There’s no crying in baseball, but there might be if women lawmakers don’t get their way in an internal fight pitting some of the most powerful Senate Democrats against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and others hoping to make it to tonight’s Congressional Women’s Softball game.
It’s gonna be a scorcher, folks. And not just because the mercury is climbing toward the triple digits. Even after the sun begins to take its leave of us, Capitol Hill will be sizzling with excitement as lady lawmakers square off against female hacks for bragging rights in the fourth annual softball smack down, to be held at the Watkins Recreation Center at 420 12th Street SE.
“I don’t want to answer that question. That’s a clown question, bro.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid invoking his favorite ballplayer and Nevada homeboy, Bryce Harper, at a Tuesday news conference. Reid later sent out a release gushing that “Nevada Senator Harry Reid responded to a reporter’s question during a press conference by taking a quote from Nevada baseball star Bryce Harper. In May, Senator Reid attended a Washington Nationals game and spoke with Bryce Harper.”
The do-gooders behind Ward 8 nonprofit Horton’s Kids were thrilled to be featured on last week’s episode of “Restaurant: Impossible,” but they suspect many of their most dedicated supporters were too busy working to catch the original showing (June 13).
So the group is hosting an invite-only viewing party tonight at the swanky Microsoft Innovation and Policy Center (901 K St. NW) for friends, co-workers and associated pols. A Horton’s aide told HOH that Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.), Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Washington D.C. Ward 5 Councilman Vincent Orange are all expected to attend. Full story
Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) will have his work cut out for him this afternoon when he faces off against the fleet- fingered Stephanie Teteak in the first National Grocers Association Best Bagger Congressional Competition. Full story
President Barack Obama is the candidate of choice for ladies seeking sugar daddies.
According to SeekingArrangement.com, “the world’s largest sugar daddy dating website,” the ladies (aka sugar babies) chose Obama almost 3-to-1 over presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, 34 percent to 12 percent. Full story
Aspiring lieutenant governor and Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson is giving the House Natural Resources Committee an earful about his enduring fight against conservation groups that he says are fixated on protecting a lizard.
Patterson’s beef isn’t with the nascent dunes sagebrush lizard — “It’s only been a species since 1991,” Patterson proclaimed — so much as with the “radical environmental groups” that have sued to block oil companies from further infringing on the reptile’s West Texas stomping grounds.
Patterson’s been at this for a while, so confidence is low he’ll say anything particularly groundbreaking. It might be worth tuning in just to hear what innuendo he will slip into the conversation this time. Full story
Pascual Cabaño is famous for his Rey Silo blanco and piquant rojo cheeses. (Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)
Today is the final day of the Summer Fancy Food Show, which means miles and miles of mouthwatering snacks are, at least for the next few hours, no further than a frilly-topped toothpick away.
Well-fed observers on Monday spotted California Democratic Reps. Lois Capps and Lynn Woolsey rubbing elbows with constituent cheese mongers at their state’s corner of the American Cheese Society section at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. And Rep. Francisco “Quico” Canseco (R-Texas) was seen strolling down the food-lined aisles. Full story
A Florida blogger has lodged an official complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Rep. Connie Mack IV and describes the Florida Republican with one of the more creative insults we at HOH have seen — and we see a lot.
Timothy “Chaz” Stevens, a software engineer, burgeoning writer, political activist and the brain behind “My Acts of Sedition” blog, has a penchant for over-the-top rhetoric. Full story
If it’s Tuesday, it’s HOH’s Take Five, where we get to know a Member of Congress through five fun questions. This week, Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) talks about castrating pigs and other aspects of life on the farm. Full story
Prostitution, it seems, is one thing a divided electorate can rally around.
Look no further than Nevada, which has fast become the quintessential swing state, with Democrats and Republicans competing fiercely in the presidential, Senatorial and House races. The parties won’t agree on whether Barack Obama or Mitt Romney should be president or whether Republican Sen. Dean Heller or Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley should be the Silver State’s Senator.
But one thing the parties both embrace by wide margins? Brothels.
According to a recent Public Policy Polling survey of 500 Nevada voters, “There is one thing Nevada voters across party lines can agree on: They love them some brothels.”Full story
Are Republicans unwitting conspirators in the efforts of alien mastermind Lord John Whorfin to do the unthinkable and steal the coveted oscillation overthruster?
Based on the names of some of their highest-profile leaders, one might suspect the GOP has been infiltrated by aliens from the eighth dimension — an us-against-them scenario advanced by the 1984 cult classic “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.” Full story
It happened last week, a sea change in how hirsute men are represented in Congress.
With the victory of Rep.-elect Ron Barber (D-Ariz.) in the special election to replace former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), all of Southern Arizona is now represented by a man with facial hair.
From Yuma in the west to Douglas in the east, the people of the 7th and 8th Congressional districts in Arizona will see goatees on their elected representatives in Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D) and Barber. Full story
If the past decade has taught us anything, it’s that our political system is all about the cash money.
That’s what activist John Wellington Ennis divined during the course of directing his first film, the Bush-vs.-Gore-centric “Free for All,” and now during his dissection of Citizens United v. FEC in the unfinished flick, “Pay 2 Play.”
According to his latest Kickstarter campaign, Ennis still needs more than $45,000 to complete his treatise against money in elections.
And, just like in a real political campaign — “It’s always better to be wealthy than not,” as Citizens United counselor James Bopp so eloquently put it — big donors stand to reap some impressive rewards.
The first five people/groups to pony up $1,000 can have Ennis direct a customized promotional spot (not unlike the corporate-sponsored ones he’s railing about, we suspect).
Cough up $5,000, and you’re automatically in with the associate producing crowd.
Shell out $10,000, and soon you’ll be taking meetings with other fellow co-producers.
But don’t pack your bags for Hollywood just yet. Ennis’ fundraising push expires July 1.
HOH Sports Desk is often awash in sporty anecdotes. This week is a perfect example of some of the ridiculousness that crosses our desk.
Swim It if You Got It!
At 10:30 a.m. today, Virginia Rep. Jim Moran (D) kicked off the “world’s largest swimming lesson” at the Upton Hill Regional Park in Arlington.
According to his office, the Congressman and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum took a dip as “part of a worldwide simultaneous event [that] educates children and their parents on the importance of water safety.”
Please send pictures of Moran in his bathing suit to HOH [at] RollCall.com. Many thanks! Full story
Heard on the Hill is Roll Call's Capitol Hill gossip blog.
Warren Rojas is a Heard on the Hill columnist for Roll Call, having previously worked as the founding dining editor for Northern Virginia Magazine and also as a tax reporter for Tax Notes. @WARojas
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