Sure, Hopeful Barack Obama just got a bunch of endorsements from important political constituencies such as the mostly naked nymphs of American Apparel, the wealthy elderly survivors of the Grateful Dead, “jam band” hero Dave Matthews and teevee’s Dr. McCoy DeForest Kelly Oscar(TM)-winner Forest Whitaker. But what about half-dead pop groups from 40 years ago? [Funny Or Die]

Imus is back, and what better way to celebrate than with this most truthy music video “Nappy Headed Hos” by white boy rap duo Accident of Birth. The lyrics strafe the political landscape: James Carville! Maureen Dowd! Snakes in the head! Tim Russert! Rush Limbaugh! Frank Rich! Tucker Carlson! And then, as if it could get any better, they toss in Humboldt County weed, Devo, John Lennon, Snoop Dogg, the Grateful Dead and Maker’s Mark!!? WTF? Quick, somebody sign these guys! MORE »

Guess what Pelosi and Coulter have in common? They both love shitty hippie music from 35 years ago, that’s what! MORE »

La Coulter on being backstage with what’s left of the Grateful Dead: MORE »

• Reliable Source: Man in bathrobe “bludgeoned” the stereo of the Snap tea house in Georgetown. . . Barbara Bush spotted on date with someone with “preppy-poufy dark hair,” who paid. [WP]

• Inside the Beltway: Tony Snow will reportedly play in his band, in Bethesda, on June 3rd. [WT]
• Inside Politics: Al Gore harnesses MySpace for “An Inconvenient Truth.” [WT]
• Under the Dome: Six-part documentary about Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) will air this summer on Sundance. . . Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) draws 500 supporters to Grateful Dead fundraiser. [The Hill]
• Heard on the Hill: Hillary Clinton wants to introduce her husband’s gala address at the Sons of Italy awards. . . UPS and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce buy townhouses “within spitting distance” of the Democratic Party HQ. [Roll Call]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Graydon Carter proposes an unlike Gore-Clinton ticket. [NYDN]

• Heard on the Hill: The Executive Committee of Periodical Correspondents has no love for cameras. . . Anti-immigration group delivers bricks to lawmakers. . . Two Grateful Dead band-members appear for Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) tonight. [Roll Call]

• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Dick Cheney on Mary Cheney: “She got the writing gene from her mother. I never even finished my dissertation.” [NYDN]
• Inside Politics: Bush is not interested in Gore’s film. [WT]
• Inside the Beltway: Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) talks tough on immigration: “We are being invaded, we are being colonized, and there are insurgents from the nation of Mexico and their allies further south.” [WT]
• Reliable Source: National Park Service will now charge for wedding-day photo permits at D.C. landmarks. [WP]

• Reliable Source: The Bushes gave Kenny Chesney special cowboy boots to commemorate his East Room performance. . . Alberto Gonzales says it’s “unclear” whether his parents entered the country illegally. . . Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) is returning $23,000 to an indicted producer. [WP]
• Under the Dome: James Gandolfini thinks Bush should “reinstate the draft, send 500,000 troops and finish it.”. . . Two members of the Grateful Dead fundraise for Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). . . John Edwards and Jack Kemp join forces to encourage people to save for retirement. [The Hill]
• Heard on the Hill: Euan Blair is no longer a Hill intern, and one question lingers: why? [Roll Call]
• Page Six: Former NJ Gov. Jim McGreevey will be on “Oprah” in the fall. [NYP]

Why do people insist on thinking it’s somehow surprising that conservatives like the Grateful Dead? That their love of the shaggy, indulgent jam band contradicts a love of low taxes, mandatory sentencing, and amendments against flag-burning? Hey, Al Franken and Ann Coulter have something in common, that totally blows my mind. (Though we can understand why Coulter might be attracted to the image of dancing bones.) We refuse to listen to the music long enough to figure out if there is something about it that is essentially conservative or liberal — as with baseball and dogs and Orwell, the ease with which either side can make a claim suggests that they’re both wrong. We wish the conservatives could claim the band for their own, damnit. Would you take Sha-Na-Na while you’re at it? MORE »