Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) is a big defender of caribou. Last Thursday on the House floor he was speaking out against putting a drilling rig in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) area where caribou sometimes congregate.

His main point of contention? The hot oil going through the pipeline turns on the caribou.

 “Oh my goodness, if we put a drilling rig out there, it may destroy our caribou,” Gohmert said. “We heard the same thing back some years back, that if we put a pipeline through some of this area up north it was going to kill off the last 27 head of caribou.

“You know what happened? The pipeline went in, that oil is warm going through that pipeline, and what happened is it makes the caribou amorous. Now when caribou want to go on a date, they invite each other to go over to the pipeline.”

How romantic.


Kwame Kilpatrick fesses up: He did dress in drag

After ITK revealed last week that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, already facing 12 counts of perjury charges over sexy text messages, denied wearing a low-cut red dress for an eighth-grade play, he admitted to a reporter from The Detroit News that yes, it was him after all.

The mayor’s excuse? His memory.

Late last week at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new business, a reporter asked Kilpatrick about his denial of wearing a dress in “Little Annie, An Orphan’s Story.” The mayor said he does not remember being in the play, but won’t dispute the recollection of the play’s director, Michael Crabb, whom he called his “favorite teacher.”

Kilpatrick, the son of Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), said he has a knack for musicals and plays. “I can really sing and I can really act and that is probably something people probably don’t know,” he said.  

Rep. Kilpatrick, who has been approached before on this matter, continued to stay silent on her son’s participation in the play. A call to the congresswoman’s press office in Detroit elicited no comment.


A day in the life of a Louisiana congressman’s baby

What would it have been like to be Madison Carol Scalise last Wednesday, the day her dad, Louisiana Republican Steve Scalise, was sworn into the House?

Well, first the 13-month-old and her mom, Jennifer, spent time in the Speaker’s Lobby among lawmakers reading the newspaper, talking on cell phones and chatting with reporters.

After that got boring, Madison Carol’s dad bounded out of one of the House floor doors to scoop her out of her mom’s arms and whisk her into the chamber.

“Just watch her bow,” Jennifer said to Steve, pointing to the baby-sized clip on the top of Madison Carol’s nearly bald head.

Once in the chamber, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — keeping true to her proclamation that the 110th Congress would be child-friendly — hustled down from her perch to do her gitchy-gitchy-goo routine and wave to the rest of the Scalise family in the visitors’ gallery.

As if that weren’t enough excitement for a toddler, Madison Carol ended her time on the House floor in the arms of Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who was on hand to witness his colleague’s induction. Vitter held her so her dad could free his hands to give his first floor speech.

Life inside a playpen must now look boring for Madison Carol.


Gov. Warner to receive honor at Alzheimer’s Gala

Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D), who is running for Senate, is to receive an award at Wednesday’s National Alzheimer’s Gala.

Warner is no stranger to the disease. His maternal grandparents both had it. “I watched as they faded away,” he said in a phone interview last Friday. “I watched my grandfather wandering on a street, failing to recognize his wife of 50 to 60 years, near the end.”

Warner still copes with the disease as his 78-year-old mother has had it for the past nine years. “She doesn’t speak,” said Warner. “She has to be fed on a regular basis. She hasn’t recognized me in five years.”

Warner’s father and sister care for her with outside assistance at the family home in Rockville, Conn. Warner visits when he can and contributes financially. “After a few days it’s beyond exhausting,” he admits. “My father, who is 81, is stronger than me. I don’t know how he can do this. I give them financial support, but all the financial support doesn’t free you from this.”

Warner says he’s a huge supporter of stem cell research. “How we are not going to use all the power of science is beyond me,” he says, mentioning he also has a daughter with juvenile diabetes.


Mystery visit to Tennessee revealed: Wamp and Doyle get chummy across aisle

Last week ITK reported that Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) spent last weekend in the district of Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.). The lawmakers share no committees.

Wamp cleared it up for us: “We should promote more civility,” he said. “I lived with him for 12 years. We’re friends. He’s been to my district; I’ve been to his. That’s the way life ought to work.”