It’s kind of like going to the supermarket and reading The Star while in the checkout line, then accidentally dropping it in your cart without paying for it as you leave. You didn’t intend to shoplift; it just sort of happened. MORE »

• Reliable Source: Court TV’s Washington correspondent Savannah Guthrie is more focused on Zacarias Moussaoui than Scooter Libby. . . Monica Lewinsky spotted at a political comedy show in London. [WP]
• Heard on the Hill: Aide to Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) hits “reply all” with “let’s all just booze soon” missive. . . James Dobson gets caught in the doors of the Senate subway. [Roll Call]
• Page Six: John Dean gives W. Mark Felt’s memoir a horrible review, saying it “is riddled with errors” and “adds absolutely nothing to our understanding about Felt’s role as Bob Woodward’s source during Watergate.” [NYP]
• Cindy Adams: Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s car accident will not actually be investigated. [NYP]
• Rush & Molloy: Patrick Kennedy has reportedly “been yearning for the company of ex-girlfriend” Tatiana Platt. [NYDN]
• Liz Smith: McCain on Washington: “So much is going to come down, so many indictments… well, it’s all so corrupt,” and to Katie Couric: “Congratulations and condolences.” [NYP]
• Inside Politics: Sen. George Allen wins Young Republican National Federation straw poll. [WT]

Tony Snow, by accepting the position of White House press secretary, is entering the pages of history. But he has been there before — at least in the footnotes — thanks to the company he keeps. MORE »

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No, that’s not Wonkette standing behind Joe Pantoliano. [WP/Lucian Perkins]

Truth be told, our night wasn’t that wild — more like reading Emily Dickinson than hanging out with Paris Hilton. But at least we got out of the apartment!

Last night, Wonkette (or one-half of Wonkette — the half of us with a tux) attended the Congressional Correspondents dinner, sponsored by the Washington Press Foundation. The swanky, black-tie event, held at the Ritz-Carlton on M Street, was attended by numerous “famous-for-D.C.” types, and even a few “famous-for-famous” folks — like Fran Drescher!

Slate described the event as “a B-list affair compared with the Gridiron and White House Correspondents Association dinners”; but we still had ourselves a jolly good time. Although Marcia Davis of the Post urged them not to give up their day jobs, the dinner speakers — Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) — were actually pretty funny. But our assessment may have been colored by the “soft bigotry of low expectations” — as well as too much red wine…

Of course, copious consumption of booze helped us through the evening. And did we mention that The Nanny was in the house?

Our detailed coverage appears after the jump.

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The adolescent careers of those involved in Abramoffukkah continue to be a source of fascination, and, today, we turn our attention to its nakesake himself. Jack Abramoff was evincing the skills and creative flair for all things fast and loose at quite a young age. At Beverly Hills High, he was renowned for his “power squat” — surely the best euphenism for lobbying we’ve ever heard that doesn’t involve an oral-anal connection — and for his uniquely ironic fundraising efforts: for instance, a quarter-pounder eating contest with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. MORE »

• Page Six: Jack Abramoff and Monica Lewinsky both attended the Hawthorne School in L.A. and Beverly Hills High School. [NYP]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Cheney annoys his weekend neighbors in St. Michaels with invasive security measures. [NYDN]
• Liz Smith: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praises Roger Ailes and Fox News environmental documentary. [NYP] MORE »

It seems that Linda Tripp’s gone from listening to her galpals talk about swallowing the sausage to being a purveyor of her very own! She and her husband Dieter Rausch are the Frau und Herr of Weihnachts Markt in Middleburg, Virginia. MORE »

• Reliable Source: Scooter Libby met with lawyers at a cafe near Union Station, openly discussed the leak case, drank diet Dr Pepper, and purchased cookies. . . Bushes have lunch with Rep. John Dingell to celebrate his 50 years in Congress. [WP]
• Inside the Beltway: Bono changed Sen. Jesse Helms‘ views on AIDS. . . Terry McAuliffe’s book is titled “Bring it On!” [WT]
• Page Six: Maureen Dowd: “If there had been no Monica Lewinsky, there would have been no Sen. [Hillary] Clinton. She had to run as a victim because she was seen as so controlling”. . . Bill McCuddy of Fox News: “One of our makeup artists got Kofi Annan ready for a TV appearance at the U.N. the other day. Kind of embarrassing, when she told him the makeup was oil-based, out of habit he gave her food.”. . . Karl Rove, dining at 21 with Ken Mehlman, devours beef tenderloin. . . Hillary Clinton’s deputy state director, Tyson Pratcher, will run for Harold Ford’s congressional seat [NYP, NYP]
• Cindy Adams: Jeanine Pirro expected to run for attorney general instead of the senate. [NYP]
• The Scoop: Viggo Mortensen: “I

• Reliable Source: Collection of Majorie Williams‘ writings and reflections on life is published. . . Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Jessica Biel spotted in town. [WP]
• Page Six: Chelsea Clinton mislead The New York Post about her breakup with Ian Klaus; she is now dating childhood-friend Marc Mezvinsky, the son of two former lawmakers. [NYP]
• Rush & Molloy: Bloomberg on running for president: “Are you insane?” [NYDN]
• Liz Smith: Lewinsky is doing her London School of Economics thesis on the effects of drinking too much. [NYP]

• Inside the Beltway: Margaret Spellings said of Miers in 2003: “She doesn’t want to be in the paper. She’s all about the president. Will people think she is important and in the know for her next gig? I can tell you she is and she is.”. . . White House pool report noted that Cheney dashed his turkey with salt or pepper. [WT]
• Under the Dome: After urging conservation, Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman uses Cadillac limo and large SUV to travel 15 blocks. . . Rumsfeld distracted by the “wrong rabbit”. . . Aspen Institute names Reps. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Dan Boren (D-Okla.), Artur Davis (D-Ala.), Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) among top 24 “emerging leaders.” [The Hill]
• Rush & Molloy: Dean on Miers: “You can’t play hide the salami, or whatever it’s called. [Bush has] got to go out there and say something about this woman