White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

The Rally To Restore Fear in DC Celebrity

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Republicans in Congress are more upset that a comedian cracked jokes at a hearing than the fact they invited a comedian to crack jokes at a hearing. Just making sure that’s clear before we get into the oddity that is celebrity endorsements.

The AP takes a crack at explaining the true nature of these press ops as those “famous-for-DC” meet with bold face names that grace the supermarket check-out lines.

Colbert’s celebrity is a commodity that California Democrat Zoe Lofgren, who chaired the subcommittee hearing, and the other witnesses that day sought to leverage. Lofgren joked at one point that the last time the hearing room was so crammed with audience members and cameras was for President Bill Clinton’s impeachment hearings a dozen years ago.

Of course, Colbert’s appearance was a joke. He appeared the night prior on The Colbert Report explaining why he was qualified to speak, based on his time as a migrant worker. But the explanation that Congress is now against Colbert is so simple it’s been used in Hollywood for years: ratings and relevance.

At the kicker of the AP article, Carol Swain, a law professor who testified before Colbert, remarked “I have testified before” and credited that because of the high profile star following her, “people heard my testimony.” This is directly what Colbert and Jon Stewart bring to the political world that is mired in otherwise mundane events that just so happen to dictate our government.

Celebrity is intoxicating, but when you have informed satire hiding behind celebrity it becomes a problem for most glad-handing politicos. Even with the upcoming Rally To Restore Sanity now getting a free bus service from New York to DC thanks to Arianna Huffington (complete with Twitter) and even President Obama plugging the rally, according to MSNBC First Read, due to the event’s focus on not foaming at the mouth due to punditry.

Even if Congress bristles at being made fun of, it still secretly swoons over the fact it can say the Dr. Stephen T. Colbert made fun of them for a five-minute viral clip they can show their staffers.

Haus of Gaga Fails To Beat Senate

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In a tale as old as time, beauty can’t beat the beast with 100 backs–especially when it comes to legislation.

That’s exactly what the Internet learned upon today’s 56-43 vote to not pass $726 billion in defense spending, according to the AP, which also included language to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, or DADT as the official Twitter hashtag.

Lady Gaga gained a bit more steam last week after tweeting a Senate vote should be scheduled against “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” which picked up further press when Harry Reid re-tweeted her to explain there was an upcoming vote according to Politico; Gaga was referencing her recent appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards where her dates were all gay servicemen and women.

Since Gaga has adopted DADT as her rallying point–quite literally yesterday in Maine, as MTV reports. Her rallying speech (video above) called for an end to the practice. But today’s block doesn’t bode well for the repeal anytime soon, as the Times claims:

Congress has approved the annual Pentagon authorization bill for 48 consecutive years, and it seems likely that the measure will be brought up again after the election in the relatively calmer — if somewhat unpredictable — atmosphere of a lame-duck session.  The House has already approved legislation allowing the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and the provision will likely be easier to pass in the Senate after Dec. 1 when a Pentagon study on the effects of ending the policy is due.

Still, the House has already passed legislation to repeal the act and December 1st is another day. Perhaps the Senate hasn’t heard the last from the Haus or Gaga.

Campaign 2010 Prep Storms D.C.

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It may feel like a balmy day in the District, but vacation is about to drop out for a storm the likes of which the Beltway has rarely seen–at least every two or so years.

The big news comes from the New York Times with Politico’s unveiling of two weekly opinion columns from Joe Scarborough and Michael Kinsley; the buried lede, however, is Kinsley will depart The Atlantic to do this. As Jeremy Peters notes, “[Kinsley’s] departure will be a blow to the Atlantic Media Company, which has been establishing a stable of journalistic talent in an effort to broaden its reach in Washington.”

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Piers Morgan Takes King's Throne

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[picappgallerysingle id=”4991269″]Long live the king of CNN’s prime-time block: Piers Morgan.

The rumored hopeful was confirmed as headed to the cable news network according to The Wrap.  Jeff Gaspin, president of NBC Universal TV, confirmed the former host of America’s Got Talent joining the network during a press tour earlier today.

The rest of the details aren’t publicly available yet;  Gaspin gave a brief answer to Morgan having  dual duty at NBC and CNN (“Yes,” Gaspin  said.)

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The Kerrey Stays Out Of The Picture

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Like the ending for any Inglourious Basterd, Bob Kerrey’s bid for Motion Picture Association of America Chairman is up in celluloid smoke. The former senator and president of New School rejected the MPAA’s offer as the organization’s head lobbyist.

The Wrap reached Kerrey for comment, We couldn’t reach agreement and I called to suggest we break off talks. They agreed…[t]he decision was mutual.  I like them a lot and wish them well.”

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Hilary Rosen joins SKDKnickerbocker

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Hillary Rosen with Susan Axelrod, Wendi Deng and Rupert Murdoch at 2010 Brunch

There’s a silver lining in today’s flash monsoon with SKDKnickerbocker‘s hiring of Hillary Rosen, pictured above. FishbowlDC reports on Rosen’s new gig, which “follows the return of Principal Anita Hill, who left the company to serve as President Obama’s Communications Director.”

Michelle Obama to Work Out The Web World Wide

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Don’t listen to the Internet Troll: we can (and will) work it out online. Or at least, work out.

That’s the motivator behind Let’s Move, an initiative to promote physical activity and public health.  First Lady Michelle Obama responded to questions from YouTube and a live web chat according to Politico.

Let’s Move follows the continuing trend of providing sites and the occasional web app to connect with a broader and more technologically savvy audience.