• Rush & Molloy: Sen. Ted Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) alleged “secret love child” jokes about having “the classic Kennedy drinking problem”. . . Al Gore and Ralph Nader expected to attend Beastie Boys event at Sundance. . . Rudy Giuliani lunches with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Al D’Amato. [NYDN]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: George Clooney’s father urges Jack Abramoff’s father to chill out: “I’ve found it very hard not to bite my tongue, but I do. You can’t really respond for your kid.” [NYDN]

• Reliable Source: Ralph Reed’s flack, Lisa Baron, writes a column that is too racy for the Washington Post to even excerpt. . . Jenna Bush spotted on shopping spree at Bluemercury cosmetics store in Georgetown. . . Harriet Miers dined with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison on Tuesday. [WP]
• Page Six: David Letterman: “Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. have been named ‘Partners of the Year’ by Time magazine. In fact, they’ve become so close, they’re thinking of making a cowboy movie together.” [NYP]

• Reliable Source: “Military Idol” takes off. . . Ludacris skips the Howard University Homecoming. . . Philanthropist Jim Kimsey “toasted and roasted” at Kennedy Center. . . At Sunday’s game, Andrea Mitchell kissed Alan Greenspan whenever the Redskins scored. . . Diane Keaton spotted at Starbucks; Nicole Kidman seen near K Street. . . Van Susteren sells her house. [WP]
• Under the Dome: U.N. interns blanket Capitol Hill with blue rubber bracelets to celebrate its 60th anniversary. . . Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) mingles with famed winemakers in his office. [The Hill]
• Liz Smith: Maureen Dowd’s next book is titled “Are Men Necessary?” [NYP]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Alec Baldwin critiques Hutchison: “Why are contemporary Republicans so full of shit?” Replies her flack, “We take criticism from Alec Baldwin about as seriously as advice from Michael Moore.” [NYDN]
• Rush & Molloy: Clinton autographs $11,000 lunch-box to auction it again. [NYDN] MORE »

• Cheney was first to tell Libby about Plame, but not necessarily by name; notes taken by Libby contradict his own testimony. Cheney’s information came from Tenet; it’s unclear whether Cheney or Libby knew of Plame’s undercover status. [NYT]
• White House advisors use lessons learned by Reagan and Clinton to survive the “darkest days of the Bush presidency”; Bush will reiterate the necessity of staying on the offensive in Iraq and will urge fiscal discipline at home. [WP]
• Ben Bernanke, senior White House advisor and renowned economist, nominated to succeed Greenspan; noted as “the economic equivalent” of John Roberts. [WP, NYT, LAT, USAT]
• Bernanke has “unassailable credentials and enough distance from the White House to blunt charges of cronyism or ideological motivations.” [WP, LAT]
• Bush will not release documents related to Miers‘ White House work. Bush: “It’s a red line I’m not willing to cross.” [NYT, LAT, WT]
• Coalition of conservative groups calls for Miers to withdraw in a “dramatic escalation in the battle over her nomination.” [WP, WSJ, WT]
• Iraq approves draft constitution; American death toll reaches 1,999. [WP, WP]
• Frist “has also been deeply involved in legislation affecting his family’s business” since arriving on Capitol Hill. [NYT]
• Parties ready talking points for possible indictments. [WSJ, WT]
• CIA leak scandal is rooted in disagreements over Iraq between administration officials and the “permanent bureaucracy of Washington”; Brent Snowcroft and Lawrence Wilkerson provide details of administration’s decision-making process. [WP]

MORE »

• Maybe it was her sexy nipple clamps that made Kay Bailey Hutchison forget all about blowjobs.
• Gawker breaks down the Weekend of Judy. Friday: Keller puts heart on sleeve, Judy in bulls’ eye. Saturday: The redhead goes wild. Sunday: Judy fights back.
• Mike Brown memorialized as a ringtone.
• Did you know you could watch every “Colbert Report” for free on the interweb? Yes, you can. Tonight’s show will be a gravitas barn burner: Lou Dobbs! Tell us how you feel about immigration, Lou.
• Jon Stewart doesn’t have an email address. So who’s been reading all the porn I send?

Poor Kay Bailey Hutchison. She owes her entire political life to the Bushies, and here they are using her as a great airy test balloon emblazoned with the lamest response to the CIA leak investigation yet: That perjury isn’t really a crime. That excuse sounded disingenuous when people were lying about blow jobs, it sounds positively unhinged when people are lying about national security issues. But Kay has a crafty rhetorical maneuver up her St. John’s knit sleeve: She tries to create sympathy for the beleaguered White House by comparing them to… Martha Stewart. “Look at Martha Stewart, for instance, ” she said on Meet the Press, “where they couldn’t find a crime and they indict on something that she said about something that wasn’t a crime.” Of course. Martha Stewart may seem an odd symbol of unjust imprisonment — but, hell, if Judy Miller can be a First Amendment martyr… MORE »

• Documents show Frist was aware of his investment in HCA Inc.; his statements about “blind” trust are questioned. [WP, USAT]
• Republicans preview response to possible indictments. Hutchison (R-Texas) hopes “that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn’t indict on the crime and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste of time and taxpayer dollars.” [NYT]
• Leak investigation “likely to accelerate second-term turnover in the Bush administration”; White House officials said to have “grim determination to conduct business as usual, even though it’s clearly not possible.” Bush reportedly frustrated and angry. [WSJ, NYT, NYDN]
• Criticism of Miers lacks modern precedent; senators demand release of Miers‘ White House files. Brownback (R-Kan.): “If we’re to give advice and consent, we’ve got to have a full picture.” [NYT, LAT, WT, USAT]
• Senate Judiciary Committee may call James Dobson to testify about Miers. Specter: “I don’t think the nomination is in trouble.” [WP]
• Allen (R-Va.) expects Rove, Libby will resign if indicted. [WP]
• Fitzgerald seen as “a special counsel with no discernible political bent who prepared the ground with painstaking sleuthing and cold-eyed lawyering.” [WP]

MORE »