DT Nelson leaves a comment below that’s too delicious to not pursue.  Here’s what Mr. Nelson writes in response to our Harry Reid posting …

Every time I think of Harry Reid, I think of how the character “Senator” in the movie “Casino,” played by Dick Smothers, was based on him.  (I am not making this up.)

And what did that look like on the big screen?

This …

and this …

A surprising dramatic twist to the Senate showdown just now.

Roland Burris was denied entry to the Senate chambers on Tuesday as he tried to claim the seat once held by President-elect Barack Obama.

Burris said the secretary of the Senate rejected his credentials, and therefore he would not be allowed access to the floor.

In a related development, Al Franken was denied entry by Pauly Shore.

How much like John F. Kennedy does Barack Obama want to be?

Here’s one area he’d probably prefer to differ: snow.

When JFK was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 1961, Washington DC was paralyzed with a crippling and chaos-causing snowstorm…

OK, we admit it.  Here at Extreme Mortman we’ve got Sidwell Friends fever.

There’s no minutiae of the Barack Obama daughters’ new school that we don’t want to learn about.  No weeds we’re afraid to get into.

For instance, right now, we’re obsessed with their lunch.

What will Sasha and Malia Obama be eating tomorrow?

Here’s the Tuesday menu, from the Sidwell Friends website:

Lower School

Snack: Zucchini Bread
French Dip au Jus
Roasted Veggie Melts
Steamed Broccoli
Cinnamon Orange Slices

Middle School/Upper School

Tomato Basil Soup
Market Pasta Salad
Salad du Jour
Organic Spinach Salad
Philly Cheesesteaks
Roasted Local Veggie Melts
Organic Baked French Fries
Steamed Organic Broccoli
Organic Pears

We count four organic foods, two foods named French, and two foods with either au or du.

Not that we’re ridiculing them, mind you.  It’s more, jealousy.  After all, Extreme Mortman went through 12 years of public school, and the closest we ever got to taxpayer-supported exotic food were meals served by this guy …

Alan Page today:

Norm Coleman’s recount effort suffered another blow — although somewhat expected — this morning when the Minnesota Supreme Court denied Coleman’s effort to count an additional 654 previously rejected absentee ballots.

The court’s decision clears the way for the Minnesota Canvassing Board to declare Al Franken as the candidate with the most votes …

In an order written by Associate Justice Alan Page, the court wrote: “The record before us … demonstrates that local election officials have acted diligently and in accordance with our orders.”

Alan Page, in bygone days:

Newsbusters’ Scott Whitlock posts the transcript of ABC News’ Claire Shipman report on the Obama girls attending their first day of school at Sidwell Friends today.

Tough to tell which is more enjoyable, this:

SHIPMAN: “It’s an award winning, entirely green building, complete with organic lunches …”

Or this:

SALLY QUINN (The Washington Post): “Amy Carter had a really terrible time in the beginning because she went to a public school and the public schools were just not really equipped to deal with a child of a president.”

We’ll say that quoting populist Sally Quinn badmouthing public schools is more enjoyable.  Meantime, pass the arugula.

From Sunday’s “Meet the Press”:

DAVID GREGORY: People close to Roland Burris are raising another suggestion, and this is how Politico reports it this morning: “Top advisers to [Burris] are suggesting that Reid doesn’t want an African-American to succeed Obama. `It’s interesting that all those who are viable are white women and the ones who are unacceptable are black men,’ Prince Riley, a senior consultant to Burris, told Politico.” Your response?

HARRY REID: I have no idea who Prince Riley is.  But I do know that I’ve served in the United States Senate with two outstanding senators, Carol Moseley Braun and Barack Obama, both African-Americans from the state of Illinois.  I worked harder than anyone in this country for Ron Kirk running for senator, senator for the state of Texas.  As a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, we spent more money in the state of Tennessee than any state in the country trying to get Harold Ford elected.  I have–anyone that suggests there’s any racial bias in this instance doesn’t realize I went to the Clark County district attorney’s office to find a–people thought was a nobody to become a federal judge, Johnnie Rawlinson…

Here’s Andrew Malcolm’s take on it from the L.A. Times’ Top of the Ticket blog:

So Harry, who denies opposing blacks like Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., finds himself in the public perception of lobbying against three blacks and threatening to bar a fourth from taking the seat of a fifth black and becoming the only African American senator.

On Sunday, Reid, the federal government’s highest-ranking Mormon, was denying that he’s against blacks and in fact, he said, he once helped get one appointed to a court.

Reading the menu at the Hay Adams hotel restaurant Lafayette …

Appetizers

• Soup du Jour $9
• Carrot and Ginger Soup Toasted Almonds and Cinnamon Cream $12
• Mixed Baby Greens with Poached Pear Spiced Walnuts, Champagne Dressing $11
• Baby Hearts of Romaine Caesar Dressing, Country Croutons Marinated White Italian Anchovies $12
• Fresh Italian Buffalo Mozzarella Rusticone Vipe Ripened Tomatoes and Baby Arugula Leaves, Aged Balsamic Dressing $15
• Golden Beet Root and Granny Smith Apple Salad Belgium Endive, Lavender Honey Dressing $14
• Duck Trap River Smoked Trout with American Sturgeon Caviar Crème Fraiche, Apple and Celeriac Remoulade $22
• Sautéed Hudson Valley Foie Gras Caramelized Shallots with Aged Balsamic, Apricot Butter Crostini $18
  Entrées
• Grilled Vegetables and Butter Nut Squash Ravioli Roasted Tomato Basil Fondue $28
• Maryland Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes Wild Water Cress Leaves, Crushed Scallion Potatoes Whole Grain Mustard and Butter Emulsion $31
• Sautéed Dover Sole Toasted Almonds, Green String Beans and Parsley Potatoes Lemon Caper Sauce $45
• Grilled Atlantic Salmon Fillet Asparagus, Artichoke and Saffron Risotto Lemon Caper Sauce $30
• Sautéed Veal Paillard and Jumbo Shrimp Baby Spinach leaves and Shaved Fennel Pappardelle Pasta, Lobster Morel Sauce $35
• Pan Seared Wild Pennsylvania Pheasant Breast Spiced Apples, Braised Red Cabbage and Sweet Potato Gratin Fresh Huckleberry Sauce $32
• Pan Seared Black Angus Beef Tenderloin Cippolini Onions, Baby Vegetables and Roasted Rosemary Potatoes Natural Juice $36

… makes us remember fondly the other great time folks from Illinois dined in a fancy restaurant…

An odd test for Barack Obama and family presented in today’s Washington Post:

“They’re going to be District residents, not just Washington area residents,” said D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D).

For too many presidents, Gray and others said, Washington and the District of Columbia have been two distinct worlds separated by a vast chasm. The former swirls around the Capitol and the White House. The latter offers the diversity of all eight wards and insists that its residents know the difference between a half-smoke and a hot dog.

If that’s the litmus test, judging by the below photo Obama should do just fine.

Bill Richardson’s decision against becoming Barack Obama’s Commerce Secretary reminds us of something James Carville recently said …

In domestic politics, my first prediction is one that pains me to make, but I’ll make it anyway.

The Democratic Party has had a recent run of corruption and sex scandals. Mathematicians say that there are no such things as streaks and that the last event has nothing to do with the next. The only people who disagree are crapshooters and political operatives. Since I am both, I firmly believe that there are streaks and that political scandals happen in clusters.