own political career
to stay longer. She might simply be asked to resign.

Nevertheless, I am always pleased to buy Ken a dinner at La Posta or the
Double Eagle, whether I'm right or wrong. But then again, I'm also just as
pleased to have Ken buy me a dinner, if I'm proved right :-).

Wirt Atmar