The 'Smoking' Guns' Happy Visit to Lobby Land
When Christopher Buckley published "Thank You for Smoking" in 1994, Washington was lousy with politically correct hacks, spin doctors, rapacious reporters and the Tobacco Institute. Twelve years (and a $206 billion settlement by Big Tobacco) later . . . well, the institute is gone.
Buckley's anti-PC satire about Nick Naylor, the morally flexible spokesman for the tobacco industry (referred to by one character as a "mass murderer, blood sucker, pimp, profiteer and my personal favorite, yuppie Mephistopheles") was intended to prick the self-righteous blowhards of the 1990s. It languished in Mel Gibson's desk drawer for a decade until finally rescued from movie development hell last year, and it opens next week -- just in time for another real-life chapter of Lobbyists Behaving Badly.
  "Thank You for Smoking" author Christopher Buckley. (Peter Kramer -- Getty Images) |
"Nick is a very different kind of cat from Jack Abramoff, " says Buckley. "He's not in it for the money. He has issues with authority -- he doesn't like being told what to do. That was the common theme among the lobbyists I interviewed while doing the book."
Buckley and director Jason Reitman were on their best behavior at Monday's screening at MPAA headquarters, followed by a smoky, non-PC dinner at the Metropolitan Club hosted by Chris Matthews , writers Christopher Hitchens and Andrew Ferguson , and uberflack David Bass. Since the movie makes fun of everybody, it's getting raves from both sides of K Street. (And it's totally accurate, except for that slutty girl reporter.)
And yes, that is Buckey in a two-second cameo: "I'm the fat, gray-haired personage at the Cleveland Park Metro station shaking his head at the newspaper."
A Cancan for a Cause
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| Gimme a D! Gimme a V! Gimme a T!(Tracy A. Woodward - The Washington Post) |
Some Good News for ABC's Bob Woodruff
ABC anchor Bob Woodruff is conscious, talking and starting to walk with assistance, the network and his relatives reported yesterday, a little more than five weeks after he was injured in an Iraq roadside bombing.
Interviewed on "Good Morning America" yesterday, David Woodruff said his brother is still heavily medicated and speaking only a few words at a time but has made significant progress. He has even spoken some of the foreign languages he knows -- Chinese and German -- and conversed Monday on the phone with one of his young daughters. The 44-year-old broadcaster will soon leave the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda for rehab care.
In a message to colleagues, ABC News President David Westin said Woodruff still has "a long process" ahead but that he "is exceeding expectations and giving us real reason for optimism."
This Just In . . .
· Shocker! Former Arlington resident and ER doc Travis Stork , star of this season's "The Bachelor," has already broken up with Sarah Stone , the teacher he chose from a field of 25 ladies on the finale that aired just a week ago. In a joint interview with their local newspaper the Tennessean, the couple said they, you know, "grew apart" since the end of taping three months ago, during which time they were prohibited from being seen together. Of the 11 couples united on the former ratings champ, only one has wed ( Trista and Ryan ), while two others are said to be still dating; most were splitsville by the time their finales aired. Could it be that reality TV is not a reliable way to find a mate? ABC officials punted to producer Warner Bros., which did not return our call.
· New Age musician Yanni has been charged with domestic battery for allegedly slapping around his live-in girlfriend at his Florida beach home. The 51-year-old keyboardist spent a night in jail, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. His lawyer denied the claim: "He's the most gentle man around," said Orlando Gonzalez . "His hands are his instruments."
