Phoenix: Strong and silent or boorish and blue?

“Is there anyone else to speak?” asked Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, at the conclusion of a news conference Tuesday to promote legislation establishing a Department of Peace.

“Joaquin!” came the shouts from a few in the cramped room in the basement of the Capitol. They were referring, of course, to acclaimed actor Joaquin Phoenix, who was in town to promote Kucinich’s bill along with fellow actors Frances Fisher (“Titanic”) and Amy Smart (“Felicity,” “Starsky & Hutch”).

But Kucinich would have none of it. He had earlier told the star of “Walk the Line” that “just having you here means a lot to all of us.” Which is all, evidently, that was required.

Kucinich silenced the pleas by saying, “Joaquin is here to make a statement with his presence.”

Then, glancing over at the rugged movie star, he asked, “Is that right?”

Phoenix, still not speaking, responded only with a sly grin and a Johnny Cash-style pointing of his index finger. Then he made an early exit, ignoring reporters’ questions on the way.

Perhaps his lips were sealed because House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., had chastised him about his language the night before. At a rally at George Washington University Monday night, Phoenix exhorted the crowd with this pro-peace sentiment: “I hope this doesn’t offend anybody but [heck] yea.”

Steven Tyler surely agreed. The Aerosmith frontman capped off the night with a short set, culminating with a performance of “Dream On” that caused many of the 1,000-odd people in attendance to rush the stage.

Tyler also sang the praises of Marianne Williamson, the spiritualist and author who founded the Peace Alliance, the organization responsible for the week’s events.

“Marianne so moves me,” he said, recalling the many years he listened to her while on the treadmill.

Tyler said if anyone has been a host of the great rock ‘n’ roll party, he has, “but even I’m growing up.”

Williamson told Yeas & Nays that Tyler has been a longtime friend of hers, and Phoenix’s mother, Heart Phoenix, is president of the Alliance’s board.

“Hollywood is filled with cutting-edge thinkers,” Williamson said. “The universal spiritual conversation has been bubbling up in Hollywood since the 1980s.”

Kucinich, who first introduced similar legislation on July 11, 2001, said he believes that a Department of Peace would be a step toward “making the world the heaven on earth it can be.”

Huckabee’s dirty little secret

Mike Huckabee once served as governor of Arkansas, and now he’s hoping to become president of the United States. Of course, we all remember how the last presidential campaign run by an Arkansas governor went down, so as Huckabee ate breakfast with reporters Tuesday, they wanted to know: What’s one bad thing about yourself that we’ll find out later?

For Huckabee, the answer had nothing to do with women named Paula Jones or Gennifer Flowers. Instead, he’s worried that news of his real guitar skills will get out.

“I’m not nearly as good a bass player as some music critics think I am,” Huckabee joked, proving that he’s already mastered the first quality of presidential politics (“avoid the question”). And showing that he’s perfected rule No. 2 of presidential politics (“answer the question you wish you’d been asked”), he quickly added that, “I’m also not as bad as some other critics think.”

Surprisingly, Huckabee confessed that he enjoys talking politics with Democrats, arguing that he learns more from people who challenge his beliefs. Yeas & Nays asked Huckabee which Democrats he most enjoyed chatting with and he list was governor-heavy: Bill Richardson of New Mexico, Tom Vilsack of Iowa, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, and, of course, former Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton.

Huckabee, who famously dropped 110 pounds recently, opted to skip breakfast as the other reporters ate. What discipline. ...

Will Smith: Obama’s new stand-in?

Actor Will Smith told an adoring crowd Tuesday at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art that it was his first time speaking in Washington, so he was a bit nervous. But before the speech, he said, an older couple approached him and immediately began to put him at ease. They told him what a big fan they were and how much they loved his work.

Then, as they were waving goodbye, they said, “We’re going to vote for you. We love you, Barack!”

Apocryphal? Perhaps, but the audience, settling in for the Motion Picture Association of America’s Business of Show Business symposium, ate it up. After Smith concluded his remarks, MPAA head Dan Glickman said, “He wouldn’t be a bad presidential candidate.”

If that was the case, then observers on Capitol Hill Tuesday would have really been seeing double. Smith met with his doppelganger Sen. Obama on the Hill Tuesday.

His services won’t be needed today

On one of Washington’s coldest days in recent memory, we got a news release that sent a shiver down our spine.

The Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute chose Tuesday, all 24 degrees of it, to announce that Stephen R. Yurek has been named president of the association, promoted from chief operating officer and general counsel.

“We are excited to have a person of Steve Yurek’s character, vision, and experience leading our association during a challenging time,” said ARI Chairman Robert Wilkins.

No wonder it’s challenging. People are getting their refrigeration for free.

Farewell to Jeane

Washingtonians headed to the National Cathedral Tuesday morning to pay their respects to former U.N. Ambassador Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick at a memorial service organized by Kirkpatrick’s family and The American Enterprise Institute (where Kirkpatrick was once a fellow).

Columnist George Will and former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton delivered tributes to Kirkpatrick before a 600-person audience that included Vice President Dick Cheney and wife Lynne, Paul Wolfowitz, Jack Kemp, Jim Woolsey, Michael Barone and Reps. Jane Harman, D-Calif., and Dave Hobson, R-Ohio.

The occasion took place on what would have been the 96th birthday of the president Kirkpatrick served: Ronald Reagan.

In his remarks, Will talked about the efforts of both Kirkpatrick and Reagan in stomping out communism. “She and the president set out to refute that theory and this succeeded gloriously and peacefully,” Will said.

Bolton said that Kirkpatrick “believed in ideals more than party. ... We will all miss her. God bless you, Jeane.”

Kristin Laubach contributed to this page