Wonkette

• Reliable Source: Rachel Brand is called the “breakout star of the hearings”. . . Accusations of age discrimination at Washingtonian magazine. [WP]
• Inside the Beltway: Clinton will deliver the eulogy to Eugene McCarthy. . . Bush reads “five to every one [book] that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reads,” according to Fred Barnes. [WT]
• Liz Smith: Ana Marie Cox says there’s “a cold war of gossip” in Washington.[NYP]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Sen. Hillary Clinton kept her distance from Harry Belafonte at Rainbow Room event. [NYDN]
• Rush & Molloy: Russian politician: Condoleezza Rice is “a very cruel, offended woman who lacks men’s attention. Such women are very rough.”. . . Sen. McCain carries lucky compass, lucky feather, lucky penny, lucky rock and a lucky pen. [NYDN]

Like many, Wonkette mourned the passing of former Senator Eugene McCarthy on Saturday. As many obits noted, he stayed fiery and feisty long after the point at which most politicians are content to let age soften people’s opinions about them. The Post calls today’s article about McCarthy an “appreciation,” but the closing lines make it seem more like a “dutiful acknowledgment”:

However you want to define Gene McCarthy’s career, he was different. He usually had something to say. And it often was worth hearing.

Good thing Gene was a Catholic, because such praise would certainly otherwise damn him. MORE »