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Sex-free Zone

If your lunch hour has become a tad too “Sex and the City,” then you might want to consider this week’s invitation to dine with a virgin.

The Center for Christian Statesmanship is inviting House aides to dine with Jason Illian, reality TV’s hunkiest virgin, at noon on Wednesday in the Rayburn House Office Building. Senate aides get second crack on Thursday in the Hart Office Building. [IMGCAP(1)]

Illian, aka “the virgin” from ABC’s “Bachelorette” series, will — ironically enough — be talking about sex during the center’s complimentary lunch. The 29-year-old, self-described Christian virgin is also expected to share his thoughts on dating, relationships, “male leadership” and faith, according to an e-mail invitation.

Illian, it seems, is using his virginity as a turn-on with the ladies. His Web site describes him as a “multi-talented renaissance man who knows what it is to be sexy.”

The center did not respond to HOH’s requests seeking to know which Member and Senator reserved the rooms for the lunches with Illian.

Batman Returns. It seems Sen. Patrick Leahy is still very much obsessed with Batman. The Vermont Democrat was spotted Monday afternoon wheeling around outside his office on a child’s toy Batmobile.

Leahy, readers may recall, had a bit part in the 1997 movie “Batman & Robin.” He did a voiceover in an episode of “Batman: the Animated Series,” and he even wrote the forward for the 1992 collection “Batman: the Dark Knight Archives.”

One aide who spotted the Senator test driving the toy car reported that the tiny Batmobile was a present for Leahy’s 7-year-old grandson — though, the aide told HOH, the Senator seemed to enthralled to give it up.

He mentioned too staffers standing around that he thought he could “have some fun” if Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), whose office is nearby, also got a Batmobile. They could ride around zapping it and bad guys and exacting justice on late nights that are sure to come during the pending Supreme Court battle.

The fantasy was so engrossing, apparently, that Leahy suggested to his aides that his grandson might not be quite old enough yet for the Batmobile. Maybe next year. Stay tuned.

Alleged Screw Ups. Conservative flamethrower Bernard Goldberg today is sending copies of his new book “100 People Who Are Screwing Up America” to a few of the lucky 100, including Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.

On Kennedy, who ranks No. 3 on the list, Goldberg dredges up every scandal the senior Senator has ever been involved in, including, of course, Chappaquiddick, as well as loads of other controversies, including the “borking” of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.

Dean checks in at a respectable 20th place on Goldberg’s list of losers, mainly, the author writes, for being an “‘angry little teapot’ who might have quietly gone home to Vermont after the election and done everybody a great big favor.”

Others who are allegedly screwing up the USA include former President Jimmy Carter (No. 6), neo-Nazi and Klansman David Duke, former Vice President Al Gore, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), rapper Eminem and writer Eve Ensler, who, Goldberg laments, is “so proud of the vagina — her own and that of every other woman — that she wrote a very important play about it, called ‘The Vagina Monologues.’” (OK, so we surmise Goldberg is not a fan of the vagina.)

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), who does not have a vagina, also makes Goldberg’s list of the terrible 100. The Congressman, who is No. 38, reportedly joked last week that he wished he had made the top 10 along with Kennedy, Carter and movie maker Michael Moore.

DNC aides didn’t waste a breath shooting back at Goldberg for taking shots at Dean. “Bernie’s right-wing acolytes may plunk down some cash for his latest hatchet job, but this screed makes it clear Bernie has never read ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People,’” DNC spokesman Josh Earnest told HOH.

Earnest called Goldberg, a former CBS newsman, a “has-been” who has made a name for himself blasting “the community that rejected him, namely, legitimate journalists.”

… And Speaking of Books. Republicans, continuing their assault on the successful liberal activist movement MoveOn.Org, are bashing the group’s new book “50 Ways to Love Your Country.”

In particular, GOP aides pointed to one review of the book penned by conservative-turned-liberal Arianna Huffington. Her review on MoveOn’s Web site described the “50 Ways” as “political Viagra for anyone tired of feeling hopeless, helpless, and impotent in the face of our Big Money/Big Media-controlled political system.”

Well, we’ll just ask Sen. Elizabeth Dole (D-N.C.) and her husband, Bob, about that one. We did, and they had no comment. But one trusty Republican aide suggested that MoveOn.Org was treading on the Doles’ turf by posting the provocative review by Huffington.

“They’re just trying to get a rise in their sales,” the aide joked.

Please send your hot tips, juicy gossip or comments to hoh@rollcall.com.

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