The blogosphere makes room for one more

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt doesn’t fit the stereotype of your typical blogger. His hair is combed and his clothes are clean and neatly pressed, for example.

But that hasn’t stopped the former Utah governor from baby-stepping into the blogosphere this week with the debut of his very own Web log (secretarysblog.hhs.gov). Based on his photograph on the site, he’s beside himself with excitement.

Excited as he may be, Leavitt won’t commit to tearing up the Internet.

“If I can do it justice we will continue,” he said. “If not — we won’t.” Still, he will “wade in a little deeper into blogdom” during August.

Careful, Mr. Secretary, you may tread into something icky.

He promises to write all his entries himself and to read “as many of the comments as time allows.” Unlike other bloggers, however, he’ll be protected by his handlers from the nasty remarks that seem to make up the majority of blog comments. “All comments will be reviewed before posting,” the site cautions.

At press time Tuesday, Leavitt had already gotten more than a dozen comments from the public — including one that a spokesman admitted had to be removed because it was inappropriate or offensive.

Leavitt’s blog will have one thing in common with the rest: the need for editing. “I expect some of my entries may only be a paragraph or two punched out on my BlackBerry,” he writes, lamenting the handy device’s lack of a spell-check feature.

It’s truly a sad day when partisan swipes take a summer break, too

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is always saying that he personally likes his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and he even occasionally mentions some affinity for President Bush — but Karl Rove?

Reid is not a fan.

That’s why we were giddy with anticipation Monday when Rove, Bush’s top political adviser, announced that he would resign at the end of the month.

Oh, the zingers that must have been dancing in Reid’s head! Only days before the announcement, Reid’s office had released a list of sins it believes Rove committed in relation to the firing of U.S. attorneys.

As “Rove Retirement Day” wore on, McConnell praised his “enormous contribution,” and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) declared that “unanswered questions and political divisions are Rove’s legacy.”

We waited and waited, but Reid — who has a website called www.giveemhellharry.com — gave us nothing.

So we asked. Our hearts weren’t in it, and we were getting the sense that Reid spokesman Jim Manley’s heart wasn’t in it,
either, when he dutifully typed out on his BlackBerry:

“Sen. Reid has long been on record as believing Karl Rove should resign. For the past seven years, he has served President Bush’s partisan political needs to the detriment of the country at large.”

In some small way, we think Reid’s going to miss Rove.

Nothing gets in the way of a good story like fact-checking

It was one of those perfect anecdotes, so one could understand why Senate leadership Democrats couldn’t resist it.

One day after a crowded bridge collapsed in Minnesota, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Conference Secretary Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and the rest of the team lamented the lack of infrastructure investments that the Bush administration had made over the last six years.

“I have learned of a bridge where school buses have to stop and let all of the children out and pick them up on the other side because of weight restrictions,” Murray declared.

Really? Any doubts were assuaged by a repeat of the story within minutes by Reid.

“The children have to walk across the bridge!” he declared in outrage.

So where’s this limited-purpose bridge? Reid’s office said to ask Murray. Murray said to call her office. Spokesman Mike Spahn looked into it. A couple of weeks later, where is that bridge?

Well, Spahn doesn’t know. He said an unnamed member told Murray the story minutes before she addressed reporters, but she didn’t hear where it was.

Ah, well, everybody loves a good story.

Even more bald guys on the Hill

Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) is going to be showing a bit more skin after this week — all in the name of charity.

The congressman has agreed to shave his head this Friday, making good on a promise to the American Cancer Society’s Southeast Hillsborough Unit that he would take to the barber chair if the organization raised more than $750,000.

And Bilirakis is one of those members of Congress who actually has a full head of hair.

In solidarity, spokesman John Tomaszewski, legislative director Jerry White and district director Shawn Foster will all be losing their locks, too.

The exercise is particularly meaningful for White, whose father was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Tomaszewski, however, admits that his participation in the mass makeover may be slightly less revolutionary for his look than it is for the others’.

“I’m already halfway there, if you know what I mean,” Tomaszewski joked. 

‘Nanny’ seeks to pilfer Hill aides

Fran Drescher is one of the celebrities whom Capitol Hill staffers have grown accustomed to seeing, as the onetime sitcom star has stepped up her efforts to raise money and awareness for gynecological cancers.

But why keep traveling all the way to Washington when you can just bring some of those congressional staffers back home with you?

The actress, known for her nasal Long Island accent, sent out an appeal to many of the staffers she met on her trips to Washington, asking for help in hiring a new executive director for her nonprofit organization, Cancer Schmancer (www.cancerschmancer.org ).

The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, but we like to think that won’t be the end of the startling trill of Drescher’s laugh in Capitol Hill hallways.