Beltway

When actress Kerry Washington was preparing for her role as Olivia Pope, the high-octane Beltway "fixer" on the new ABC series "Scandal," one of the first things she did was launch a Google search for Judy Smith, the real-life crisis consultant on whose professional life the series is based. Washington was somewhat perplexed by how little came up on the D.C. insider who had navigated through some of the thorniest public relations challenges of the past 20 years on behalf of her clients, including Monica Lewinsky, former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig and NFL quarterback Michael Vick, to name a few. There were no interviews and rarely even media mention of the public relations powerhouse.

When actress Kerry Washington was preparing for her role as Olivia Pope, the high-octane Beltway "fixer" on the new ABC series "Scandal," one of the first things she did was launch a Google search for Judy Smith, the real-life crisis consultant on whose professional life the series is based. Washington was somewhat perplexed by how little came up on the D.C. insider who had navigated through some of the thorniest public relations challenges of the past 20 years on behalf of her clients, including Monica Lewinsky, former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig and NFL quarterback Michael Vick, to name a few. There were no interviews and rarely even media mention of the public relations powerhouse.

What's the difference between the people inside the Beltway and those outside the Beltway? Those outside the Beltway have a life! WARREN MOLLOY La Verne

Harvey Levin has a TMZ-style plan to get the masses interested in Washington politics, one Beltway personality at a time. “It's gonna happen some day,” the founder of the celebrity gossip site told a gathering of reporters Monday at the National Press Club. Levin's vision - which has been in the works for years - is to create “a personality-based site, not because it's going to be the most important material, but it's going to introduce people to politics on a level that they can relate to, on a personality level,” he said.

Seven years ago this month, the captured Beltway snipers -- John Allen Muhammad, 41, and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, 17 -- were in federal custody, accused of 16 shootings and 10 murders. They had set out to create a reign of terror in the Washington area to match the 9/11 attacks of the year before. U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft had a choice: He could send them to be tried in Maryland, where most of the murders took place but where the death penalty was on hold because of the specter of racial unfairness.

What Washington insiders really fear: President Clinton threatens to tighten the beltway. WILFRED COUZIN Laguna Niguel

The Beltway pundits and smart money, all looking backwards, keep missing one essential factor in Clinton: He has brains and knows how to use them. ED FLYNN Claremont

Re "A quiz to forge Americans," Opinion, Oct. 8 Praise for the new citizenship exam that emphasizes ideas rather than senseless regurgitation. Perhaps the critical thinkers within the Beltway can also find a way to free American schools from the throw-up testing associated with the No Child Left Behind program. Dan Meylor Westminister

It seems Meadows believes that every edict issued by President Clinton should be choked down as manna from Nirvana. Limbaugh throws a life raft to those drowning in a sea of politically correct non-think and the Beltway's pundits marshal their forces to confront the threat of free speech running rampant in the country. Talk shows allow everyone to exercise their First Amendment privileges. How awful. Three trillion dollars in taxes isn't enough to sate the lust for power of the Beltway elite; now we must feel good and be grateful for being led to the plucking table.

Harvey Levin has a TMZ-style plan to get the masses interested in Washington politics, one Beltway personality at a time. “It's gonna happen some day,” the founder of the celebrity gossip site told a gathering of reporters Monday at the National Press Club. Levin's vision - which has been in the works for years - is to create “a personality-based site, not because it's going to be the most important material, but it's going to introduce people to politics on a level that they can relate to, on a personality level,” he said.

When Lee Hamilton arrived in Washington, Lyndon B. Johnson was president and Barack Obama was 3 years old. The moderate Democrat represented Indiana in the House from 1965 until 1999. Then, after rising to the chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Hamilton left Congress and served as co-chairman of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission and president of the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan think tank. In the polarized Washington of 2010, there aren't many politicians who win deep respect from both sides of the political divide, but Hamilton has always been able to do that.

Just when you didn't think that Bravo wouldn't extend its popular "Real Housewives" franchise to yet another city, they have gone ahead and not not done it. "The Real Housewives of D.C." begins Thursday, following in the high-heeled footsteps of equally "real" "housewives" of New Jersey, Atlanta, New York and Orange County. Bravo might demur, but I can only read the title as ironic. I know a few real housewives — or actual housewives, perhaps I should say, to not violate the brand — and this is something else again.

The aspiring Democratic U.S. senator from South Carolina is a bumbling speaker. He's been accused of showing porn to a teenage college student, a felony. He's never heard of the pollution control strategy called "cap and trade." And when asked whether he believes Palestinians should have a separate state, he looked confused, then snapped, "For what?" Nevertheless, Alvin Greene, a 32-year-old unemployed veteran, is confident about his chances this fall against incumbent Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who has a war chest of about $3.5 million.

On July 27, 2009, Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio swung by the D.C. offices of National Review (where I'm a contributing editor). He was there seeking support for his then-long shot candidacy for Mel Martinez's U.S. Senate seat. That seat is currently held by George LeMieux, who was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to keep it warm for himself. Rubio was relatively low on funds at the time, and Crist was still seen as a shoo-in by the political establishment. Rubio was pretty much exactly as you see him on TV. Fast talking, confident, youthful, energetic and knowledgeable.

It was the morning after President Obama's first State of the Union, which typically wouldn't mean much for daytime television shows and their menu of celebrity interviews, cooking tips and fashion segments. But the hosts of the ABC gabfest "The View" had a different agenda: dissecting the president's highly anticipated address. "His health bill, he ain't walking away from this," said Barbara Walters. "No, he's not walking away from it," replied Whoopi Goldberg. "You know why?

Seven years ago this month, the captured Beltway snipers -- John Allen Muhammad, 41, and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, 17 -- were in federal custody, accused of 16 shootings and 10 murders. They had set out to create a reign of terror in the Washington area to match the 9/11 attacks of the year before. U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft had a choice: He could send them to be tried in Maryland, where most of the murders took place but where the death penalty was on hold because of the specter of racial unfairness.

Mark Russell on Ronald Reagan, to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean": My Ship of State's having rough sailing, My trickle down's soggy and thick, My 3x5 memory is failing, My Teflon is starting to stick.

White supremacist gang hit man Billy Joe Johnson got what he asked for from the Orange County jury that convicted him of first-degree murder last month: a death sentence. It wasn't remorse for his crimes or a desire for atonement that drove him to ask for execution; it was the expectation that conditions on death row would be more comfortable than in other maximum-security prisons and that any date with the executioner would be decades away if it came at all. Although executions are carried out with comparative speed in states such as Virginia, where Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad was put to death Tuesday night, capital punishment in California has become so bogged down by legal challenges as to be a nearly empty threat, say experts on both sides of the issue.

With congressional Republicans defying him on healthcare, President Obama is trolling for prominent GOP officials and independents outside Washington who will publicly endorse his plans as the legislative fight moves toward a crucial phase. On Tuesday, the White House rolled out its latest trophy -- a letter from Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger saying he shares many of the same healthcare goals as the president, including "slowing the growth in costs" and "enhancing the quality of care."

State of Play Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98 The big-screen version of the 2003 BBC miniseries "State of Play" loses a lot of the original's nuance but still manages to offer solid, sophisticated entertainment. Russell Crowe stars as a slobby, cynical newspaper reporter investigating a story that involves murder, covert military funding and a firebrand congressman played by Ben Affleck. The mix of '70s-style newspaper drama and modern references to blogs and Iraq plays awkwardly at times, but the performances are uniformly strong (especially Jason Bateman's funny supporting turn as a PR rep for a military contractor)