Who's who.

World Cup fever apparently never reached the White House. Shortly before the United States' historic triumph over Mexico, Mexican President Vicente Fox sent an invitation to President George W. Bush, who was in Crawford, Texas, suggesting they watch the game together at a neutral location on the border. No dice, came the reply from a Bush staffer: The president would be asleep at kickoff (2:30 a.m. EST).

Now that Ralph Nader has put George W. Bush in the White House, the Green Party is turning its attention toward helping the GOP take back the Senate. Greens in Minnesota have inexplicably targeted the Senate's most progressive Democratic member, Paul Wellstone, who faces a strong challenge from former St. Paul mayor Norm Coleman. The Green candidate, Ed McGaa, is even more of an oddball than might be expected--so much so that one party member admitted to The Progressive's Ruth Conniff that the Greens knew almost nothing about him when they nominated him: "Unfortunately, we're just finding out," he said. Turns out McGaa's pro-military, pro-hunting, meateater resume doesn't quite square with the Green Party platform.

In 1992, after environmentalists lampooned his attempts to campaign as the "environmental candidate," George H.W. Bush hastily flew to Rio de Janeiro to attend the first U.N. Earth Summit--where he promptly refused to sign international treaties on biodiversity and global warming. Ten years later, George W. Bush, under growing fire from Democrats for his environmental record, must decide whether to attend the 2002 Earth Summit in late August. More than 45 world leaders will convene in Johannesburg, South Africa, to contemplate new international agreements on sustainable development. Luminaries include British Prime Minister To ny Blair, Mexican President Vicente Fox, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, German Prime Minister Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is said to be considering, as is Russian President Vladimir Putin, who may be there to celebrate Russia's anticipated ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.

The administration has stated that Bush won't attend, and certainly isn't going to let EPA Administrator Christine Whitman run amok with so many European environmentalists. Instead, the U.S. will be represented by Undersecretary for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky--the equivalent of sending a Washington Monthly intern to interview the president. Dobriansky was previously the host of an international affairs show on Paul Weyrich's National Empowerment Television and a senior vice president at the Council on Foreign Relations. Hoping to join her are presidential hopefuls Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph Lieberman (DConn.), and self-styled environmentalist Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.), along with environmental foes Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), who attended the international climate negotiations at The Hague in 2000.

The Ohio Ethics Commission is investigating former independent counsel Kenneth Starr for his dual role as special counsel and fundraiser for Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery. Starr is defending Cleveland's school voucher law, but also raising money for Montgomery's re-election campaign. He stands to earn as much as $125,000 in state legal fees, prompting the commission to examine the propriety of fundraising for a public official while on the public tab.

During the 2000 vice-presidential debate against Sen. Joe Lieberman, Dick Cheney touted his experience running the energy company Halliburton. "I've been out in the private sector building a business, hiring people, creating jobs," boasted the future V.P. Now comes the news that Cheney's management of a 1998 merger with Dresser Industries yielded less-than-stellar results. Halliburton's stock has plummeted from $52.28 (when Cheney sold his shares), to $18.55. As for "job creation," the company fired 10,000 workers.

When Bono recently toured Africa with Paul O'Neill, the U2 star hoped to impress upon the treasury secretary the dire straits in which the Dark Continent finds itself. But a few elements of the trip seemed plucked from an Evelyn Waugh novel. For example, the entourage's hotel on the first night, the Royal La Palm, which features Ghana's largest swimming pool, cost more per suite than the country's annual per-capita income.