Inside the Beltway

Blindfolds needed

An unidentified patron of Ceiba was so overcome by the festive atmosphere of the popular restaurant on 14th Street NW that on her way out she swiped a pinata from the Cinco de Mayo display.

Guilt obviously set in, according to Ceiba spokeswoman Simone Rathle, because the very next day, she repaid the restaurant 25 times over — dropping off 25 pinatas.

Destroy Hillary

Publishers of “the world’s first conservative comic book” have created a hilarious political satire called “Libarro World,” in which a Berkeley professor’s flawed duplication ray created imperfect pro-President Bush copies of Sen. John Kerry (a pro-military warrior), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (a sultry anti-feminist), Howard Dean (an unexcitable ultragenius) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (a distinguished teetotaler).

In the series, the real four Democratic leaders set out to destroy each of their conservative clones.

Any takers?

Mike Reynolds of Tarrytown, N.Y., writes: “Regarding [yesterday’s] Inside the Beltway column — ‘24 percent of Democrats would permanently leave the country if given the opportunity’ — Where can I send a check? What will it take to get the other 76 percent to keep them company?”

Wives and wars

Veterans Day is observed annually on Nov. 11. A congresswoman now wants a national day of recognition for “Veterans Survivors” — wives, in other words.

Rep. Corrine Brown, Florida Democrat, points out that “servicemen’s spouses have followed their husbands from place to place within the United States as well as overseas. These women, who during their husbands’ active-duty career, unselfishly made great sacrifices to ensure the support and welfare of our armed forces on the local and national levels.”

Furthermore, she says, “these women … are the mental lifeline today’s soldiers need to stay grounded in an insane situation — war.”

Can’t fool us

Inside the Beltway received an e-mail yesterday from a high-ranking Pentagon official who wished to comment on our item about congressmen being required by law to read the U.S. Constitution at least once every year.

We’d like to tell you what he said about lawmakers and what they should be reading, but given the bold-faced warning at the bottom of the official’s letter — and the uproar this week by the Bush administration over the New York Times’ publishing a report on a classified national security program — we’d better not take any chances:

Story Continues →