Reliable Source - Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts share gossip from inside the Beltway and beyond. - January 25, 2009

Napolitano Gets Even . . . Odds

Janet Napolitano, left, and Ed Rendell (Alex Wong/Getty Images; AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Here's Homeland Security Secretary (and former Arizona governor) Janet Napolitano's chance to make Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell eat some humble pie: The pair placed a friendly wager...

First Lady Lunches Downtown With D.C. Mayor

Southern cooking in the dead of winter turned 15th Street NW into a hot spot when first lady Michelle Obama appeared at Georgia Brown's restaurant today for lunch with D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. Drama began, as it always does in...

Chalk It Up to 'Official Business'

(Atoyia Deans/The Washington Post) Change may have come to Washington ... but not to parking perks for members of Congress. Residents of Capitol Hill, where legal spaces are at a premium, got fed up seeing Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's car...

This Just In . . .

(Chris Hondros/Getty Images) Sarah Palin will travel to Washington this weekend for the annual Beltway-insider conclave known as the Alfalfa Club dinner. "President Obama is scheduled to be there," she told reporters in Anchorage yesterday. "And how often will...

More Blame Game for a No-Go Ball

Dionne Warwick's rep says she "did everything within her power" to ensure an inaugural ball. (Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images) Dionne Warwick's rep said yesterday that the singer was an unwitting "scapegoat" for the canceled American Music Inaugural Ball...

Update

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) Despite the actor's trash talk on the SAG Awards red carpet and an intriguing non-denial from World Wrestling Entertainment, Mickey Rourke will not throw down against Chris Jericho at "Wrestlemania," his rep said yesterday. The...

Quoted

(AP file photo/Lauren Victoria Burke) "Barbara, the time will come to talk about my political preferences." -- Condi Rice on "The View" this morning, declining to tell Barbara Walters how she voted in the 2008 election. The former secretary...

School Visit for the Obamas

President Obama and Michelle Obama at Sidwell Friends School's Bethesda campus, where their daughter Sasha, 7, is enrolled. (Charles Dharapak/AP Photo) After canceled classes caused President Obama to chide us locals as complete weather wimps, he and his wife...

Palin's Pumps Fetch a Bundle on eBay

Sarah Palin's red Naughty Monkey shoes, worn here at the Aug. 29 rally where Sen. John McCain debuted her as his running mate. (John Gress/Reuters) Sarah Palin is moving forward -- but without her red Naughty Monkey Double Dare...

Update

Dionne Warwick at a news conference to introduce the American Music Inaugural Ball on Jan. 8. Warwick, the event's co-chair, had been set to host. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images) Still no organizers taking credit for what happened to Dionne Warwick's...

Hey, Isn't That . . . ?

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf (Mian Khursheed/Reuters) Pervez Musharraf dining at Neyla in Georgetown on Tuesday night. Arrived at the Mediterranean restaurant with a massive security detail, but it appeared only one or two others sat with him at...

This Just In . . .

Mickey Rourke arrives at the SAG Awards Sunday. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles) Another Chicagoan heads east: Sam Kass, who had worked for the Obamas as a private chef, is taking a job as an assistant White House chef. He'll be...

Quoted: Obama on D.C. Snow Days

President Obama walks back to the Oval Office after meeting with House and Senate Republicans Tuesday. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) "Can I make a comment unrelated to the economy?. . . My children's school was canceled today, because of what?...

Prof. Biden Reports for Duty

Jill Biden, with a volunteer during the national day of service Jan. 19, is teaching two courses this semester. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) And the winner is ... Northern Virginia Community College, where Jill Biden started teaching yesterday. The vice president's...

To Lure Viewers, It's All About the Guest Stars

Nick Clooney, left, and Bill Small were onstage, but the center of attention at Monday's screening was actor George Clooney. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images) Hey, gang! Want to go out on a cold night for a somber period-piece flick you...

Need a Map, '24'?

The first season of "24" to be set largely in D.C. offered us locals a gut-wrenching image in Monday's episode: two planes colliding in a fireball visible from the White House. Horrible! Minutes later, an aide gave President Allison Taylor...

Love, Etc.

Geri Halliwell (MJ Kim) Dating? Dated? Boy-wonder Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, 27, took comely Harvard Kennedy School grad and D.C. newcomer Alejandra Campoverdi to inaugural functions last week ... which led to her blowing up yesterday as an Internet...

Hey, Isn't That . . . ?

(Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images) Ashley Judd, looking very springlike standing outside the Ritz-Carlton in a sleeveless green dress, shawl, beautiful shoes ... in yesterday morning's snow! (Naomi, tell your girl to get a winter coat!) Turns out the actress, who...

Echoes of 'Who Dropped the Ball?'

Ticket holders for the official inaugural Youth Ball waiting at the Hilton Washington. Many people found themselves shut out of a firsthard view to the proceedings. (Paul Smith) Another day, another inaugural ball fiasco. Add the official Youth Ball...

George W. Ate Here? Well, Not Exactly . . .

Caricatures of the Obamas have been added to the wall at the Palm in downtown Washington -- next to the one of George W. Bush, who never actually dined there. (Amy Argetsinger/The Washington Post) At the Palm, the famously...

Hey, Isn't That . . . ?

(Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News) . . . Condoleezza Rice playing the piano at National Presbyterian Church on Sunday. The former secretary of state -- with best friend Mary Bush and choir director Michael Denham on vocals -- surprised the congregation...

Quoted

(Scott Gries/Getty Images) "There's a Tyler Perry tax that's put on things." --Tyler Perry pooh-poohing claims by six construction firms that he owes nearly $200,000 for work on his Atlanta home and new movie studio. The producer-director, who earned...

Dressing to Impress, for Posterity

Michelle Obama's inaugural ball gown by designer Jason Wu will go to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. (Jason Reed/Reuters) Rushing down to the Smithsonian for a close look at Michelle Obama's inaugural gown? Relax -- it'll take...

Reliable Source: January 25, 2009 - January 31, 2009

Napolitano Gets Even . . . Odds

First Lady Lunches Downtown With D.C. Mayor

Chalk It Up to 'Official Business'

This Just In . . .

More Blame Game for a No-Go Ball

Update

Quoted

School Visit for the Obamas

Palin's Pumps Fetch a Bundle on eBay

Update

Hey, Isn't That . . . ?

This Just In . . .

Quoted: Obama on D.C. Snow Days

Prof. Biden Reports for Duty

To Lure Viewers, It's All About the Guest Stars

Need a Map, '24'?

Love, Etc.

Hey, Isn't That . . . ?

Echoes of 'Who Dropped the Ball?'

George W. Ate Here? Well, Not Exactly . . .

Hey, Isn't That . . . ?

Quoted

Dressing to Impress, for Posterity

Update: The American Music Inaugural Ball Scandal

Quoted

Love, Etc.