Monty Burns sends best wishes for Nathans bash

Carol Joynt celebrated the 10th anniversary of her ownership of Nathans of Georgetown last night with a bash at the legendary saloon that brought out Washington’s VIP set.

Among the 70-odd people who packed into the bar’s backroom were CBS News’ Bill Plante, Mandarin Oriental Hotel developer Alan Novak, Mayor Adrian Fenty — who requested his dinner to go — and D.C. Council Member Jack Evans.

But everyone’s favorite VIP was none other than C. Montgomery Burns of “The Simpsons” fame.

Harry Shearer, the actor who voices Burns, is a longtime friend of Joynt, and he sent an audio greeting, conducted in full Burns voiceover.

“I think about Nathans being under the iron grip of Carol Joynt for 10 years now,” said Burns. “I also think about the chance I had to buy Nathans — heh, heh, heh — and how happy I am I didn’t.”

Other fans sent their well-wishes from afar, as well.

“Carol Joynt has done herself and the restaurant she inherited proud,” said Walter Cronkite. “It has held up well under her tutelage. All of us who have patronized it applaud her performance and her vision.”

Joynt took control of Nathans in 1997, when, following the passing of her husband, Howard, she gave up her position as a producer for “Larry King Live” to run the saloon full time. Her lease is up in April 2009 (when Nathans turns 40), so, sadly, the saloon’s days are numbered.

Joynt called Thursday’s bash “The Miracle on M Street” because, as she asks, “Where’s the logic in a journalist being able to run a saloon? Plus, from the day I inherited the place, it’s been an IRS tax fraud case, having to get the D.C. Council to pass a bill letting me keep the liquor license, exploding manhole covers, the city digging up M Street outside Nathans’ front door and, now, a law banning smoking.”

Morris going after Hillary Clinton on silver screen

In yesterday’s Yeas & Nays, we shared with you some of Dick Morris’ less-than-charitable thoughts about Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. Well, Morris isn’t planning on slowing down with his campaign against Hillary. Morris has joined up with David Bossie of the conservative group Citizen United to produce a 90-minute documentary on Hillary that will hit movie theaters in September. For those who can’t get to the theater (or for those who don’t live in a city with a theater willing to host the film), fear not: Morris also plans on getting the film to DVD as soon as possible.

“It will feature Hillary herself making all kinds of statements and then we’ll explain the distortions and fabrications in her statement,” Morris told Yeas & Nays. Morris plans on interviewing dozens of people who will argue that Clinton lacks veracity.

It’s quite a change for the man whose advice helped lead President Clinton out of the political wilderness after the GOP took over Congress in 1994.

Morris told Yeas & Nays that, among other things, he hopes to show Hillary flip-flopping, switching between a Northern and Southern accent and outright lying.

But even Morris would have to admit that his movie won’t have much an effect on the 2008 presidential race. He conceded at a breakfast Tuesday that “Hillary will be the next president.”

Biden still trying to talk to Obama

The case of Sen. Joe Biden’s comments about Sen. Barack Obama just gets curiouser and curiouser.

Biden, you may recall, called Obama the first “clean” and “articulate” black candidate for president. He’s since apologized.

But Thursday on the Senate floor, Biden approached Obama right in front of the voting desk, in an apparent attempt to talk to the Illinois Democrat.

“Obama wasn’t really facing him directly, just walking by, and then it looked like he got pulled back, and Biden was holding onto his arm and wouldn’t let go!” said one spy who witnessed the incident.

“Obama finally was able to wriggle free, and he never looked directly at Biden’s face.”

Neither Biden’s nor Obama’s office responded to inquiries.

In other Biden news, his nascent presidential campaign held a fundraiser Wednesday night at Lounge 201, only hours after his controversial comments became public.

A source tells us that the back area of the bar was roped off and a printed-out sign taped to the rope said “Biden for President.”

The crowd quickly “swelled from three to 20 and back down to three,” said the source.

Special delivery for Wolfowitz

Give them points for creativity, but not for execution. In light of the photograph that showed World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz with holes in his socks, we received an alert from Gold Toe brand socks Thursday that they’d be delivering to him an “emergency supply of dress socks.”

So off we went to the Bank, expecting a sock-centric media circus. Instead, what we got was one David Johnson walking up and handing a box containing a three-week supply of socks to the captain of security.

Johnson is not even a Gold Toe employee, but rather a self-employed handyman from Southern Maryland. He said a friend of his is employed by the company and they apparently recruited him based on geographic proximity.

A company spokeswoman said they had alerted Wolfowitz’s office and made special arrangements for delivery, but when we called the World Bank press office, they asked what we were talking about.

Graham & Co. raise a glass with hotel guests

Guests at the Hotel Palomar who came down to the lobby for the daily wine happy hour on Wednesday got a surprise: Actors Heather Graham, Alan Cumming, Fran Drescher and Joe Pantoliano joined them for a glass.

“The guests were on cloud nine” as they got autographs and posed for photos with the movie stars, a hotel spokeswoman said.

The celebs were awaiting their bus transportation to the Creative Coalition’s “Welcome Back Congress” gala Wednesday night.

But Graham and Cumming had another item on their agenda: a Capitol File-hosted premiere of their new film, “Gray Matters,” at the House of Sweden in Georgetown Thursday night.

The real mystery? Why the production company, Bella Films, chose to premiere this particular movie, about a man and his sister who fall for the same woman, in staid old D.C.

“It’s a feel-good movie,” said Graham. “And at base, it’s got a gay-rights message.”

Turns out the coalition selected the film as the one they wanted to screen while its members were in town for the gala.

“We are pleased that our nation’s capital is now becoming a sought-after destination for film premieres, and the Creative Coalition is delighted to be hosting this event,” President Robin Bronk said.

As of press time, downtown clubowners were trying to arrange a celebrity mash-up involving Graham and Justin Timberlake, who’s in town for tonight’s concert at Verizon Center.

Kristin Laubach contributed to this page.