Mike Malloy to CPAC: Get Lost!

For next month's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), media director Andrea Saul sent 500 invitations to radio talk shows inviting them to broadcast from the Omni Shoreham Hotel. This is one of the big lovefests for those who want to hear from Vice President Cheney, Sen. George Allen and Ann Coulter; its "Radio Row" allows everyone easy access to the airwaves. Although most of the broadcasters on-site are darlings of the right, Saul also contacted several liberal hosts and producers -- last year Al Franken came and debated G. Gordon Liddy.

One of the invitations reached lefty Air America Radio's Mike Malloy, who hosts a nightly program carried by 70 stations across the country (though not in Washington) and on XM satellite radio. Malloy wrote:

"Um . . . you're kidding, right? Why would I have any desire whatsoever to attend or participate in a convocation of neo-Nazis????? I had two uncles fight against you [expletive] in WW2. And, now, surprise! surprise! here you all are on US soil. Kindly get the [expletive] off my email. Thanks."

Saul said she was stunned by his response. "I'm all for a difference of opinion, but this is entirely uncalled-for, and all the more offensive when you consider that I'm Jewish, lost family in the Holocaust and had a grandfather almost killed during WWII." Her complaints to Air America execs have gone unanswered. A spokeswoman said the network would have no comment.

Malloy said yesterday that he shot off his e-mail after scanning the CPAC headliners listed on the invite. "I made the assumption it was from some right-wing nutcase, which I get scores of. I felt I was being baited by one of these groups," he said, "so I responded immediately."

To the extent he upset Saul, Malloy regrets his message -- but nothing else: "What I said inside the e-mail and what I meant is that the conference participants represent what we fought against in WWII. They're fascists."

Guess that means Malloy won't be at CPAC? "Absolutely not."

Diddy's Nose for Making News

Sean Comb's Unforgivable ad before (top) and after. If they say so . . .(Courtesy of Sean John Fragrances)

What do you have to smell like to get a good ménage à trois going? It's a question that several department stores, including Macy's, decided they'd rather not ask customers to ponder. Thus was multimedia mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs forced to reshoot this ad -- starring himself, naturally -- for his new scent, Unforgivable. (Publicists for the fragrance apparently don't think the controversy will hurt business -- who do you think told us about the ban?)

Betting on Miss America? No Dice

Yesterday we learned all about the local contestants in Saturday's Miss America Pageant, but the question remains: Who's gonna win? Since the 85-year-old show has moved to Vegas, we'll just ask the bookies!

But surprisingly, hardly anyone's taking bets on the crucial outcome. At Bodog.com, you can bet on the next winner of "Survivor" or whether Jen and Vince will wed in '06, but not on Miss A. Sportsbook.com is also taking a pass; spokesman Patrick Erlich speculated that bettors are probably waiting for the Super Bowl.

So who has buzz? South Carolina and Oklahoma both won awards for talent and community service, and Miss Virginia Kristi Glakas picked up the important swimsuit prize. Pageant watchers we talked to are touting New Jersey, California, D.C., Arizona, Massachusetts and Texas ("This girl want s it!" said Penny Geiszler of Turn for the Judges magazine).

We say: Keep an eye on Louisiana and Mississippi. Natural-disaster areas get a big sympathy vote.

SURREAL ESTATE

Seller: The family of William Rehnquist

Price: $747,000

Details : The 16th chief justice of the United States and his wife, Natalie, bought their North Arlington home near Marymount University in 1983 for $207,500, according to public records. He continued living there after her death eight years later, and it was in this three-bedroom, three-bath brick townhouse that Rehnquist himself succumbed to thyroid cancer Sept. 3. His daughter, Janet , a Washington attorney, handled its sale shortly before Thanksgiving.