House lawmakers may have noticed there’s a new shoeshine man stationed in the men’s bathroom closest to the floor.

Melvin Gaither, the shoeshine attendant for the past seven years, was recently fired for carrying a loaded gun into the Capitol.

Gaither was a beloved figure among lawmakers and security personnel. But two weeks ago, he walked into the Capitol’s Senate entrance carrying a gym bag with a gun. He was caught walking through security and said he had grabbed the wrong bag by mistake.

Gaither was soon dismissed. To make matters worse, the longtime Hill employee was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and is being treated with radiation therapy.

“It’s sad, but they already replaced him,” said one security guard. “We all feel sorry for him, and I miss him.”

The new shoeshine attendant is Eddie Carter, an older man who is also a minister.

Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) was particularly fond of Gaither: “Melvin was a very fine gentleman. It’s just unfortunate.

“I can respect the decision of the Clerk’s Office and the Capitol Police. I have no reason to believe it was anything but an unfortunate mistake on Melvin’s part. I think members hold him in fondness and always have. We wish him nothing but the best and Godspeed.”

After Gaither was caught with the gun and dismissed from his duties, standard procedure followed and his mug shot was circulated. On it was a photograph of Gaither and the words, “One live round,” meaning that Gaither’s gun was loaded.

While few people believe that Gaither meant any harm, lawmakers were unable to help get his job back. Since his departure, security personnel and Capitol Police took up a collection for him to help pay his medical bills and raised $500.

Gaither worked on Capitol Hill for 14 years. He lives in Washington with his mother and helps support three children.

Porn star to attend President’s Dinner

“I don’t put on any boring dinners,” joked Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), chairman of this year’s President’s Dinner hosted by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

He was referring to the fact that Mary Carey, pornography starlet and 2003 California gubernatorial candidate, will attend the dinner, which raises money for House and Senate congressional campaigns. “What are we going to say, we don’t approve of your occupation?” Kingston asked.

While the NRCC is uptight about the matter, others think she might perk up the evening. Carey, like all other guests, had to pay $2,500 to attend.

Rep. Otter doesn’t mind riding in back of parade

Some lawmakers brag about their fundraising or golfing prowess, or their ability to stay up late at night reading briefs. During the Memorial Day recess, Rep. Butch Otter (R-Idaho) spent a good deal of his time roping.

He smiled brightly as he described what fun he had riding horseback in Idaho’s Memorial Day parade, while everyone else went by foot or float. “They always put me in the back because they know those horses have a tendency to go to the bathroom,” he said.

Sighting: Blankley dines and opines at Georgetown bistro

Spotted at Bistro Francais in Georgetown, conservative columnist and Washington Times editorial-page editor Tony Blankley waxed both poetic and prophetic over lunch with a Cypriot blonde. The woman buying him lunch was obviously picking his brains on ways to increase Cyprus’s image with the Bush administration.

In an audible conversation enjoyed by nearby diners, the bon vivant martini-sipping, escargot-nibbling neocon Blankley regaled the blonde with stories about his early days in politics: The time he flew to Cali, Colombia, to ask Nancy Reagan’s astrologer to keep “a low profile until after the election.”

Playing to his audience, he emphasized his admiration for the “integrity” of George Stephanopoulos. Over entrees, the blonde discussed Cyprus’s low profile in administration circles. As she argued about what Turkey “should” do or not do, Blankley responded dryly, “And I should be 6-3.”

He advised her not to waste her time on Condi Rice and the State Department, but instead to look to friends in Congress — if she had any. Look to the Pentagon, Blankley suggested.

With no concrete help in the offing, Ms. Cypriot became quizzical about the 2008 presidential candidates.

Blankley predicted that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) would be the Democrats’ choice and will “win on a good day.”

Finally, as Blankley was polishing off his rare beef and Shiraz, the conversation turned to the Rolling Stones tour and Mick Jagger.

“They look dead,” the blonde said of today’s aging Stones.

“But, it’s a sexy kind of dead,” replied Blankley, who reminisced about the early Mick Jagger he met in 1964.

Hmmm ... calling Dr. Freud. Calling Dr. Freud.

Announcements
The Hill’s managing editor, Bob Cusack, and his wife, Joyce, welcomed a new baby, Lauren Grace, into the world last Wednesday. She weighed in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces and is 19 inches long. The Cusacks have two other children, Kyle Robert, 5, and Caroline Lucile, who will be 3 on June 20.

Edited by Betsy Rothstein

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Nancy O’Donnell contributed to this report.