Walter Reed works for Casey

When Gen. George Casey is sworn in as chief of staff of the Army on April 10, he may still be on crutches.

Casey, who served two-plus years as commander of the coalition forces in Iraq, endured five hours of surgery Friday to repair two ruptured tendons in his ankle. (And, yes, despite the recent horror stories in the news, the procedure was done at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.)

Casey hurt the ankle while jumping over a fence just before he left Iraq.

“He was too impatient to wait for someone to open the gate,” a source close to the general said.

However, the underlying condition — his tendons were barely functional — had been present for years. The doctor told Casey he has an unusually high threshold for pain, as most people would have sought medical help years before. The surgery involved rebuilding the entire ankle.

The 58-year-old Casey, a four-star general and graduate of Georgetown University, was confirmed to his new post by the Senate last month by a vote of 83-14.

According to our source, it is unclear whether he will still be on crutches or simply wear a walking cast when he takes the oath of office.

In any event, it will be about four months before Casey can run again. Of course, his new role doesn’t involve much running — except maybe from the occasional congressional oversight committee.

Sutherland comes to D.C.

“24” star Kiefer Sutherland closed the D.C. Independent Film Festival at the University of the District of Columbia Sunday night by appearing at the screening of “I Trust You to Kill Me.” The documentary follows Sutherland as he serves as tour manager for the indie record label act Rocco DeLuca & the Burden.

The line for the free booze exceeded the line to get into the theater, and the audience’s buzz hadn’t worn off hours later when Sutherland finally appeared in the flesh at 10:15 p.m. for a Q and A.

“This band will break your heart,” Sutherland told the audience. “They broke mine.”

One woman approached the microphone to ask Sutherland: “I’m going to be in L.A. over the summer ... wanna get a drink?” (Sutherland declined, noting that he’d be in Romania at the time).

Another, much younger woman was next and seconded the previous wish, but said, “given that I’m 14, I don’t think that’s going to work.”

Sutherland, perhaps confused, dryly responded: “You’re very tall for 14.”

A rich dish for Kucinich

Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich may not best such political rock stars as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in national polls, but there’s one place where he’s tops: U Street hipster hangout Busboys & Poets.

There, owner Andy Shallal has named his vegan parfait after the vegan congressman. “Dennis’ Vegan Parfait” features organic granola, soy yogurt, seasonal berries and a fruit syrup mush of raspberries and strawberries.

“It sells quite well,” Shallal said. “He’s a friend and comes to our restaurant frequently,” Shallal said, adding that Kucinich last visited about a week ago. Shallal and Kucinich are also an ideological match. “I love what he stands for,” he said. “He’s definitely an important candidate.”

During one visit four months ago, Kucinich ordered the parfait, and Shallal decided to name the item after him, although he admits, “We didn’t get his approval on the naming — we just named it.”

A can’t-miss presidential forum

It’s not easy getting both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates into the same room, but the International Association of Fire Fighters has done as good a job as possible.

On Wednesday, the union will host six Democratic and five Republican candidates at its presidential forum at Capitol Hill’s Hyatt Regency. Rudy Giuliani won’t appear: The IAFF and Rudy famously loathe each other. Neither will Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio. IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger tells us, “We did not extend an invitation to Dennis Kucinich because we did not consider him to be a serious candidate.”

How’d the IAFF get such a high turnout?

“Firefighters really are a part of the fabric of their communities,” Schaitberger told Yeas & Nays. True, but this can’t hurt either: “We’re a union that literally has members in every single congressional district in the country.”

Think tank

“What will Scooter Libby’s nickname be in prison?”

“Uh, ‘The guy who got pardoned and so he’s not here’?”

– Ana Marie Cox, Time.com

“Russert.”

– Howard Mortman, New Media Strategies

“What’s a more appropriate nickname for a guy called ‘Scooter’ than the name that’s actually on his birth certificate? I’m going with ‘Irvin,’ though even the White House doesn’t know if that’s really it. Probably because it’s so intimidating.”

– Rachel Sklar, Huffington Post

Charles Repine contributed to this page.