Bagel reform at Americans For Tax Reform

Don’t let anyone tell you the 2006 election means these are tough days for Republicans.

Exhibit A: Americans For Tax Reform’s new bagel tower, which debuted at its weekly “Wednesday meeting.”

During this weekly meeting, spearheaded by ATR President Grover Norquist, coffee and bagels are the standard snacks for attendees. But though the bagels traditionally have been displayed in the boxes they came in, this week saw the introduction of a brand-new “bagel tower,” a three-level bagel display with ceramic plates made by Chairs-and-Tables-R-Us (item name: “Panache”).

This, coupled with last week’s fancy coffee pot, made a few people wonder if ATR was starting to spruce up its weekly meetings.

“We change coffee pots whenever Congress changes hands,” Norquist told Yeas & Nays. “We’ve had the old coffee pot for 12 years, but the new one we’re just leasing as we expect to trade it in two years from now.”

Dinner not ‘Desperate’ for talent

Names of celebrity guests on the list for this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner continue to roll in fast and furious, and we’ve got ’em.

Leading off is a trio of celebs that “Desperate Housewives” turned into household names. ABC, the show’s home network, will host series creator Marc Cherry, as well as one of its stars, James Denton.

Teri Hatcher also is on the list, although she won’t be sitting with ABC (hmm…).

Other bold-faced names who will be at ABC’s tables are actress Morgan Fairchild, Olympic short-track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, Heisman Trophy winner and New Orleans Saints rookie running back Reggie Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Ambassador David Manning.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be at People magazine’s table, while Clinton-friend-turned-Clinton-foe David Geffen is a guest of Newsweek.

Time magazine hosts the first couple of country music, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, who also will perform at the Earth Day concert at George Washington University the following day. In addition, Hill will sing at the National Cathedral with Sheryl Crow in the morning. Time is also bringing Newark Mayor Corey Booker and Gayle King, editor at large of O, The Oprah Magazine.

What will it all mean and where will it rank with past Correspondents’ Association dinners? You can consult presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin to find out. Perhaps she can discuss the topic with Tulane history professor and fellow best-selling author Douglas Brinkley. Both are attending.

From the sports world, D.C. will see figure skater Michelle Kwan, Baltimore Orioles’ Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson and former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson Jr.

On the “Hollywood Legends” front, count Mary Tyler Moore, Dennis Hopper and Jane Fonda among the guests.

Miss America Lauren Nelson makes a return appearance, after turning heads at the Congressional Dinner in February.

Also from the diplomatic community, the ambassadors of Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Egypt, Korea, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada all will be attending.

As reported here Wednesday, the above-mentioned guests join Larry and Laurie David (CNN), Kerry Washington (Capitol File), and Wyclef Jean, Tim Gunn, Eddie Izzard and Zac Ephron (People) as confirmed guests.

‘Bodies’ to draw pols, trainers

“Bodies,” the controversial traveling exhibit that displays preserved human cadavers in various poses and states of dissection, has a VIP preview tonight at the Dome in Rosslyn.

Among those expected to attend, according to a source familiar with the event:

» Nearly the entire Arlington County Council (perhaps there ought to be a law about this sort of thing).

» Several medical professionals from the Redskins training staff (they must be looking for new insights into treating knee injuries).

» Septime Webre, artistic director of the Washington Ballet (after all, the human body is graceful, even dead and skinned).

» Members of the Rosslyn Renaissance Board (kinda makes you rethink the meaning of “renaissance”).

Romney as Paul?

Christian conservatives aren’t sold on the GOP presidential field, not even on Mitt Romney, who is viewed as the most conservative of the three front-runners.

Speaking at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Wednesday, conservative activist Gary Bauer said, “In the case of Romney, he’s trying to convince people that he’s had a road to Damascus [conversion], not a road to Des Moines.”

Asked for his reaction to Republican voters growing comfortable with Rudy Giuliani, despite his pro-choice stance, Bauer would only say, “Nobody’s voting yet.”

Carper sporting ‘bizzaro splint’

A Yeas & Nays spy on Capitol Hill tells us that Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., has one leg in “some sort of super-duper-bizarro splint … bent at an angle. He’s wheeling himself around (while standing), yet having to drag the other leg along on the cart.

“It was about the strangest medical contraption I’ve seen since the Dark Ages. You kind of have to see it to fully understand it.”

Turns out Carper broke a bone in his foot last month running a half marathon in Wilmington, while keeping an eight-minute mile pace.

The 60-year-old senator had a screw inserted into his foot during surgery.

And the device he was using to get around? It’s called the “Roll-A-Bout,” and it’s made in — you guessed it — Delaware.

In related news, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., had her knee replaced over the recent break, and was heard jokingly asking Sen. Robert Byrd if he’d like to race.

The 89-year-old West Virginia Democrat has been using two metal crutches to help him walk.

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