They chatted as most guests do at Washington receptions but stopped talking long enough to hear the Italian foreign minister praise the upcoming year of Italian culture and dedicate the exhibition of the David-Apollo statue.
By the time the politicians took to the podium, however, their attention had flagged and the murmur of conversation rose.
Reps. Nancy Pelosi of California and Bill PascrellJr. of New Jersey were obviously frustrated that so few people were listening to them. The two Democrats scolded the crowd at one point.
Mrs. Pelosi, the former House speaker, tried to tell the guests how John F. Kennedy once praised Italian-Americans.
“Do you know what he said? Do you want to know? Well, listen up,” she said.
Mr. Pascrell wasted no time telling the crowd to hush. “We don’t need this Greek chorus,” he said.
He then apologized to Greek-Americans who might have taken offense.
• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297 or email jmorrison@washingtontimes.com. The column is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
James Morrison joined the The Washington Times in 1983 as a local reporter covering Alexandria, Va. A year later, he was assigned to open a Times bureau in Canada. From 1987 to 1989, Mr. Morrison was The Washington Times reporter in London, covering Britain, Western Europe and NATO issues. After returning to Washington, he served as an assistant foreign editor ...
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