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Million-year-old New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg is in the hospital again, this time after he collapsed because of a bleeding ulcer. So, when he either retires or dies, another “safe seat” will be won by Scott Brown, because didn’t New Jersey just decide to go Republican again? Yes, that’s what New Jersey did, when they elected popular Republican “Snooki” as governor last year. [NY Daily News]
He never let us forget, and then we forgot for a few months, but now they don’t want us to forget again: The Political Bosses in New Jersey are considering getting America’s Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, to run for Senate in New Jersey against America’s Jew, Frank Lautenberg. But was he in New Jersey enough when the 9/11 buildings fell? MORE »
* Heard on the Hill: Power went out at Ritz-Carlton apartments, leaving Frank Lautenberg panicking in the darkness until he managed to stumble to a hotel. Harry Reid was fine, as he was aided in the darkness by mystical Mormon superpowers… Guilty-pleading former Ney aide Neil Volz was partying with journos earlier this month. [Roll Call]
* Reliable Source: ANGELINA JOLIE IS GOING TO JOIN THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS WTF. [WP]
* Yeas and Nays: The TSA made Riane Rehm spray perfume onto her contacts. Hospitalization ensued… Shaq, Pat Riley both loooove Bush. [Examiner]
* The Sleuth: John Kerry apparently sonned a Swift Boat donor during a Foreign Relations Committee hearing [WP]
* Shenanigans: Ted Stevens swings into action, unloads baggage from the carousel at the airport. [Politico]
We’ve got more than three amigos for you this week because Wonk’d doesn’t take snow days, even in a celebrity storm like this one: Vicente Fox doing his Borat impersonation, Bill Cosby not eating at Ben’s, Fred Barnes with his head in the ground, and Joe “That’s Right Motherfuckers” Lockhart partying with some girls who are way past wild and into ludicrous, also Ludacris.
“I Want These Motherfucking Interns Off This Motherfucking Elevator!” (NYT) MORE »
Jackie Kucinich sports a stylish Washington Monument headband. Her cute friend doesn’t want you to know that she’s an intern.
Wednesday night, if you can think back that far, was an absolutely gorgeous evening. We spent part of it enjoying the hospitality of Court TV and Capitol File, soaking in the panoramic views from the Kennedy Center’s roof deck — as well as some sweet-but-not-too-sweet, lemon-flavored libation.
The occasion for the festivities? The opening of Court TV’s Washington bureau, featuring Savannah Guthrie, Fred Graham, producer Bryan Lavietes, and a dozen other staffers.
We said hello to all the usual suspects, hinted to the Court TV folks that we’d love to be on TV — even if it means getting yelled at by Nancy Grace — and loaded up on sushi.
After the jump, pictures from the event (amateur shots by one of your editors, not photos by Liz Gorman, that Super-Hot Girl Reporter). Plus, our report card on the proceedings. Check it all out here.
Considering that yesterday we posted an old resume of his and analyzed the Google results for his name, you might think that we’re a bit obsessed with Joel D. Kaplan, who’s replacing Karl Rove as deputy White House chief of staff for policy.
But we’re not the only ones these days scrutinizing Joel Kaplan — who, given the high-profile shoes he’s filling, can expect to be placed under the microscope. Last night Jon Stewart had a riff about Kaplan on the Daily Show, discussing Kaplan’s participation in the “Brooks Brothers riot” that contributed to halting the Miami recount in 2000. In today’s Post, Al Kamen chimes in, noting that Sen. Frank Lautenberg is not a Kaplan fan (but that’s not a problem for Kaplan’s promotion, since his new gig doesn’t require Senate confirmation).
The most interesting info about Kaplan is that he used to be a Democrat, in his college days. Back in 1990, he was elected as an alternate delegate to the Massachusetts State Democratic Convention. Who’d have thunk that a Brooks Brothers rioter and successor to Karl Rove was a Democrat in his youth? A college classmate of Kaplan has this to say:
I vaguely remember that he was an active Democrat, albeit a somewhat conservative one. He was a total politico: he represented Eliot House in the Undergraduate Council, and IIRC, he agitated for bringing ROTC back onto campus. I’ll bet my last dollar he voted against Bush 41 in ‘88.
And there’s much more to say about the White House’s new policy guru. After the jump, an extremely detailed, “Single White Male”-style email from a law school classmate of Kaplan’s, who has some highly specific recollections.
* Reliable Source: Fox News will not stage a party after the Radio & Television Correspondents Association Dinner. . . White House to host small “social dinner” tomorrow night to celebrate Ben Franklin’s 300th birthday. [WP]
* Under the Dome: “Law & Order” plot line strikes the GOP the wrong way. . . Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) seek temporary memorial in the Capitol Rotunda for soldiers killed in Iraq. [The Hill]
* Page Six: New book claims that Laura Bush took “hormone adjustment” to conceive twins. . . Blind item asks, “Which political reporter attends so-called ‘circuit parties’ while flying high on ecstasy?” [NYP]
* Inside the Beltway: Ben Bradlee is visiting the South Pacific for The New Yorker. . . PETA wants Antonin Scalia to stop killing fish. [WT]
* Rush & Molloy: Giuliani hits the ground in Iowa. . . Photos of Pataki’s daughter downing tequila land on the Internet. [NYDN]
• Pentagon has a tentative plan to withdraw about 50,000 troops from Iraq over the next year. [WP]
• For oil executives who were involved in the energy task force, the truth depends on what the meaning of “participation” is. Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s (D-N.J.) definition: “If you’re doing anything more than breathing in the room when you’re there. Even if you’re a silent observer.” [WP]
• Bush allegedly talked to Tony Blair about bombing Al-Jazeera. Scott McClellan: “We are not interested in dignifying something so outlandish and inconceivable with a response.” [WP]
• FEMA will extend housing subsidies for Gulf Coast evacuees. [WP, NYT]
• Administration formally charges Jose Padilla ahead of Monday deadline; “the government has yet to settle on a consistent strategy for holding and punishing people it says are terrorists.” [NYT, NYT, WT, USAT, USAT]
• Judge delays decision on throwing out charges against Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas). [WP, LAT, NYT]
• “Scooter” Libby has “a problem” in the leak investigation, his attorney says. Robert Bennett: “Fitzgerald is putting together a big case, and he’s looking for little pieces of a puzzle.” [WP, NYT, WSJ]
• Rejection of the Iraqi constitution by two Sunni provinces “guarantees the guerrilla war will go on,” says one historian. “As one official put it, every time the administration appears on the edge of a precipice, it manages to cobble together a result that allows it to move on to the next precipice,” according to The Washington Post. Per The New York Times, “Senior officials say the intelligence reports flowing over their desks in recent months argue that even if democratic institutions take hold, the insurgency may strengthen.” [WP, NYT, USAT, USAT]
• House Republican leaders are preparing to cut up to $50b from ‘06 budget; fiscal conservatives win out. [WP]
• Miers will provide answers to Senate questionnaire today; strategists hope nomination will gain traction. [NYT]
• Some Republicans are concerned that Bush’s go-slow approach to rebuilding the Gulf Coast will create additional problems. [LAT]
