Today’s Washington Post brings word that Pete Wehner, director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives, will be departing soon. A great many of those who think and write about politics have benefited from Pete’s notes and e-mails these past several years and have come to recognize behind the voice of the author a deep and passionate intellect. Those of us fortunate enough to have worked with Pete also know him to be overflowing with kindness and wit. His departure is a great loss for the President. But whatever Pete does next is bound to be no less a boon for the republic.