Apparently, even angry birds need a break from their dive-bombing activities every once in a while.
On Wednesday, HOH reported that an unfriendly crow was swooping down on Capitol Police officers, tourists and neighborhood types on the block of Second Street and Constitution Avenue NE.
We are happy to report that there have been no bird attacks at the intersection in question today — yet.
“Nope, not so far today,” a Capitol Police Officer told HOH, chuckling when he was asked if he had been attacked yet by the foul fowl. He added that he had not seen anyone else attacked by the crow, either today or previously.
After months of taunts, bragging and cryptic tweets, the member and press softball teams have finally released their rosters, with lots of new blood on both sides this year.
Female Washington reporters and members meet each June in a softball game that raises money for the Young Survival Coalition, a charity that supports young women diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Each year, when practices begin, I bounce out of bed, bright and early, ready to go, and this week was no exception,” the game’s founder, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said in a release. She went on to note that this year will be both the fifth anniversary of the game and of her own breast cancer survival.
“I cannot imagine a better way to celebrate either accomplishment than by breaking our game’s fundraising record for the Young Survival Coalition and taking the trophy back from the Bad News Babes,” she added.
The Hollywood petting zoo made it back to Washington this past weekend, but to be honest, the whole town seemed a little tired. And the Washington/Hollywood two-in-one punch seemed a little underwhelmed with each other this time around.
This might be because Hollywood and D.C. have seen an awful lot of each other over the past year. Beginning at Nerd Prom 2012, the two have hung out at both the Republican and Democratic national conventions, were intertwined during the 2012 elections, and then convened again for a week of festivities surrounding President Barack Obama’s second inauguration.
Washington even popped by Hollywood’s very own prom season (Golden Globes, Academy Awards) with its own royalty: President Bill Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama, respectively.
So it’s no wonder that by the time this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner week came around, familiarity perhaps bred a shrug of the shoulder. Full story
One of the most famous public scoldings of a U.S. president was weather-related.
At Monday’s 20-year anniversary of the dedication of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the museum’s founding chairman, Elie Wiesel, recounted that, like 20 years before, it was raining and he was sharing the stage with President Bill Clinton.
“Our shoes were in water,” Wiesel said, a scenario Monday’s planners avoided by having the event in a multipurpose tent that housed thousands of people in between the museum and the Tidal Basin. He also recounted that his dedication speech, which he said he had spent the entire night before refining, was illegible, because it was waterlogged from the rain. “If ever I was close to a heart attack, it was then,” Wiesel said.
President Bill Clinton, left, and Elie Wiesel at Monday’s 20-year anniversary tribute at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call)
Ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., who, for some reason or another in 2011 abruptly resigned from office/bailed on the social mediaverse, burst back onto the scene Monday:
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As expected, the Twitterati have been having a field day with this particular second coming Full story
By now you may have already heard the tale of the capture of Paul Kevin Curtis, an Elvis impersonator-turned-suspect for sending ricin to elected officials and who might also have believed he was being targeted for uncovering a refrigerator full of black market body parts.
But there’s always another side to every story and, the way Curtis tells it, it starts with a drive with a dog named Moo Cow. Full story
Toward the end of Wednesday night’s “Sidecar Conversation Series” on the love/hate relationship between Hollywood and D.C. — a discussion which was, at turns, self-congratulatory and hyper critical — moderator Ron Brownstein asked the entertainment-savvy panelists to name the defining political flick.
Our own Neda Semnani originally blurted out “The Candidate,” but then amended her choice to tout “Inherit the Wind”:
The scene at the annual Bryce Harlow Foundation awards dinner is always a little otherworldly — by Washington standards. It’s a place where lawmakers laud lobbyists and Republican politicians unabashedly fete Democrats.
At the April 16 dinner in the heart of K Street, Sen. Jerry Moran, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, piled on the praise for Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., whom the Kansan pointed out is up for re-election next year. As NRSC chairman, Moran said, one of his responsibilities is to make sure Warner “is replaced by a Republican.”
No matter. He introduced Warner, who received the lobbying group’s 2013 Bryce Harlow award, which recognizes lawmakers who promote business and economic interests. Full story
Let’s give Rep. Steve Cohen the benefit of the doubt, at the same time keeping straight all that is going into his explanation over his latest Twitter misadventure: Cyndi Lauper, his own daughter, Mavis Staples, the movie ‘Absence of Malice,’ two of his own colleagues, the White House, and, of course, the Sunlight Foundation.
At a somewhat perplexing news conference Friday afternoon, the Tennessee Democrat said that a tweet he fired off from his Twitter account Tuesday night to singer Cyndi Lauper, saying she was “hot” at a performance at the White House, wasn’t a mistake but rather a prank on the media.
Cohen gave a couple of reasons as to why he sent the tweet in question to Lauper: “CyndiLauper great night,couldn’t believe how hot u were.see you again next Tuesday.try a little tenderness”
First, he said he wanted to promote the White House program – which featured performances of Memphis music by Justin Timberlake, Queen Latifah, Mavis Staples and the Alabama Shakes, among others, and will be replayed on Tuesday on PBS.
Second, he said he was trying to turn “gotcha” journalism around on all of us journalists. Full story
One of the few respites from partisanship in Washington is the Congressional Women’s Softball team. That could all change in June.
Earlier Wednesday, our friends over at CQ Roll Call’s “At The Races” blog reported that Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., will spend from now until June contemplating a run for Senate.
Here’s the rub: Ellmers is set to play on the bipartisan softball team. If she runs, it will be a challenge against Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., a perennial player. Full story
Giddy to get in a good shot at President Barack Obama, Lone Star State Republican Rep. Pete Olson fired off this flippant non-read of the newly released White House budget:
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But his constituent Justin Kugler didn’t seem terribly impressed:
Because we are nothing if not dedicated to civic journalism, HOH will field some of the burning questions about our elected officials currently piling up on existentialistic clearinghouse Quora:
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Depends on who gets more camera time. Also, Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell MIGHT have a different succession plan in mind.
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Crazy fun? The maniacally outraged James A. Traficant Jr.
"I don't have time like that to be jerked around. I need to make dollars" -- Cap Hill delivery guy isn't out here for his health #workethic16 hours ago
