Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had an up-and-down weekend over Memorial Day: a family celebration, followed by his NBA Phoenix Suns falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Western Conference finals.
First up was the graduation of his youngest daughter, Bridget McCain, from high school in Phoenix. McCain posted this photo of the pair on Sunday along with a note, "I'm so proud of my daughter Bridget who graduated from high school today. Congratulations Bridget!!!" (ITK suspects this wasn't the only photo of a parent with their eyes closed that was taken during what was a big weekend for grads).
But the rest of the weekend left decidedly less to celebrate. McCain was in the stands on Saturday night to see the Suns lose their chance to extend their series with the Lakers to seven games.
McCain tweeted throughout the game, addressing the team by their Twitter handle, @PhoenixSuns. He said they "played great up until the end! Great season guys!!"
The Lakers will face the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Wisconsin Public Service Commissioner Lauren Azar are ending their 15-year domestic partnership, according to a statement from Baldwin's office.
In 2009, Baldwin (at right) and Azar (at left) were one of the first couples to register their same-sex partnership with the state's domestic partnership registry. The statement said that domestic partnership will be legally terminated.
Baldwin was elected to Congress in 1998 where she became the first openly gay woman in the legislative branch.
According to a spokeswoman, "neither Tammy nor Lauren will have any further public comment on this very private matter."
On a weekend when many lawmakers made their way back to their home districts to begin the Memorial Day Recess, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stayed in the nation's capital where she was spotted grocery shopping on Monday morning.
Pelosi dashed into the new Safeway in Georgetown accompanied by her security detail, which stood out, according to an ITK tipster, because of their obvious "security-detail-on-the-weekend" duds.
The Speaker was sporting white yoga pants, a white button down shirt, and a baseball cap, and she was zipping through the shop picking up barbecuing supplies and orange roses. "Her detail could hardly keep up with her!" the tipster exclaimed.
Nicknamed the "social" Safeway, on account of the good-looking, young, Georgetown residents who often mingle in the checkout lines, Pelosi was all business in the checkout line.
No word on where she was headed, although the Speaker carried her own grocery bags out to the car.
This isn't the first time the "Social Safeway" has made political news: Senate hopeful Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) received a barrage of criticism from his opponents last month when he was caught attending the gala opening of the newly refurbished branch.
Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper are separating
after 40 years of marriage, according to media reports.
In
an e-mail to friends, the couple said the move is a "mutual and mutually
supportive decision that we have made together following a process of
long and careful consideration," the Associated Press reported.
Gore served as vice president for President Bill Clinton and
later received the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 2000.
At the Democratic National Convention that year the Gore's
long, on-stage
kiss became an iconic political image.
Since then Al
Gore has been an outspoken advocate for climate change awareness,
winning a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
Tipper Gore has
worked to raise awareness of mental health issues.
When Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) (at right) was toying with the idea of challenging Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) (at left) in a Democratic primary last year, her campaign developed an "oppo book" on the appointed senator, filled with potentially damaging research, according to the New York Daily News.
After the congresswoman dropped the idea of a challenge, former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) considered taking on Gillibrand. Accorrding to the New York Daily News, Maloney gave Ford the book. Ford ultimately decided to forgo a run.
Maloney's campaign spokeswoman Alix Anfang didn't deny the story to the Daily News, but noted: "Congresswoman Maloney fully supports Senator Gillibrand. She has been a remarkable leader, fighter and a strong partner on the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which they have co-sponsored."
On Tuesday, however, Anfang told The Hill that the paper's story is incorrect. "We did not have an oppo book at all," Anfang said. "And nothing was given." The campaign has asked for a correction to the Daily News story, she added.
A source close to Ford also denied an "oppo book" was ever exchanged. "Maybe she put it in the mail. We never got it," the source said.
Rep. Jared Polis, a freshman Democrat from Colorado, has some
suggested reading for the Memorial Day recess, his mom's book of poetry
chronicling her battle with depression.
Polis posted a tweet
Sunday linking to a story about his mom -- Susan Polis Schutz, a
well-known businesswoman in Boulder, Colo., who co-founded Blue Mountain
Arts, a greeting card company.
Before being elected Congress in
2008, Polis was known for "creating and selling Internet companies,"
according to the story.
Nothing specific happened to Schutz, who
told Boulder's Daily Camera that she wasn't sad but became "so
emotionally paralyzed" that she "literally could not get out of bed."
Her
answer, writing.
More than four years later, her book of poetry,
"Depression and Back" was released this month.
To aid in her own recovery, Schutz also produced a documentary, "The
Misunderstood Epidemic: Depression," which is airing on PBS around the
country.
"As I wrote, I was better able to understand myself, and
the documentary helped me understand how other people felt," Schutz
said.
She considered publishing the book under a pen name but
decided it would only add to the stigma of depression.
"Other
diseases don't have a stigma. If you have diabetes, you get treated and
people respect you and ask how you are," she said. "It's totally
different with depression."
She hopes her book and documentary can
get people talking openly about depression.
"I want people to
know there's hope to recover," she said. "It's really hard work but
there is a path."
Actor Gary Sinise, well known for his portrayal of Lt. Dan in
"Forrest Gump," visited troops at Walter Reed on Sunday, according to a
tweet.
"Back at the hotel from Walter Reed," Sinise tweeted this
afternoon. "Always meet such incredible individuals and families there.
Remember them all this weekend and all year long."
Sinise, who
also appears on television show "CSI NY," played three concerts for the
troops with his Lt. Dan Band in Iraq last year, he said during a recent
Fox News interview.
"The war goes on and the troops and their
families still need us so I want to try to do what I can," he said.
In May, the band has played eight shows and will be heading back
overseas July 4 to play for U.S. troops in Germany and Italy.
"It's
just at two-show tour this summer, but every summer for the past eight
years I've taken the band somewhere for the troops," he said. "Last
year, we did 40 concerts and about 30 of them were either USO or
military charities. I love doing it and it's a good feeling to be able
to pitch in an do something positive."
Sinise, along with Joe
Mantegna, will lead the National Memorial Day Concert on Memorial Day
near the U.S. Capitol, set for an 8 p.m. broadcast Monday on PBS
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) on Friday used choice words to stike back at arguments
that ending unemployment benefits might cause people to
look for work, thereby lowering the unemployment rate.
“If you're
unemployed what the f--- difference does that make to you,” said Miller.
“If you had a job you would take the job.”
Miller, the chairman
of the House Education and Labor Committee, spoke as the House moved
forward with an extension of unemployment benefits though November. The
Senate still has to take up the legislation.
Miller strongly
contested the idea that the unemployed are opting for government
assistance over looking for work. He said unemployed people struggling
to hold on to their homes have an incentive to find work regardless of
their unemployment benefits.
“You've got millions of people out
of work and the idea that they all have a clever scheme that they're
going to live high off the hog on unemployment — people are losing their
houses because of unemployment,” he said. “So you think what? That this
is a good thing? Unemployment check, I'm losing my house, this is
cool?”
Some lawmakers worried about the budget deficit and the
cost of extending unemployment benefits have suggested the policy needs
examining.
This article was amended on June 21, 2010 at 3:40 p.m.
The White House is planning to name Senate staffer Sameer
Bhalotra as deputy cybersecurity czar, according to several reports.
Bhalotra,
who is currently a professional staffer for the Senate Select
Intelligence Commitee, notified acquiantances this week that he would
be moving to the White House to serve as cybersecurity coordinator
Howard Schmidt's deputy. Bhalotra has worked for the committee since
2007, where he had access to classified materials as well as the
cybersecurity budget.
Experts told Nextgov
the appointment is a huge get for the White House, which took heat over
the extended search for a cyber czar last year. Early frontrunner
Melissa Hathaway pulled herself out of the running last year and other
candidates declined to be considered over concerns about the job's large
responsibility and limited authority.
"He is probably the most
technically tuned-in staff member on the Hill," said Alan Paller,
director of research at the SANS Institute. "He's an innovator and a
team builder and a mentor to many
others on the Hill, where he headed the Senate's cyber staff caucus."
Former
administrator for E-Government and Information Technology at the Office of Management and
Budget Karen Evans also hailed the move.
"Sameer brings an
in-depth understanding of the issues facing the nation, complemented
with his Hill experience," she said.
Bhalotra earned an
undergraduate degree in physics and chemistry from Harvard
University and a doctorate in applied physics from Stanford University.
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) takes his ice hockey very seriously, and with his hometown Chicago Blackhawks facing the Philadelphia Flyers this weekend in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Quigley on Friday brought the battle to the Capitol.
An avid hockey player, Quigley faced off on the steps of the Capitol against Pennsylvania Rep. Patrick Murphy (D), who also knows his way around a hockey rink. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) dropped the puck between the two lawmakers.
"There’s no ‘brotherly love' in this series," Quigley told the small crowd assembled outside on the chilly gray day. "I don’t know how Mr. Murphy feels about wearing a Hawks jersey on the House floor, but I don’t plan on celebrating this win quietly.”
During the Memorial Day recess, Quigley plans to attend every game of the six-game playoff series.
Pelosi stayed out of the fray, telling the crowd she roots for her hometown San Jose, Calif., Sharks. The Sharks fell to the Blackhawks in the Western Pacific Conference finals.
Joining Pelosi, Quigley, and Murphy was a bipartisan cadre of Illinois lawmakers, including Reps. Melissa Bean (D), Mark Kirk (R), Dan Lipinski (D), and Peter Roskam (R). Rep. Bob Brady (D) of Philadelphia also attended. The outspoken Brady was caught trying to pull Quigley’s jersey over his face, a move usually reserved for brawls on the ice. In this case, no penalty was called.
Quigley also cheered on his boys in the Congressional Record on Friday.
"Tomorrow night, the United Center will be bathed in red and rocking so loud folks might just mistake it for the old Chicago Stadium," he said. The Blackhawks haven't played in a Stanley Cup final since 1961, when they were still housed at their former rink, the Chicago Stadium.
