Archive RSS Feed: Washingtonpost Al Kamens In The Loop Column

True 'Spirit of America': Bush's Icon Teaches Tots to Tune In

Seems nothing's ever simple these days. President Bush, in his State of the Union, praised special guest Julie Aigner-Clark, who he said "represents the great enterprising spirit of America," for founding Baby Einstein, makers of children's videos.

Coming Soon: The Super Bowl Tour of Iraq and Kuwait

Surge or no surge, business opportunities abound in Baghdad! The Army's looking to have someone provide "promoter services for a Super Bowl XLI championship tour in Kuwait and Iraq."

One Uninsured Group Can Now Exhale

Former associate attorney general and convicted felon Webb Hubbell, now working for an insurance agency, has an important message for marijuana smokers: You don't have to quit to get life insurance.

Aide at Labor Found Budget's Weaknesses, So Democrats Don't Have To

Federal agencies are putting the final touches on the administration's fiscal 2008 budget, due out Monday, checking the numbers and preparing to do battle with the Democrats over priorities and programs.

Army Special Forces: Stealthy, Deadly and Now Handy With a Llama

After the Korean War, the Army gave up pack animals for trucks, planes and choppers to transport troops and equipment. But recently -- remember those folks on horseback routing the Taliban in Afghanistan? -- it's become clear that Special Forces might find themselves needing horses, mules and donkeys, and perhaps the occasional camel or llama, to move around.

Elephants Never Forget, but Some Republicans Do

As President Richard M. Nixon once famously advised his aides as they were about to testify: "You can say I don't remember. You can say I can't recall."

L.A.'s Lawyer to the Stars -- and the Majority Leader

What do Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Britney Spears, Bruce Willis, Paris Hilton's ex-boyfriend/videographer Rick Salomon and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have in common?

Wanted: A Few Good Iraqis. Or Jordanians. Or . . . Anybody?

The Pentagon and the State Department have been squabbling quite publicly over State's request to have the already-stretched military fill about 40 percent of the 300 new State jobs in Iraq created by the administration's latest rebuilding plan.

Truth and Credibility

The 12 jurors in I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's trial will soon be sifting through the evidence, trying to determine whether the prosecution proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Libby lied to investigators about conversations with reporters in the Valerie Plame affair.

Pentagon Red Tape Keeps Medical Records From Doctors of the Wounded

Department of Veterans Affairs doctors are furious over a recent decision by the Pentagon to block their access to medical information needed to treat severely injured troops arriving at VA hospitals from Iraq and Afghanistan.