A drive-by fooding!

Washington power-broker Vernon Jordan is known for getting people jobs (ahem, Monica), but he should be known for how he gets his dogs.

As he proved this Saturday, Jordan is such a hot shot that he expects his hot dogs delivered right up to his hot ride.

As Jordan was driving into the District after an afternoon of golfing at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, he had a hankering for two hot dogs from Nathan’s of Georgetown.

He gave pal (and Nathan’s owner) Carol Joynt a call and put in his request for two dogs with chili and chopped onions for “carry out.”

Joynt was happy to oblige but, as Nathan’s General Manager Hockley Walsh was soon to find out, when Jordan says “carry-out” he means “bring it to my car as I drive by.”

The precision and coordination of the hand off would make military commanders jealous. Jordan called when he was on Interstate 66 to give Joynt a status update.

He called again to say he had just passed Dean & Deluca’s. And as Jordan’s black SUV pulled up to Nathan’s on M Street, Walsh shot out of the restaurant with the two dogs in hand and handed them off to Jordan who, in return, handed Walsh some serious bills.

And all was done with only the bare minimum of braking.

But, as in the military, not all operations go smoothly: Jordan later called Joynt to note that Nathan’s had forgotten to add the chili.

Justice Ginsburg adjudicates Ibsen

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, along with two of the area’s top lawyers and a host of other legal talent, will settle a score between two characters from Henrik Ibsen’s “Enemy of the People” on Oct. 18, as the Lawyers Committee for the Shakespeare Theatre Company stages its annual mock trial.

The play, currently running at the Lansburgh Theatre, concerns the plight of Dr. Thomas Stockmann, who is ostracized first from his powerful brother, then the entire community, when he determines that the town’s new tourist-friendly hot springs are polluted.

In the mock trial, held at the D.C. Circuit Court, Stockmann becomes HUD’s chief medical officer; his brother, the HUD secretary. Counsel for the appellee is Barbara McDowell of the D.C. Legal Aid Society; counsel for the appellant is Greg Craig of Williams and Connolly, who defended President Clinton during impeachment.

It’s not the first time the company has converted stage drama to courtroom drama.

Past trials revolved around whether the “Merchant of Venice” is anti-Semitic, whether Hamlet was insane when he killed Polonius and whether Iago was guilty of the murders of Desdemona and Othello.

A rush for Rush ?

Dittoheads all across the metro area will frantically hit “refresh” on their Web browsers 10 a.m. Saturday. That’s when tickets go on sale for Rush Limbaugh, the man who put conservatives on the media map, at the Warner Theatre on Nov. 16.

But what would possess anyone to shell out $75 or $100 to see El Rushbo, when they can listen to him for free everyday on the radio? “This will be a unique opportunity for them to see him as they never have before, up close and in person,” said Chris Berry, president and general manager of WMAL, which syndicates Limbaugh’s show locally and is sponsoring the event.

Berry told us that Rush will “be talking about topical issues — of course with a humorous approach — and he will take questions from the audience.”

Heat index

Who’s hot or cold

Steaming

Sulfur

It was the No. 1 topic this week as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, speaking at the U.N. on Wednesday, called President Bush “the Devil” and said the room still reeked of sulfur after Bush’s appearance at the same podium on Tuesday. Clever use of chemistry, but lobbing these child-like insults made it clear that he is anything but neon (the most stable element on the periodic table).

Hot

Pundits

With new data suggesting that Democratic hopes of retaking the House may be blunted, talking heads everywhere rejoice at the whole new paradigm of conventional wisdom they can spout off about.

Lukewarm

Jewish Blood

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., spent all week wrestling with whether to embrace his mother’s Jewish heritage or steer clear of the issue. Opponent Jim Webb says the matter is irrelevant: He still wouldn’t have let Allen’s mother serve in the military.

Cool

Democrats and Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart announced on Thursday that it will begin a test program in Florida to sell a 30-day supply of generic prescription drugs for $4. Democratic candidates in Florida frantically try to find another issue to campaign on, while they mull over how much their own drugs will be if they lose this election, too.

Yeas & Nays Q&A

MYA

Mya, D.C.’s own homegrown R&B star, will release her fourth album, “Liberation,” Dec. 10. We caught up with her Wednesday at the 10th Anniversary Dinner of the National Urban Technology Center, where she received the Foundation Award for her work with youth arts programs.

Q: What’s high on your iPod rotation right now?

Betty Wright and Bob Marley.

Q: What book are you reading?

“All You Need to Know About the Music Business” by Donald Passman. Again.

Q: What’s your favorite TV show?

“Mad TV,” even if it’s just in reruns.

Q: What’s the last movie you saw?

“Chronicles of Narnia” on DVD.

Q: What’s your favorite Web site?

MySpace.com [yes, she has her own page].

By the numbers

8:1: Odds, on BetUS.com, that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be the Republican presidential nominee in 2008.

100:1: Odds on the site that Rice is having an affair with Bill Clinton. Rice must “publicly admit the affair by Dec. 31, 2007, for bets to win.”