Back from break, members take their shots at Imus

A member of Congress invoked the genocide in Rwanda on the House floor this week in the oddest way possible. Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J. was talking about Don Imus and his slurs against Rutgers women’s basketball Tuesday and reminded the chamber that “in Rwanda it was the radio that urged people to kill.”

“[I]t is time that the [Federal Communications Commission] start doing its job by halting the use of racial and gender slurs over the public airways,” said Payne. “It is hate radio that can create problems, serious problems, as we have seen, like I said, in Rwanda.”

He also looked to American history, pointing out that “during the founding of the nation, New Jersey had a theme: ‘Don’t tread on us.’ Don Imus may have had a microphone, but he was no match for these young women and their coach.”

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., who represents Rutgers’ main campus at New Brunswick, praised the “character and integrity” of the players for their “Cinderella season” and “strongly denounc[ed]” Imus’ “divisive comments.”

Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., added that his “mother used to take washing powder or soap and wash out our mouths if we were to use language that was unacceptable to her. Now, I know that we can’t do this with some of our entertainers, but we certainly can sanitize and let them know that we are not appreciative of their language.”

He also thanked Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton “for the tremendous roles that they played in raising this issue.”

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., asked what took MSNBC and CBS so long to fire the DJ.

Then Wednesday, during floor debate over a resolution “commending the achievements of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team and applauding the character and integrity of their student athletes,” Pallone and Payne reprised their comments almost verbatim, with Payne even adding that “Don Imus didn’t know the history of New Jersey.”

Mag spotlights D.C’s sizzling spouses

Everyone wants their marriage to have a little spice, but what about sizzle?

Lucky for us, Washington Monthly’s latest issue highlights “Washington’s 60 Sizzlingest Power Couples” and Washington Monthly consulting editor T.A. Frank says, “Washington has no real quarrel with power couples. Nor does it have a quarrel with power couples whose professional lives occasionally overlap.”

The list includes the obvious couples — Dick and Lynne Cheney, James Carville and Mary Matalin, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Bob and Elizabeth Dole, Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell, Brit and Kim Hume, Al Hunt and Judy Woodruff, Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame — and some who may not have previously been on your D.C. Power Radar Screen: SEIU Chief of Staff Kirk Adams and Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, Ogilvy Government Relations Managing Director Wayne Berman and former White House social secretary Lea Berman, Campaign for America’s Future Executive Director Robert Borosage and AFL-CIO International Department Director Barbara Shailor.

“The power couple, in short, is integral to Washington life,” Frank writes. “And two cheers for that.”

Sheryl Crow a no-show at Cathedral

A National Cathedral spokeswoman informs us that Sheryl Crow will not be singing as planned at the church’s 11 a.m. Earth Day Service on Sunday.

A special service with prayers for victims, students and families of the Virginia Tech murders has been added to the church schedule at 4 p.m. Sunday, but spokeswoman Elizabeth Mullins said the two developments are unrelated.

“No reason was given by Sheryl Crow’s camp for her absence,” Mullins said.

Crow still is expected to attend Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner as a guest of Bloomberg News, as well as perform the next day at George Washington University as part of the Stop Global Warming Tour, according to representatives of both organizations.

Metaphor-a-thon

How’s this for a lot of metaphors in one sentence? Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., speaking to Todd Zwillich of Capitol News Connection on Wednesday, said, “We lost the battle, but we haven’t lost the war. I don’t know exactly when it comes up, that’s a decision that our leaders and all that will have to work through on the floor as that chess match happens on the floor, but certainly I hope that we get other bites at the apple this year to try to win the war eventually.”

“They’re all guys,” Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., said on Wednesday of the group of Congress members with whom she walks on the Mall most mornings. “I can’t get any of the congresswomen to come walk with me. They’re all guys.”

We’re not sure what to read into that, especially when she followed it up with this: “The Marines go running by in their short-shorts and tight tops. There’s some good stuff out here.”

Sanchez was speaking at the Capitol Reflecting Pool as part of Blue Cross Blue Shield’s National Walk at Lunch Day, a program designed to get workers to walk during their midday break.

The best part about walking, Sanchez said, is that “I eat chocolate and I eat chocolate and I eat more chocolate. And I love it.”

“No, I’m one of those Californians,” she added, correcting herself. “Diet is part of it, too.”