An 'Idol' Gathering With the Prez -- and Taylor's Teacher
After missing the first three weeks of the "American Idol" tour, Katharine McPhee announced yesterday that she's finally ready to rejoin her fellow finalists -- just in time, whaddayaknow, for today's White House visit.
The second-place finisher co-hosted ABC's "The View" yesterday and explained that she needed the time to rest vocal cords racked by laryngitis, so just perish any of those mean whispers about how she thought she was too good for the show or anything like that. Her triumphant return may just manage to steal the limelight from today's main event, winner Taylor Hicks's reunion with his ninth-grade English teacher, Susan Whitson , who is now Laura Bush's press secretary. Whitson clammed up yesterday when asked for embarrassing classroom tales; we suspect she and the president are saving them for the photo op.
Wizards' Etan Thomas: An Off-Court Press
  Etan Thomas, Wizards player and poet, had some wise words for kids. (Amy Argetsinger -- The Washington Post) |
Wizards reserve center and activist-poet Etan Thomas was talking to kids Wednesday night as he often does (this group rounded up by the mentoring program of WKYS DJ/ Oprah -in-training Jeannie Jones ). As usual, the kids were shyly holding back on their best questions until they could sidle up to him for an autograph.
"They want to know how do you deal with someone telling you you're not good enough," said Thomas, signing copies of his poetry collection, "More Than an Athlete," at a downtown Barnes & Noble. "That's why they like the poem 'Haters.' "
Speaking of which: What's been the reaction to Thomas's opposition to the war in Iraq? (He spoke at an antiwar rally last fall.) The fan mail is predictably polarized -- cheers and jeers. As for his fellow athletes: "People would be surprised. We have some great conversations in the locker room. We talk about everything going on in the world." More than one opposing player has whispered, "Heard what you said about Bush -- all right!" he said. "But they don't feel comfortable speaking out."
GET THIS
· The campaign of Pennsylvania Senate candidate Bob Casey Jr. has returned a $2,100 contribution from syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage because of his "vulgar" jokes about conservative incumbent Rick Santorum -- which, no, we can't reprint. Savage said Democrat Casey's campaign originally accepted the money (raised from the sale of raunchy anti-Santorum buttons) and invited him to a fundraiser before having a change of heart; he said yesterday the donation has been accepted instead by an unaffiliated group campaigning against the senator.
HEY, ISN'T THAT . . . ?
· "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh jumping out of a limo and jaywalking across Constitution Avenue (middle of the block!) toward a Senate building early yesterday. He was in town for the signing of a crime bill named for his young son Adam , who was kidnapped and killed 25 years ago.
· A jovial Rick Lazio loudly introducing himself to a table of fellow diners as "your humble servant, Rick Lazio," at Kinkead's on Wednesday night, while recently bumped juror Madeleine Albright ate quietly a few tables away. The former N.Y. rep is working on Wall Street these days; the woman who beat him for the Senate seat, Hillary Rodham Clinton , had a similarly lively (if largely vegetarian) dinner that night at Oya, and was mobbed by handshakers and autograph-seekers.
· Alberto Gonzales dodging foul balls in a box at Wednesday's Nats game. The AG was treating his Chinese counterpart, Zhou Yongkang , to his first baseball game; they dined on crab cakes and BBQ.
Quoted
"Senator [ Barack ] Obama and Tim Russert are at least twice as popular as Ashlee Simpson . There is hope for this country."
-- Partnership for Public Service President Max Stier , commending the hot headliners of the Summer Intern Town Hall Meeting for packing 2,000 wonky youngsters into the Warner Theatre on Wednesday; the pop singer filled barely half the room last month, but then, this IS Washington.
