Ben Widdicombe reports today that Jeff Gannon, beloved Washington male escort/journalist, is heading up to New York to chat with the Log Cabin Republicans on Thursday. Widdicombe asks Gannon about his, uh, “biases,” and Gannon invokes “the Anderson Cooper rule,” which is fantastic on so, so many levels. MORE »

After we blogged about the demise of “Commander in Chief” yesterday, a tipster emailed us: MORE »

An exclusive report on George Clooney’s National Press Club visit from our embedded operative: MORE »

George Clooney — who has such love in his heart for our Gotham-based sibling and its Gawker Stalker feature — is coming to Washington. His visit to D.C. is wreaking havoc with the National Press Club’s schedule. Inside Higher Ed reports:

The president of George Mason University and the presidents of Virginia Tech and the University of Delaware were supposed to speak at the National Press Club in Washington at lunchtime tomorrow about the role of academic research in America’s future competitiveness. But some guy named George Clooney is scheduled to talk at the press club about his recent trip to Darfur, Sudan at just about the same time.

A spokesman for George Mason, Dan Walsch, said that [Alan] Merten and the other presidents had concluded that the Clooney speech might draw a few reporters away from the higher ed event, and so they’ve canceled it for the time being. “What are the odds that two internationally known sex symbols would be in the same building at the same time?” said Walsch….

Yeah, we agree, that Sam Brownback is pretty dreamy…

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Last night, the Wonkettes left their respective apartments and headed out into the real world, to attend an exciting event at the National Press Club. The event, “An Army of Davids or the Triumph of Goliath?”, was pitched as “a no-holds-barred debate” between these three giants: Glenn Reynolds, the Instapundit himself, and author of the just-published An Army of Davids; Joe Trippi, former campaign manager for Howard Dean, and author of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised; and Barry C. Lynn, senior fellow at the New American Foundation, and author of End of the Line. (They are pictured above, from left to right: Lynn, Trippi, Reynolds, and moderator Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of Reason.)

After the jump, our comprehensive coverage — plus more fantastic photos, taken by Wonkette shutterbug Liz Gorman, Intrepid Girl Reporter. Enjoy!

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* Reliable Source:

In this edition of Chatology, Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff pulls a half-Ginsburg, spinning through both Meet the Press and This Week. On various issues, Chertoff blames Michael Brown, Mary Matalin blames the media, Joe Lieberman blames Chertoff, Evan Bayh blames the Democrats, and David Gregory blames himself. Random wisdom from Ari Fleischer: “You can be right and still be bonkers.” Speaking of which: Cheney is “almost like the wizard dealing with the muggles” — Howard Fineman.

Full rundown and highlights after the jump.

[Ed. note: Don't miss Ana Marie Cox's appearance at the National Press Club, this Wednesday, February 22, at 6:30 PM. For more details, as well as information about how to obtain tickets to this free event, click here.]

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• Under the Dome: Bob Livingston: “I raised hell with [Gov. Blanco] for not declaring martial law. I told her last [Wednesday] night I was going on ‘Hannity & Colmes‘ and criticize her for not doing that, and 20 minutes later, she did.”. . . Rolling Stone shadowed Bernie Sanders for upcoming article. . . National Press Club will auction nude painting. . . Albert Eisele retires about 40 years in journalism. [The Hill]
• Lloyd Grove’s Lowdown: Bernstein, in latest issue of Vanity Fair, recounts tension with Woodward and Downie over Felt revelation; shows Woodward as more interested in “commerce and hype than journalism.”. . . Judi Giuliani is mum on her husband’s ‘08 intentions. [NYDN]
• Inside the Beltway: “VIP party” for CNN’s “The Situation Room” canceled due to Katrina. [WT]