The G-Man Signs Off

(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)

Love him or hate him, there was a time when you could not ignore the indomitable G. Gordon Liddy. These days, supporters are bummed he might actually be going away for good.

The one-time “fixer” for President Richard Nixon became a household name following his part in the infamous Watergate break-in. He spent almost five years in federal prison for the bungled robbery and later reinvented himself as a bombastic radio show host, practicing free speech by stoking the right with a running commentary of everything that’s wrong with America while needling the left with novelties such as his annual “Stacked and Packed” calendars.

(Courtesy eBay)

His 20-year radio program, “The G. Gordon Liddy Show” officially went off the air over the summer.

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Ex-Staffer Embroiled in NCAA Booster Scandal

Ex-House Homeland Security Committee staffer Robert Denton Herring is under investigation by the NCAA and Mississippi State University for acting as a booster for the university’s football team, the website LegiStorm reports.

According to other reports, Herring is not cooperating with the investigation.

Herring spent some time working for the Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C., before going to work for the committee staff of the chairman at the time, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). Herring worked in Thompson’s office from 2007 through 2009, first as an investigator and later as a professional staffer.

According to his LinkedIn profile, the former staffer left the Hill in 2009 and took a job with GAO in Georgia. Full story

Cleaning Up on Dirty Deeds

Modern-day Mad Men brilliantly skewer the toxicity of the average political campaign:

(Well played, FedEx.)

Drink Like POTUS

When we tie one on during work hours, management squawks “pink slip” this and “grossly irresponsible” that. But when President Barack Obama bends the elbow, entrepreneurs hear cash registers ringing.

Such has been the case with the public’s unquenchable thirst for the specifics of 44’s home-brewing operation.

The surreptitious suds-making originally came to light in February 2011. That’s when “Obama Foodarama” watchdog Eddie Gehman Kohan uncovered that White House Honey Ale had been served at the first family’s Super Bowl party. But the real furor erupted this summer after POTUS offered a curious constituent a custom long neck during a campaign swing through Iowa.

Once word got out about the honey-based brews — White House Honey Ale, White House Honey Porter and White House Honey Blonde are all produced with the viscous glory gathered from a beehive located on the White House grounds — home brewers and beer drinkers foamed at the mouth about getting ahold of the recipe.
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Artur Davis, ‘Hercules’ Actor Appear Before GOP

Republicans booked some out-of-the-ordinary guests at their internal meetings in the past few days.

Kevin Sorbo, an actor whose Twitter bio says “Yes, the Hercules guy,” was at the GOP’s Conference meeting Thursday. He was perhaps one of a few guests who could have overshadowed Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP’s vice presidential nominee, who also popped by the Conference meeting to fire up the troops.

And former Alabama Rep. Artur Davis, who served as a Democrat but has been mulling a comeback campaign as a Republican, spoke at a Whip meeting Wednesday.
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Love at the Top of the Dome

Tim Hysom (left), deputy district director for Rep. Adam Schiff, got engaged to Sean Jones on top of the Capitol Dome. (Courtesy Rep. Adam Schiff)

Nearly nine years ago, two young men were introduced in Washington. On the Sept. 14, 3 p.m. tour, Tim Hysom and Sean Jones got engaged at the top of the Capitol Dome.

“I first walked into the Capitol as a young staffer in 1993,” explains Hysom, the deputy district director for Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). “And I have loved the Capitol building ever since. When I met Sean the first time, literally the first night I met Sean, I knew that I wanted to share my life with him.

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Votes vs. Vittles

The saga over encroaching politispeak continues:

(Courtesy the Zeitgeist Movement)

Say it with me now: Just seven more weeks to go.

Washington Native’s Art Show Comes to Capitol Hill

David Molesky’s show at the Barracks Row gallery the Fridge, “Air/Water,” is full of surreal colors, bursts of fire and crashing ocean waves.

The artist was inspired by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010. “I hope to bring some awareness and appreciation for the beauty of nature and an awareness for what we’re doing to it without getting too literal,” he tells HOH.

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Angry Aryans Coming to Town

A week that started with the celebration of the Jewish New Year will evidently come to a close Saturday with a neo-Nazi rally converging a stone’s throw from the Capitol.

Morris Gulett, the self-described “world leader” of Aryan Nations tells HOH that 40-60 members of his segregationist society are expected to amass at Lincoln Park and then march to Union Square (opposite the Reflecting Pool) in order to protest the treatment of white farmers in post-apartheid South Africa.

The rally is being coordinated by Maryland-based separatist Mark Ledbetter and will feature guest speakers Monica Stone, a sympathetic South African national, and Ryan Mullins, a ranking member of Aryan Nations from Tennessee.

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Thank God It’s … Rib Day?

It would appear that Rep. Louie Gohmert is transplanting his famous barbecue from his office balcony to the Speaker’s Lobby.

A fellow scribe reports the Texas Republican carted in a smorgasbord of his signature ribs — “It’s an annual thing,” a Gohmert aide said of the regular meat-fest — to the area just outside the House floor. Nice way to ring in the recess!

Gohmert’s peeps declined to share the Congressman’s closely guarded recipe, revealing only that “it’s his conservative spin on LBJ’s famous rib recipe.”

Sounds like the spread is quite intoxicating.

“Smells like cinnamon,” our spy shared.

Uggie Steals the Show at Pet Night on the Hill

Two famous, four-legged movie stars descended on Capitol Hill on tonight for the 16th annual Animal Health Institute Pet Night, mugging for the camera and doling out kisses to excited Hill staffers and Members who attended the event.

Uggie, the wiry Jack Russell terrier famous for his role in the Oscar-winning film “The Artist,” donned a dapper tuxedo and basked in the attention of the adoring crowd. He also kept a watchful eye on Tennessee, a black-and-white cat who played Buttercup in “The Hunger Games,” who was more eager to explore the Cannon Caucus Room than she was to play with her canine counterpart.

Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), a veterinarian by trade and owner of two dogs, a cat and four sheep, made an appearance, saying that caring for animals is an issue with bipartisan support in this divided Washington political landscape. Full story

Capitol Hill Invades Thursday Night Shows

Congressional operatives should see a flood of familiar faces on KableTown NBCUniversal tonight, as a group of Senators lend some street cred to “Parks and Recreation,” while a trio of D.C. tastemakers — including one Barracks Row toque — help quickfire up “Top Chef: Seattle.”

As we reported back in July, in tonight’s episode (9:30 p.m.) of “Parks and Rec,” “Ms. Knope Goes to Washington,” Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) all get to play themselves at a very D.C. reception. (So meta; we know.)

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Fifty Shades of Mitt Romney

Those merry pranksters at Joe Digital have mashed up the planks of GOP hopeful Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign with “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The results are awesome.

50 Shades of Mitt from The Final Edition on Vimeo.

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Downing a Few at Top of the Hill

God bless us all, we made it to Thursday.

More importantly, we are just 47 — or as GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney now likes to call it, that “#@$!%^& number” — days away from being able to zone out about presidential elections. (To be fair, the 2016 race is well under way, political reporters will tell you. But we won’t let them spoil the party.)

What better way to commemorate our numerological boon than to commune today from 6 p.m-??? at Top of the Hill (319 Pennsylvania Ave. SE) for another Famous DC/Heard on the Hill happy hour?

Your dedicated HOHers will be there.

So please join us so we can clink glasses and toast to long-lasting friendship. (Or don’t, in which case we’ll claim your share of the booze and use it to drown our sorrows.)

Daniel Akaka Gets Lei From Ron Johnson

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson (R) embraced the aloha spirit Wednesday.

During a Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management hearing, Johnson, the subpanel’s ranking member, took a moment to honor retiring Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) with a floral lei and a hug.

Do yourself a favor and check out this adorably awkwardly, sweet, bipartisan moment.