Inside the Beltway

Catfight

A conservative catfight, if you will.

On one side, you have the Independent Women’s Forum, which supports President Bush’s nomination of White House counsel Harriet Miers to fill the seat vacated by retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Miss Miers “has had a long and distinguished career as one of the foremost lawyers in the country,” says IWF Senior Vice President Michelle Bernard, who adds that her group “rejects the feminist argument that the seat to which she was nominated is a ‘woman’s seat.’”

By originally nominating John G. Roberts Jr. to replace Justice O’Connor, she explains, Mr. Bush laid to rest the notion that any one sex or ethnic group owns a particular seat on the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, although the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute thinks Miss Miers is a smart woman and “able lawyer,” the group of right-leaning women is concerned about the nomination “on a number of levels.”

Particularly “having been told to expect a nominee in the mold of Justices Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia,” the institute notes.

“It is sure to be frustrating to accomplished conservative judges who have worked hard to distinguish themselves on the bench,” the group says. “It will be frustrating to those accomplished lawyers who have labored in the trenches, practicing constitutional law and helping to establish clear legal precedents …

“What does the president’s selection of Miers say to them? ‘Thanks for your efforts to preserve and uphold the Constitution, but we do not have the political will to defend you or your views.’”

Zengo zest

That was Washington National Opera director Placido Domingo giving a surprise performance at Tuesday evening’s private opening of Zengo, a new Latin-Asian restaurant he and chef Richard Sandoval have just opened at Gallery Place.

Among the 450 guests strolling up Zengo’s red carpet were business leaders such as Herb Miller of Western Development Corp., politicos such as D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz, top chefs such as Kaz Okochi of Kaz Sushi Bistro and fashionistas, including Patti Cumming of Neiman Marcus. Greeted by the sounds of drums and a dancing Chinese lion (intended to bring the restaurant good luck), the guests sipped on mojitos and sampled sushi and other delicacies.

Better yet, there was a performance by the maestro himself — Mr. Domingo surprising his son, Alvaro, who turned 38, with a birthday cake and the world’s most amazing version of “Happy Birthday” (accompanied by performers from the Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Program.)

Mr. Domingo and Mr. Sandoval also are partners of the restaurant Pampano in New York City.

Long fence

Story Continues →