Washington Whispers
Conservative, Even in Self-Promotion
He has probably published more conservative books than anyone else, but when Alfred Regnery decided to write his take on the political movement, he shopped it to a publishing house other than his Regnery Publishing. "You can't have your name on the top and the bottom of the book's spine," he demurs. So come January, Upstream: The Ascendance of American Conservatism will be published by Simon & Schuster. Simon's Mary Matalin raves that it will be a wake-up call for conservatives. For Regnery, going to Simon was more than just ducking what some might have seen as simple self-promotion. He says the mainstream publishing house's purchase of Upstream proves the importance of the conservative movement. "Ten years ago they would have told me: 'Get out of here.'"
It's a Very Small Political World
"Hey, Ken Walsh," our surprised White House correspondent heard June 13 when he and his wife, Barclay, were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary at a hilltop restaurant overlooking the Athens Acropolis. "It was Al Gore," says Walsh. The former veep was in town to show off his global warming slide show to the Greek president. "It really is a small world," says Gore's spokeswoman, Kalee Kreider.
What's an 'L' Among Political Foes?
In the strange bedfellows department this week, we've got the hand-holding of the right-leaning American Conservative Union and left-tilting American Civil Liberties Union. Come June 26, in front of the Senate, ACU boss David Keene will join with ACLU's Anthony Romero to demand the return of basic rights—habeas corpus in constitutional lingo—to prisoners long held at GuantánamoBay. "Many people might be shocked to see a tag-team of the ACLU and the ACU," says Romero. "But, hey, what's an 'L' between friends?"
Speed Has Limits, Even for Powell
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is a freak for speed—the kind delivered under the hood of a Chevy Corvette. He owns a 400 horsepower 2005 Vette and is hunting for one of the new sports cars with a pepped-up 440 horsepower engine. But it's a compromise choice, he concedes. "You know they have this Z06 that's 500 horsepower," he says with awe. "They loaned me a Z06 for three days to see if I liked it," he tells us. "I loved it, but I would be in jail by the end of the week because that thing was going 90 mph in second gear, and I didn't know how I was going to use the other four gears." Afterward, he made this mental note: "Powell, you are 70 years old. Stick to 400 horsepower. You don't need 500."
Paul Bedard's blog is at www.usnews.com/whispers
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