Gingrich becomes a Catholic

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) converted to Catholicism on Sunday and celebrated his new faith with some close friends at the hot spot Café Milano.

Gingrich, who had been a Baptist, attended Sunday evening Mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Capitol Hill and was confirmed into the Catholic Church that evening during a separate service.

{mosads}Gingrich’s wife, Calista, is Catholic.

Former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.), now a lobbyist at Clark & Weinstock, and his wife attended the Sunday service.

Weber told ITK that the Gingrich party “for his Catholic friends” was “very, very nice.” Weber cracked that it was different from any other event he has attended with Gingrich because “it was the only event with Newt where he didn’t give a speech.”

The possible 2012 White House hopeful had no comment on becoming a Catholic. Rick Tyler, Gingrich’s spokesman, said, “He’s not commenting on it. That’s not to say that he won’t comment on it, but he isn’t right now.”

Gingrich’s Wikipedia page already posts his religion as Roman Catholic.

Writer Michael Novak and Cardinal McCarrick, the retired cardinal of Washington, were in attendance at Café Milano.

Becoming Catholic isn’t simple.

“It’s harder than becoming a Lutheran or a Methodist,” said Weber. “You go through several months of preparation — it’s not like joining a country club.”

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) was at the restaurant dining with three men. He didn’t appear to be there to celebrate with Gingrich.
 

Congresswoman fudges way through special airport door

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) may be a freshman lawmaker, but she’s no novice when it comes to getting perks at the airport.

She was aboard a Continental Airlines flight to Cleveland last Friday, and once she arrived at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, she got some special treatment.

Instead of walking up the normal passenger ramp, Fudge strolled through a door that read: “No Trespassing. Authorized Personnel Only.”

An unidentified man who, wearing a uniform and a headset, looked to be an airport official stood guard at the door. Before Fudge walked through, he looked pointedly at me and declared, “You are not allowed to go through this door.”

ITK joined the masses, which included Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who was also on Fudge’s flight. Every passenger except for Fudge went up the ramp and through the regular gateway to the airport.

This isn’t Fudge’s normal deplaning routine, explained her spokeswoman, Aketa Simmons: “Last week Fudge got sick … so they allowed her to exit as soon as possible and through the first door possible.

Apparently they called before she got on the flight. She just had the general crud, nothing life-threatening. She was ill for the second half of last week. Normally she goes to baggage claim with you — with everyone else.”

As he walked down the aisle of the plane, Brown greeted Fudge and told her warmly, “We are glad you’re here.” Fudge replaced the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio), who died last year of an aneurysm.
During the hour-long flight, Fudge, who sat at a window seat, appeared to have recovered from her illness and was more social than Brown, who read a newspaper.

Unlike Brown, Fudge had a lengthy chat with her seatmate, a female passenger she’d just met. The seatmate did not recognize Fudge as a member of Congress. Without taking any offense, Fudge introduced herself and they discussed a variety of topics.

Airports appear to be hotbeds of congressional activity. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) recently clashed with airline officials when he missed a flight to New Orleans at Dulles International Airport. Other lawmakers, including Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), have triggered controversy with their behavior at airports.

Rep. Hall appreciates Eurasian women

Rep. Ralph Hall (R) doesn’t believe the most beautiful women in the world come from his home state of Texas.

In the Rayburn cafeteria last week, the 85-year-old lawmaker was talking to two attractive female staffers about beauty differences between Eurasian and American women.

“Oh yeah, Eurasian women, they’re the most beautiful things in the world,” remarked Hall, who was overheard by an aide in line.

 One of the female aides asked, “What’s Eurasian?”

 Hall responded, “Women with European descent that have Asian heritage.”

Hall’s office had no comment on the matter.

 

Johnny’s Half Shell’s buttery biscuits get noticed

The buttermilk biscuits at Johnny’s Half Shell on Capitol Hill are feeling puffed up these days, recently being cited in GQ magazine’s national best breakfast roundup.

“You can do your business here in a power booth, Jack Abramoff–style,” the item reads, after noting the buttermilk biscuits are “slathered in yes, more butter.”

Valerie Hill, the pastry chef at Johnny’s, who makes the biscuits, happily learned last week that her biscuits had gotten a big shout-out.

The biscuits are not for the diet-conscious. “I don’t know whether to tell you, but I use lard in this biscuit,” Hill said. “It’s essential in some pastries for the height; it helps how they rise. There’s plenty of butter in there too, good buttermilk — buttermilk that has a little bit of fat in it.”

What makes a good biscuit? “It’s kind of like the light of hand and how you shape and don’t overwork it,” she said.

All in all, she said, “People love them.”

Lautenberg staffer goes on ‘Jeopardy!’

Meg Slachetka, a legislative aide to Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), appeared as a contestant on “Jeopardy!” last Friday night.

Though she held her own through much of the show and answered the Final Jeopardy question correctly, she came in second place and got beat out by Fred Beukema, who has written headlines for The Onion.
“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek (who has donated to former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.) noted that Slachetka sings with the Master Chorale of Washington.

He asked Slachetka — a blonde who wore a black skirt-suit — what it was like to sing before the Dalai Lama.

“Did he like it or did he seem bored by it?” Trebek asked.

Slachetka replied: “He seemed a genuinely positive guy.”

White House misspells Treasury secretary’s name

President Obama has repeatedly defended Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner amid the AIG bonus flap, but the White House is still struggling to get his name right.

The White House Office of Legislative Affairs recently sent out an invitation to some lawmakers for a “Small Business Event” at the White House. The event was to center on “small business issues,” and the invitation pointed out that both Obama and Geithner would speak.

 The trouble was, Geithner was spelled “Geither,” as in “The President and Treasury Secretary Geither will speak.”

 No word on whether Geithner has been added to the White House spell-check.

 The Office of Legislative Affairs declined to comment.