White House Correspondents Insider
Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.
Paper Also Nets Some Obama Administration Players
Tim Daly (“Private Practice”), Justin Long (“He’s Just Not That Into You”) and Richard Belzer (“Law & Order”) will be lighting up USA Today’s tables at the WHCD, along with Deputy White House Chief of Staff Mona Sutphen, Dept. of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Michelle Obama staffer Jocelyn Frye, according to FishbowlDC.
White House Correspondents Dinner Vanity Fair-Bloomberg After Party
The Vanity Fair after party, normally at writer Christopher Hitchens’s apartment, is joining forces with the Bloomberg after party, according to the New York Observer. While Bloomberg is limiting its guest list to a mere 200, the combined merriment will be hosted by the French ambassador, whose (larger) home is just a short walk from Hitch’s place.
Chuck Todd Said to be in Line for New MSNBC Weekend Political Program
That’s what the New York Observer is reporting on its Web site, citing “multiple network sources.” Todd, once a contender to succeed the late Tim Russert on “Meet the Press,” will start hosting a new show the cable channel will debut later this spring. The idea is to give Todd “more experience as a political moderator,” according to the story.
Democrats, Celebs, Media-types In; Republicans, Lobbyists, “Little People” Out
Who will be in and who will be left out of this year’s dinner? A few general categories to keep an eye on. For Obamites stuck in Chicago for two years, this will be the first night that many of them mix and mingle with the press at a big event. [Read more…]
Dennis Brack is one of those people whose work you’ve seen maybe more times than you can count, even though you’ve probably never heard of him. Ditto his more than 400 colleagues.
Brack is president of the White House News Photographers Association, the camera-bug counterpart to the White House Correspondents Association. Ever since Lyndon B. Johnson laid claim to the Oval Office back in the 1960s, Brack has been snapping pics of presidents and pretty much anyone else of importance at the White House — with notable success.
Yes, it’s true — actor Kal Penn (Dr. Kutner on Fox’s “House” as well as the stoner in “Harold & Kumar”) is taking a break from the screen to work in the White House.
Kal Penn campaigns for Obama at the University of Maryland.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Penn said he’d been offered the job of associate director of the Office of Public Liaison. His mission: “do outreach with the American public and with different organizations,” as he told EW. Full story here.
National Review Online is tipping its hat to ABC News White House correspondent Jake Tapper, praising the newcomer to the beat as one who “isn’t afraid to go against the grain of the liberal consensus in pursuit of a story.” Click here for full story.
1969: President Richard Nixon personally requested the Disneyland Golden Horseshoe Revue.
Wally Boagpecosbill from Golden Horseshoe Revue
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LMNPR |
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Sick and Tired
Is Washington ready for Wanda? That’s the question posed by Politico style reporter Patrick Gavin over the weekend and one that underscores the incredibly sensitive nature of selecting the “official entertainment” for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner each year.
When it was announced earlier this year that Sykes would be the headliner for the 2009 dinner, it seemed a non-controversial choice on the surface. While traditionally the actress/comedian has not been a politically active force by Hollywood standards, she was vocally opposed to California’s Proposition 8 and it’s fitting symbolism for President Obama’s first major Washington dinner.
But as the event draws nearer, expect the nerves to grow. There’s a thin line between edgy comedy at these events and that which borders on the offensive — either politically or in terms of taste.
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