. . . the next World Bank president? Alex Wilks is keeping a running tab on the last days of the current president.

And Chris Nelson had some interesting comments about Wolfie in tonight's Nelson Report:

World Bank directors are busy trying to find a way to communicate to former Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz that shame should mean something, even to him, and that his resignation would be appreciated.

The New York Times reports that Treasury Secretary Paulson is appalled, and wants Wolfowitz to resign, as does the UK, and most of Europe. Only the Africans seem to be sticking by him for now, since he has been very, very good to them.

Continued after the jump.

Diplomatic sources tell us the White House has been surprised at how strongly, in private, the Brits, many of the Euros, and other allies on Iraq et al, are saying Wolfowitz must go. His personal indiscretion, and the public revelation of the incredible pay scale enjoyed by Bank employees, has both embarrassed and enraged them.

We understand that at the most senior levels, White House players have hinted that the public endorsement of Wolfowitz should not be read as definitive. Rather, the White House is actually saying to the Bank Board of Directors, “it’s OK with us if you do what you think is right...for the Bank”.

Sources point out that Bush has now fired his Secretary of Defense, one director of the CIA, and two Treasury Secretaries, because he concluded they were a burden to him.

So it has devolved into a waiting game...will Wolfowitz “do the right thing”, or will President Bush pull the plug?

While there are some clear-headed folks in the White House, one suspects that the President has been told that “they” are “just trying to get at you through him...so hang tough.” One suspects that the President has been told that his political weakness means he can fight for Attorney General Gonzales, or Wolfowitz, but not both.

In an ideal world, the President has also been told that it’s the performance of each which has brought them to their currently perilous state. To that Bush might retort, at least his Attorney General is being pilloried (again) for doing his master’s will, as he construed it.

What has not been reported, as yet, is that Bush could remind his advisors that this isn’t the first time that Wolfowitz’s love life has complicated his employment situation.

Recall the early days of 2001, when “job lists” were the name of the game here in Washington, you would find Wolfowitz on everyone’s short list for the CIA, not for DOD. Something happened which knocked Wolfowitz off the intelligence side of the equation. What you might have forgotten (if you ever knew) is why:

A certain Ms. Riza was even then Wolfowitz’s true love. The problem for the CIA wasn’t just that she was a foreign national, although that was and is today an issue for anyone interested in CIA employment. The problem was that Wolfowitz was married to someone else, and that someone was really angry about it, and she found a way to bring her complaint directly to the President.

So when we, with our characteristic innocence, put Wolfowitz on our short-list for CIA, we were instantly told, by a very, very, very senior Republican foreign policy operative, “I don’t think so”. It was then gently explained why, purely on background, of course.

Why Wolfowitz’s personal issues weren’t also a disqualification for DOD we’ve never heard.

I'm sure Alex will have more soon.