Sen. John Ensign (D-Nev.) has recently been spotted with a cast on his hand.

According to his office, it’s from a previous basketball injury, but he is wearing the cast to make sure there are no broken bones. The injury happened about two months ago.

The senator, an avid athlete who participated in last year’s congressional basketball game, regularly plays basketball at the congressional gym.

The abundance of Brian Walshes on Capitol Hill

They are all Republican aides who bear the name Brian Walsh.

One works for former Appropriations Chairman Bill Young (R-Fla.). Another is former chief of staff to Rep. Ginny Browne-Waite (R-Fla.) but is now deputy director of incumbent retention for the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC). The third, and as far as ITK knows, final Brian Walsh is communications director for House Administration Chairman Bob Ney (R-Ohio).

One male GOP staffer who knows the first two Brian Walshes remarked that they do not look alike. “They are both very handsome gentlemen,” he said.

The Brian Walsh who works for Young is Irish with black hair; the Brian Walsh who works for the NRCC has reddish-orange hair; Ney’s Brian Walsh has brown hair.

The NRCC’s Walsh says it’s great fun when all three Walshes show up at the same party and begin introducing themselves. “I’ve gotten quite a few calls at my home because I am the first Brian Walsh in the white pages,” Walsh said, adding that he has heard rumors of other Brian Walshes in the D.C. area.

That Walsh has also received e-mails clearly intended for the other Walshes … “from some young women who said they were happy to see me the other night. I’d be like, huh?” He has been known to reply to them, telling them how stunning they looked and how they should get together sometime soon before forwarding it on to the rightful Walsh.

The three Walshes have met but are not close per se, even though they hang in similar social circles. “They’re great guys,” the NRCC’s Walsh said. “We all joke about it. It’s all in good fun. I mean, what are you going to do about it?”

Young’s Walsh said, “Sometimes it’s amusing, and sometimes it’s challenging for lobbyists who want to get a hold of us. My girlfriend sent Brian O. Walsh [NRCC Walsh] something once. He got a good laugh out of that.”

If there are any more Brian Walshes on Capitol Hill, please report to Capital Living at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

Rep. Kennedy packs on the pounds under stress

While some members of Congress are actively taking measures to lose some weight, be it with strict diets or surgery, it seems Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) is putting on some extra poundage these days over the stress he’s feeling regarding his ailing and alcoholic mother, Joan Kennedy, who was recently hospitalized after being found on a Boston street.

“I saw him today,” a GOP lobbyist said last week. “His face is fat. I almost didn’t recognize him.”

“I don’t see that at all,” said Sean Richardson, Kennedy’s chief of staff. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Among other stresses, Rep. Kennedy and his sister assumed guardianship of their mother last spring. Joan Kennedy has been divorced from their father, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), since 1982.

Kidney stone alert

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) is not alone when it comes to kidney-stone problems — other lawmakers have had them too, namely Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), who is an orthopedic surgeon, and Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho).

“I could sympathize with him greatly,” said Price, who had his removed with the use of ultrasound blasting. “They are very painful.”

Simpson had his stone when he was Speaker of the Idaho House. He was in Santa Fe, N.M., at the time. “They were stunningly obnoxious,” he said.

The congressman was put on a morphine and valium drip; when he awoke, it was gone. Coincidentally, he just paid $1,000 to have two kidney stones removed from his poodle, Nibs.

“Without me having them, I wouldn’t have had the sympathy to pay $1,000 for my dog’s kidney stones,” he added.

The Speaker had surgery last week to relieve his condition.

On a random note of inappropriateness, a Capitol security guard said the surgery was to hasten the speed at which the stones passed, which in ITK’s estimation is far too much information.

‘Real World’ cast member hits Capitol Hill bars

Adam King, 24, from MTV’s “Real World” Paris, showed up on the Capitol Hill bar scene last week.
On Monday night, he was at the Capitol Lounge. On Tuesday night, he was at Signatures.

“He’s much shorter than I thought he was,” noted an observer, who said King looked as though he was in good spirits and having a good time.

King grew up in Beverly Hills. His father is an R&B singer who was often on the road. He graduated from Stanford. According to King’s MTV bio, the wild-haired cast member is still searching for the woman of his dreams.

Announcements

Last Saturday, GOP fundraising consultant Andrew Theodore of the Theodore Co. married Sharon Royka, a lobbyist for NiSource Energy, at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C. They were introduced by mutual friends during a night out in Old Town in the fall of 2003.

Announcements comprise births, deaths, engagements, anniversaries or any monumental occasion in life. To contribute, send a note to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or call (202) 628-8516.

Edited by Betsy Rothstein. Tips, complaints and sightings: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or (202) 628-8516.