In Washington, it’s hardly without precedent for a presidential appointee to swear one thing before a Senate confirmation committee and then, once ensconced in the sought-after post, do another.

As quixotic searches for “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq continue to yield little more than chagrin, the Washington establishment is growing restive.

This comfortable college town is defined as much by its eclecticism as its traditional Midwestern quintessence.

For some of progressive cast, there was at least one thin silver lining to Tuesday’s crushing Democratic defeat: For the first time in decades, Jesse Helms wasn’t running, and come January he’ll