Dinner Dish
Roll Call Staff
Besides the Bushes, another person who wasn’t laughing at Stephen Colbert’s comedy schtick Saturday night was cartoonist/author Anthony Haden-Guest. Then again, he wasn’t listening. A bit overserved, the “notorious tippler-about-town,” as he once dubbed himself in New York magazine, took a nap at one of ABC News’ tables (though he was a guest of Bloomberg News) during the White House Correspondents Association dinner.
Sources say others at the table had to shake Haden-Guest to wake him up ... so he could, quite naturally, keep drinking with the rest of us at the Bloomberg party. It’s too bad he passed out, because his dinner table companions found him to be a lovely man. Asked for comment about his little nap, Haden-Guest sent HOH an e-mail saying, “Washington was simply too much sensory overload. I did however get a second wind.” (Indeed, he was spotted after midnight drinking an infused vodka shot.)
Among the George Clooney loonies pawing the stunning lady-killer at the dinner was a gaggle of women who decided to make a real sport of it.
They created a game that, seemingly fun at first, turned into a “not-so-friendly competition,” according to a dashing HOH informant, who is a former Senate aide. The objective was to steal Clooney’s place card from the Newsweek table where he was sitting. All we know is that the winner who eventually snagged it — while Clooney was still at the table! — is a longtime aide to a senior Democratic Senator. Guesses anyone?
Speaking of games, this popular TV game show host looked crushed when he chased funnyman sportswriter and commentator Tony Kornheiser through the crowd but lost him. Answer: Who is Alex Trebek?! (Apparently Trebek, like HOH, is a big fan of Kornheiser and his ESPN co-host Michael Wilbon.)
And then there was that little case of mistaken identity. Several people — it happened at least six different times, sources say — went up to actor Harry Lenox, praising him as the future of the Democratic Party. They all thought Lenox, who plays the chief of staff on “Commander In Chief,” was Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
At ABC’s pre-dinner reception, a woman walked up to the Lenox and said, “Sir, you’re the future of our country.” Lenox played along and thanked his “supporter,” then turned to Kathy O’Hearn, the executive producer of ABC’s “This Week,” and explained that sometimes he just “doesn’t have the heart” to correct people. He said he’s often mistaken for Obama, and certainly was many times throughout Saturday evening.
Adrian Fenty (D), who could be the next mayor of Washington, D.C., attended the dinner and proved that all politics really is local. Fenty, a guest of Chris Berry, the president of WMAL radio, pressed more flesh and visited more tables in 10 minutes than you can shake a stick at. Unclear how much of that flesh belonged to registered District voters.
Speaking of voters, and flesh, the American Idols also got a little lesson in politics. If we had a dime for every suck-up who told Ace Young and Mandisa Hundley that they voted for them, we’d be rich, and Ace and Mandisa would still be in the competition.
“I guess they know how John Kerry must feel about Ohio,” one observer, a former Senate staffer, noted wryly.
Rosenbaum Murder’s Hill Link. As reported by The Washington Post last week, prosecutors and police are now looking into whether the men charged with killing New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum in January were responsible for two earlier attacks in Washington, D.C. Turns out that one of the robbery victims, 28-year-old Jason Mulvihill, is an aide on the Senate Commerce subcommittee on technology, innovation and competitiveness.
Taylor: Preventing Another Underwear Bomber
March 19, 4:09 p.m.
The intelligence community faces challenges daily. No example is more emblematic of the problems faced than the so-called underwear bomber of 2009. As threats emerge, the hunt for “persons of interest” must occur in a more reliable and efficient manner because the consequences of inaction can be catastrophic. Read Full Article
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