Your guide to the region's top events, mixed with some commentary about life, media, gossip and politics in Washington, DC.
Category: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
|
|
By
Marisa M. Kashino
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a timeline! This week, we found out that President Obama intends to announce his nominee no later than May 26—emphasis on the “no later than” since Obama has said he hopes to have a pick even sooner.
The president also addressed the most contentious issue when it comes to SCOTUS: a woman’s right to choose. Though he won’t require his pick to pass any “litmus tests” on abortion, Obama said: “I am somebody who believes that women should have the ability to make often very difficult decisions about their own bodies and issues of reproduction.”
Read More
Category Tags: Power Players, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, SCOTUS Watch
|
|
By
Marisa M. Kashino
The Vice President made a surprise visit to the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project fundraiser last night.
The guests at last night’s fundraiser for the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project got a surprise treat when a motorcade rolled into the driveway of the magnificent Cleveland Park home where the party was held.
The news rippled through the crowd: Vice President Joe Biden had arrived.
The second lady, Dr. Jill Biden, was already mingling with partygoers. She was there to deliver remarks about domestic violence, long a favorite cause of her husband’s, but no one expected the VP to show up.
Read More
Category Tags: Power Players, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
|
|
By
Gwendolyn Purdom
Celebs descend on the White House for Easter fun.
President Obama shakes hands with a young guest.
>> Slide show: White House Easter Egg Roll 2010 Armed with strollers and pastel wicker baskets, 30,000 ticket holders from all over the country flooded the White House South Lawn today for the annual Easter Egg Roll. The event featured the traditional egg roll and hunt, celebrity guests, live music, story reading, dancing, sports, food, and an appearance by the First Family.
The festivities kicked off early this year, starting at 7:45 AM. In keeping with the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative to fight childhood obesity, the lawn was dotted with activity stations for basketball, tennis, golf, yoga, and obstacle courses. Athletes such as tennis great Billie Jean King, Washington Redskins players, and Olympic champ Apolo Ohno got in on the sporty fun.
A bubbly Reese Witherspoon read the picture book Weezer Changes the World at the Storytime Stage, where J.K. Rowling and Sesame Street’s Elmo read later in the day. Local culinary celebrities—including Art and Soul’s Art Smith, José Andrés, and Nora Pouillon of Restaurant Nora—manned the food station. Cheery tunes from live performers such as teenybopper Justin Bieber, songstress Sara Bareilles, and the cast of the Fox hit Glee provided the lively soundtrack. The DC Youth Orchestra and the United States Marine Corps Band delivered kid-friendly classics from Little Mermaid medleys to the SpongeBob Squarepants theme song.
Read More
Category Tags: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
|
Parents, mark your calendars for Monday, April 5—that’s the date of this year’s White House Easter Egg Roll.
No, strike that; mark them for February 25 through 28. Those are the dates when you can participate in the lottery to get free tickets.
Like last year, anxious parents from across the country will be able to get tickets online. While the online system eliminates the need to camp out all night for tickets, last year’s lottery wasn’t without its own, um, kinks.
But if you’re willing to try, try again, make sure you’re a pro at rapidly refreshing Web pages, and bookmark this site, where you’ll be able to vie for tickets starting February 25 at 12:01 AM. And for more information on this year’s egg roll, go to the White House’s official Easter Egg Roll page. Subscribe to Washingtonian Follow Washingtonian on Twitter More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Party Photos
Category Tags: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
|
|
By
Rachel Cothran
Tareq and Michaele Salahi burst into the headlines with their gate-crashing stunt at a White House state dinner. A year and a half earlier—long before she became a potential player in Bravo’s Real Housewives of DC—The Washingtonian interviewed Michaele for a Web feature called Sidewalk Style about her fashion tips. Here are excerpts from what she told us at the time:
Read More
Category Tags: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washingtonian
|
|
By
Nora McAlvanah
This year was especially hard on officials at all levels.
And you thought the only health-care problems in Washington were those that came in the debate over the congressional legislation. Turns out this year was especially hard on officials at all levels. In fact, President Obama may have signed more casts and get-well cards than bills. • Congressman Pete Olson had a pacemaker installed on March 12 after he fainted while working out in the House gym. • Senator Chuck Grassley’s pants caught fire and his leg was burned by an April bonfire in Iowa. • Reggie Love, Obama’s personal aide known as his “body man,” needed seven stitches in his chin after a collision with another player during a White House pickup basketball game on May 9.
Read More
Category Tags: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washingtonian
|
|
By
Nora McAlvanah
Vice President Joe Biden, who has a reputation for off-the-cuff remarks, didn’t let us down this year.
January 14 “I know as much or more than Cheney. . . . I’m the most experienced Vice President since anybody.”—Being humble in a New York Times interview January 21 “My memory is not as good as Justice Roberts, Chief Justice Roberts. . . . Do you have a copy of the oath?” —Swearing in White House staffers a day after Roberts mangled Barack Obama’s swearing-in April 28 “You Texas guys are ugly as hell, but your women are beautiful.”—Straying off-topic during a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Austin April 30 “I would tell members of my family—and I have—that I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now.” —Igniting a controversy after he recommended against taking flights or riding subways in light of the swine flu
Read More
Category Tags: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washingtonian
|
|
|