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Heroes Star Panettiere For D.C. Statehood
Tweet Share on Facebook January 26, 2009 Comment (4)By Maura Judkis, Washington Whispers
As cheerleader Claire Bennet on NBC's Heroes, Hayden Panettiere saves the world. In her personal life, the actress saves the whales. And recently, the spunky actress has added one more thing to fight for—District of Columbia statehood. Whispers has learned that her new cause was sparked upon meeting D.C. shadow—and nonvoting—Sen. Paul Strauss. "Hayden came into my office and asked me if I could vote for a bill," says Strauss. "I said 'no.' She must have thought I was a heartless S.O.B. But I explained to her that I can't vote for anything."
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Boston Globe Prepares for End of Teddy Kennedy Era
Tweet Share on Facebook January 26, 2009 Comment (2)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Sen. Edward Kennedy's hometown paper, the Boston Globe, seems to be preparing for the end of the Teddy Kennedy era. Editors and reporters are putting the finishing touches on a mostly glowing biography of the liberal lion. Ted Kennedy, Scenes from an Epic Life ($28), is due out March 3. We've seen a copy, and it is a walk through modern Democratic history from Kennedy's viewpoint, featuring many Kennedy clan shots. The 208-page book devotes just two pages of words and two of pictures to the tragic 1969 Chappaquiddick accident in which Mary Jo Kopechne died after Kennedy's car flipped into a Martha's Vineyard channel.
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An Obama Basketball League? The New President Wants Some Teams to Play With
Tweet Share on Facebook January 23, 2009 CommentBy Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
The NBA could have a little competition in Washington. We hear that President Barack Obama is eager to create a loose group of basketball teams that he can play with in his bid to stay fit and get out of the presidential bubble for a little R&R. Tom McMillen, a former NBA player and Maryland lawmaker, says he had a short chat with Obama about their sports passion, and the president indicated that he wanted to play around D.C. on local college courts. Obama also talked glowingly about bringing his basketball pals to Camp David for games in the gym.
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Bush Pet Handler's Advice to Obama: Don't Let Aides Feed the Dog
Tweet Share on Facebook January 23, 2009 CommentBy Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Here's a warning to the Obamas from a handler of former first dog Millie: Dogs rule and staffers drool at the White House. The chief usher during former President George H.W. Bush's term, Gary Walters, tells us that Millie had the president's staff eating out of her paws, so much so that she had to diet. "Millie," he says, "had the run of the place, including being able to know which staff members had treats." Each day, after a midmorning nap, she'd wait by the elevator for a ride down from the residential area to the West Wing. Then, she'd visit the staffers who kept treats in their desks in hopes of pleasing the boss's dog. Soon, both George and Barbara put a stop to it, issuing a series of letters that said, Walters recalls, "Stop feeding the dog."
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NBC's David Gregory's Presidential Impersonations Don't Extend to Obama
Tweet Share on Facebook January 23, 2009 Comment (5)By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers
It looks like something else is ending along with the Bush administration: new Meet the Press host David Gregory's presidential impersonations. Gregory does a great George W. Bush, getting that Texas twang dead-on. But when it comes to Barack Obama, well, the new president's just not easy to mimic. "I don't find him all that imitable at the moment, but maybe that will change over time," he says. "I think Bush was a guy who you could definitely imitate."
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The Details Of Obama's Footwork on Inauguration Day
Tweet Share on Facebook January 23, 2009 Comment (2)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
It's no secret that the presidential inauguration, the swearing-in and parade, are very well-staged events. But we have new pictures that show the planning included where Barack Obama was to put his left and right toes behind the podium. In these pictures, you can see the exact place Obama stood on the podium.
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WSJ, Dershowitz, and Now Laura Ingraham Sent White Powder in Mail
Tweet Share on Facebook January 22, 2009 Comment (5)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Whispers learns that conservative radio host and Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham, a Washington area resident, was the third media target of a mysterious white powder sent out from Knoxville, Tenn. Sources tell us that the package was mailed to Fox News in New York, where it was forwarded to Ingraham's home. Like the packages sent to the New York offices of the Wall Street Journal and to Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, the return address was Knoxville. Those powders turned out to be harmless—probably white flour. Through a friend, Ingraham had no comment. The FBI and D.C. Fire Department had no immediate comment. The mailings came as the FBI is investigating a string of other mailings of white powder. The timing, coming around the inauguration, has stirred greater concern about the mailings.
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Will Farrell's High-Five Inauguration Video
Tweet Share on Facebook January 22, 2009 Comment (1)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Will Farrell's Funny or Die group hit the Inauguration this week and a new video provided to Whispers shows that his crazy crew had a big time high-fiving their way around town. In the appropriately named High-Five Inauguration Video, Funny or Die's Jake Szymanski and Jack Packard travel through town to do a high-five around Washington personalities like Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, CNN's Larry King, ex-Democratic Party boss Howard Dean, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, blogger Arianna Huffington, Paul Begala, Sarah Silverman, and even Jack Black. Here's the video.
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GOP Women Aren't Ogres, Says Former Bush Press Secretary Perino
Tweet Share on Facebook January 22, 2009 Comment (5)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino is toying with writing a post-White House book on Republican women and how they are misunderstood and maligned by the media and critics. Vowing never to write a tell-all or other book critical of her colleagues, Perino says that if she did put pen to paper, she instead wants to describe how she views Republican women: warm, smart, and nurturing. "Republican women are misunderstood, miscast, and ridiculed," she says.
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Obama to Tag Mitchell As Middle East Envoy
Tweet Share on Facebook January 21, 2009 CommentBy Andrew Burt, Washington Whispers
President Barack Obama is likely to name former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell envoy to the Middle East. The appointment could come this week. Mitchell, known for his work in the peacemaking efforts in Northern Ireland and help in the Major League Baseball steroids scandal, suggested in the 2001 Mitchell Report that Israel halt the expansion of settlements in exchange for nonviolence and the dismantling of terrorist networks from the Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon accepted Mitchell's recommendations, but they were turned down by Yasser Arafat.
