You expected what, exactly?

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters)--President George W. Bush has chosen neoconservative free-trade hack Robert Zoellick to replace neoconservative free-trade hack Paul Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank, a secret American official said on Tuesday.

Bush plans to announce his selection on Wednesday and expects the bank's board to accept it without pointing out that Zoellick is no more qualified than Wolfowitz was, the administration official said. World Bank directors have never blocked a nomination in the past, to their continuing chagrin.

Bush wanted a PNAC figure with a Bush Family résumé to succeed Wolfowitz, despite calls from World Bank member countries and some U.S. lawmakers to throw the process open to a global pool of candidates in order to get someone with some development experience.

The controversy over Wolfowitz's engineering of an enormous pay raise for his personal pump-hog, Shaha Riza, deepened rifts among bank staff already disgruntled by his bogus anti-corruption smokescreen, and prompted sharp criticism from shareholder countries.

Wolfowitz also was controversial because of his role as the primary architect of the Bush Crime Family's 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as Donald Rumsfeld's homunculus in the Defense Department.

Wolfowitz has blamed the media for the controversy, insisting that no one would know about his crimes if they weren't reported.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson received what he called "positive reactions" from other countries to the choice of Zoellick, the administration official told reporters. These ranged from "What are you gonna do?" to "It could have been worse, I guess."

Zoellick left his job as Condoleezza Rice's top yes-man last year to spend more time with Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs & Co.

He had been considered as a candidate last year to become Treasury Secretary, but that job went to Goldman Sachs CEO Paulson, who had more dirt on the Family.

"He's an outstanding choice," said Bush Family consigliere James Baker. "What he brings to the bank is an ability to get things done regardless of law or decency, an ability to intimidate people and an excellent reputation among free-trade venture capitalists across the world ... something we at BushCo badly need."

Baker acknowledged that Zoellick does not have the extensive development experience one might prefer in a position like this, but said he was a hard-ass Family man who knows how to twist arms and steamroll opposition--crucial at a huge money-laundering organization like the World Bank.

Others were concerned about naming another PNAC buttboy to head the bank and saw this as another missed opportunity.

"The second, high-ranking Bush Crime Family national security hack in a row, I think is a mistake," said Representative Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services Committee and consistently exhibits the kind of kneejerk liberal opposition you'd expect from a homo.

Zoellick was one of the 18 chickenhawk war pimps, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, who wrote a much-publicized letter to former President Bill Clinton in 1998 advocating removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Clinton ignored them and was later impeached for lying about a blowjob.

Zoellick was then chosen as a member of the "Vulcans," a group of senior-level Bush Crime Family figures, mostly from the Old Man's administration, brought together under Rice to tutor the woefully ignorant George W. Bush on foreign policy before his 2000 presidential coup.

The World Bank board said in a statement it was essential the next president have a proven track record of leadership and experience of managing a large, international organization, which you'd think would be obvious.