A Stand-Up Fellow

Fire of Liberty

Kathleen Parker has a good column that notes how much of a stand-up man Paul Wolfowitz really is, compared to what the folks of Air America, the nation and the left would have you think. Take a look:

I introduced myself and asked who in the room required security. They weren't in the mood to say, apparently, but suggested that I'd probably be able to figure it out. In a room full of camouflage and amputees, it was easy to spot a man in a dark suit casually grasping a Corona neck. I wandered over to the group surrounding him and listened as Isaac Serna, a 21-year-old Humvee gunner, described how he had been wounded.

The man in business attire was Dr. Paul Wolfowitz, former deputy defense secretary and now head of the World Bank. Wolfowitz listened intently, asked a few questions, then joined Serna and others for a group photo. And so the evening went, with the former deputy quietly making the rounds -- listening and shaking hands -- and lingering for a while after the wounded were headed back to Walter Reed.

In fact, I learned, you can find Wolfowitz here most Friday nights -- at least twice a month -- meeting with the wounded and hearing their stories. No fanfare or fuss, which is why many outside of Washington don't know about it.

"Here" is Fran O'Brien's Stadium Steakhouse in the basement of the Capital Hilton Hotel a few blocks from the White House, where owners Hal Koster, a Vietnam vet, and Marty O'Brien began hosting free dinners for wounded troops a couple of years ago. Some may recognize the setting from the Doonesbury comic strip, which featured O'Brien's after creator Garry Trudeau attended one of the dinners.

I just wished he had stayed on at the Pentagon but then again he surely makes a better president of the World Bank than the last chap. For me, I applaud Mr. Wolfowitz for his devotion to our soldiers.