Kingston blasts Begala re ‘Colbert Report’ … and Begala blasts back
It wasn’t Fox, or CNN, but — incredulously — “The Colbert Report.”

In a serious-minded release last week, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) complained about an interview that Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert did last week with former CNN “Crossfire” anchor Paul Begala regarding his new book with James Carville, Take it Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future.

Begala, a former Clinton administration official known for fiery rhetoric, said that “Democrats had a plan to reduce American’s reliance on foreign oil in 10 years.”

Kingston attacked, “Per usual, the Democratic hack got the story half-right. What Mr. Begala meant to say is that Republicans and Democrats have set aside their political hats and have joined together to introduce legislation to help America realize its fuel independence.”

Kingston spokesman David All said his boss had no regrets about name-calling. “That is what Paul Begala is,” All said. “Calling a duck a duck is never wrong.”

But Begala called Kingston’s attack “ridiculous.” In an e-mail to ITK, Begala referred to Kingston as “Jack the Hack” and pointed out that “Kingston, who has taken $172,718 from energy companies, is clearly in bed with Big Oil.” Begala directed ITK to various votes that Kingston has made on behalf of “GOP oil.”

“He voted for a GOP oil-company giveaway that gave $85 billion of taxpayers’ money to energy companies” and “against cracking down on price gouging by oil companies,” Begala said.

He added, “If Jack the Hack truly wants America to be energy-independent, he should start voting for Democrats.” Begala signed the e-mail, “Thanks for letting me play ‘Look Who’s Attacking Me Now.’”

Sensenbrenner gets grouchy in Speaker’s Lobby
A sure way to get a growl out of Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) is for a reporter to approach him in the Speaker’s Lobby and request his time.

Before the recess, ITK approached the sometimes surly and burly Judiciary Committee chairman. Sure enough, he looked visibly irritated. “Call my office! I don’t do interviews in the Speaker’s Lobby,” he snapped before heading to the men’s room off the House floor.

Waiting for the chairman in the hallway, ITK approached the lawmaker again, asking for a brief interview in the space technically outside the lobby. Again, irritation ensued. “Call my office!” he said, shooing ITK out of his midst.

As he’s known for never speaking to reporters in this locale, it had to be asked: Why won’t Sensenbrenner speak in the Speaker’s Lobby?

“Oh he doesn’t do cell-phone interviews either,” said spokesman Rajesh Bharwani. “He’s concerned about speaking in a public area. He prefers to do [interviews] in a quiet location. He just doesn’t like doing it out there.

“He’ll do a phone interview, but he won’t do it from a cell phone. [He] doesn’t want to come across as garbled. He’s a very particular guy.”

Bharwani said there was no Speaker’s Lobby incident that prompted him to bar all interviews there. “He prefers to have interviews set up,” he said. “There’s too many distractions, and he doesn’t like people listening to part of an answer and taking it out of context. He’s an old-school guy.”

Sans a cell phone and far from the Speaker’s Lobby, Sensenbrenner last month was interviewed on C-SPAN in one of its studios.

When Oprah’s Harpo shows up, lawmakers clear schedules
A production crew from “The Oprah Winfrey Show” recently visited Capitol Hill to tape segments with various lawmakers for a show that aired last week on human trafficking.

The crew from Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions spent about an hour with Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who wrote the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005. Reps. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) also appeared in pre-taped segments on the show.

Brad Dayspring, Smith’s spokesman, said that Smith has never actually met or spoken to the famous talk-show host but that the two have nearly crossed paths on many occasions.

Smith has visited Africa several times on behalf of his bill H.R. 2957, regarding obstetric fistula disease, a tearing of vaginal walls during pregnancy or rape. While visiting hospitals there, he’d often hear, “Oh, Oprah was just here last week.” Smith’s bill would provide funding for centers to treat women with such a condition.

Smith’s connection with Oprah isn’t accidental. After realizing how many concerns they share, he reached out to her people to see if they could work together on African human rights. “Oprah has done a lot of work for human rights, and that is what Chris’s agenda is,” Dayspring said.

Where’s Azi?
Lately, Azi Niroo’s estimated 5,000-person clientele has been going a little berserk, searching for the woman with long, wavy black hair who is responsible for doing their makeup and tweezing their eyebrows with the right precision.

Niroo, a makeup artist and brow sculptor, caters to the likes of women on Capitol Hill, K Street and the White House, including members of Congress and lobbyists. She also has a number of political celebrity clients, all of whom can rest easy — she won’t name them.

But at last she has been found. Niroo recently moved salons from a popular downtown venue on 16th and K streets to the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa in Chevy Chase.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (202) 362-9890.

Blair’s son arrives to Capitol Hill
Yesterday was Euan Blair’s first day on Capitol Hill.

For the next three months, the 21-year-old will be an unpaid intern for the House Rules Committee, working under California Republican Rep. David Dreier, the chairman. The young Blair will soon graduate from Bristol University with a degree in ancient history.

The fact that he is working for a Republican has caused some stir among Democrats. In a quote for a London publication, Eric Burns, spokesman for Rep. Louise Slaughter (N.Y.), the ranking Democrat on the Rules Committee, said it is “extremely surprising” that the son of a Labor prime minister would intern with the Republican majority staff of the party.

A senior Democratic aide who said he’d get skinned if talked on the record said, “This guy is going to get a firsthand look at the culture of corruption. He is going into the dragon’s lair on this stuff on the side of the Republican leadership.

“I just feel sorry for the kid. He has no idea what he’s getting into. This is the worst possible time to be coming in and working for the Republican majority.”

So far the committee is keeping a tight leash on Blair and is turning down all requests to photograph him.

‘Power’ lobbyist, prez of social club turns 26
Friends and supporters of Mat Lapinksi, president of the exclusive all-boys Capital Club, will help the lobbyist for Sonnenschein’s Public Law & Policy Strategies Group celebrate his birthday tonight at Town Hall, 2218 Wisconsin Ave. Anyone is welcome.

The following invitation was sent to guests in an effort to lure them to what is expected to be a raucous party, which the invitation refers to as a “Birthday Reception” (ugh … only in Washington).

Lapinski’s drinks of choice are vodka sodas and Miller Lite.

Announcements

Rep. Tancredo’s mother dies at nursing home
Condolences to Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) on the passing of his mother, Adeline, who died last Tuesday at the age of 92 at Life Care Center nursing home in Westminster, Colo. In May of last year, she suffered a stroke that left her partially paralyzed.

She is survived by three sons, Jerry, Ralph and Tom, and two sisters, Rose Franks and Eleanor Galterio. She had 10 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.