A Rendezvous With Destiny

Here's some advice: If an old friend suddenly calls you up out of the blue and asks to meet for a drink at a certain hotel bar -- Hey, how about the Pentagon Ritz?-- do not go!

And if you must go? Bring your lawyer.

An otherwise lovely and impeccable four-star hotel that is a magnet for wealthy business travelers, visiting athletes and other celebs, the Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City has somehow emerged as ground zero of Washington scandal culture. Despite the fact that it's actually in Arlington. Or maybe because it's in Arlington -- safely across the river from notoriously surveilled hot spots like the Watergate and Marion Barry's Vista -- felonious VIPs or their future unindicted co-conspirators feel like they can really, you know, let their hair down.

1997: Sportscaster Marv Albert is indicted after an incident in which he attacked a longtime female friend and bit her back while staying at the Ritz-Carlton. He pleads guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery in exchange for prosecutors' dropping charges of forcible sodomy; loses his NBC job but is rehired a few years later.

1998: Linda Tripp, wearing a wire, meets her former Defense Department co-worker Monica Lewinsky for drinks at the Ritz-Carlton and gets her to discuss her relationship with President Bill Clinton. Days later, federal agents confront Lewinsky in a sting operation at the same hotel.

2005: FBI agents videotape Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) accepting a leather briefcase filled with $100,000 in cash from Virginia investor Lori Mody, who is wearing a wire during the exchange at the Ritz-Carlton. Though he remains under investigation, he has not been charged with any crime.

2007: Phone records released by Deborah Jeane Palfrey show that the so-called "D.C. Madam" made frequent phone calls to the Ritz-Carlton; her lawyer says the hotel was a favored spot for her employees to meet clients for the "dates" he claims were non-sexual and perfectly legal.

Gore and the Gipper Go Tome to Tome

---

Al Gore's "The Assault on Reason" and Ronald Reagan's "The Reagan Diaries" were both released Tuesday, and the two books have been neck-and-neck in sales on Amazon (Gore is No. 3, Reagan No. 5) and Barnes & Noble (Reagan 3, Gore 4) Web sites. How do they stack up?

"The Assault on Reason"

Launch gimmick: Gore kicked off his national tour Tuesday night in L.A. with screaming fans hoisting "Re-elect Gore 2008" signs; was interviewed by satirist Harry Shearer.

List price: $25.95

Pages: 320