At last!  Proof — 90 proof, as it were — that elected representatives can do more than raise taxes.  They can raise glasses.

Washington Times:

George Washington may be best known for his role in building a new nation, but visitors to his Mount Vernon estate should soon have the chance to taste one of the Founding Father’s lesser known talents: making rye whiskey. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat, is expected to sign into law a measure that would allow Mount Vernon to sell small amounts of Washington’s Whiskey at the rebuilt George Washington’s Distillery, which is scheduled to open to the public in a ceremony next month.

Good ole George Washington.  He couldn’t tell a rye.

Today’s this-is-not-a-joke moment comes from Ben & Jerry & Stephen Colbert.  Quite a threesome — and it confirms some long-held suspicions.

Check out Ben & Jerry’s front-page:

What are the funniest ten jokes told by Presidents at the annual D.C. spring media dinners?

Check out today’s Politico to find out.  You might be surprised to learn who holds the number one spot.

Here’s one of the weirdest exchanges you’ll ever seen about Barack Obama. From CNN’s “Late Edition.” Wolf Bliter interviewing entertainer Penn Jillete:

PENN JILLETTE: I mean, there was a big discussion, you know, that’s been hitting all over the blogs. And it was on a poker show on NBC over discussing whether Obama was an atheist, because apparently his mother was rather outspoken, and I guess his biological father as well.

BLITZER: No, he’s a Christian, he goes to church.

JILLETTE: That’s what they say.

BLITZER: And I believe him.

They’re talking about this over poker?

If you caught C-SPAN’s “Road the White House” Sunday, you saw John McCain tearing up Iowa with jokes and personality (Dan Balz captures the spirit here.)

One semi-serious joke I particularly enjoyed was McCain saying that on principle, he refuses to learn how to pronounce the  Iranian president’s name.

Great line.  And a wonderfully stark contrast to what we see in Howard Kurtz’s column today.

Kurtz profiles “Good Morning America’s” Diane Sawyer after her on-location interview with Iran’s president (for the record: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad).

Asked about criticism that she was giving America’s enemies a platform, Sawyer says: “We may violently disagree with them, but first we must try to understand the way they see the world if we can.”

Understand them?  Would love to know McCain’s thoughts on that.  Perhaps he can take on Sawyer next.

if this weren’t such a sad, tragic event, you might think the folks who run DC’s Metrobus also moonlight for The Onion.  But here’s the first paragraph of today’s Washington Post story:

A Metrobus struck and killed a 21-year-old mother and nursing student Saturday night, just three days after another bus ran over two women, prompting Metro officials to repeat their intentions to make all drivers undergo safety training.

Unfortunately, like with most things involving Metrobus, their intentions were repeated 20 minutes behind schedule.

Arnold Schwarzenegger tells the March issue of Money magazine:

“Money doesn’t make you happy.  I now have $50 million, but I was just as happy when I had $48 million.”

Funny line — but didn’t we hear something similar from him 20 years ago?

Actually, it was Albert Brooks — playing Aaron Altman in the 1987 movie sensation “Broadcast News” — doing his Ar-nuld impression:

“Arnold just said that he’s been making three million a movie now.  But he’s not ever     gonna change.  He’s still the same person when he was making two million dollars a movie.”

Uh-oh.  Now they’ve done it. The Democratic Congress is in trouble.

The national political school marm has spoken.  Norman Ornstein tells the Washington Post this about Democratic leaders strong-arming Republicans:

“They’re on thin ice now.  I’m getting uneasy about this lack of amendments. … They’re getting to the point where you’re past the initial period where you’ve got an excuse to operate with a firm hand. It’s going to be increasingly difficult to rationalize.”

Did you hear that, Madame Speaker?  THIN ICE!  You’re getting Normstein all uneasy.  Soon it’ll be double secret probation for all of youse.

It’s rare that the Washington Post travel section portends political transformation, rarer still when it divines America inching closer to Communism.  We get both in this Sunday’s  paper.

Check out these two items from the Coming and Going column:

A congressional push is on to lift the travel ban to Cuba, first instituted more than 40 years ago.

and

United is kicking off its new nonstop daily service from Washington to Beijing with introductory fares. Round-trip flights from Dulles to Beijing begin at $785.

All we capitalists need now are hammer and sickles — if only they could get through TSA security.   Would you like some Communism with your frequent flyer miles?

Sad news: The guy who co-invented the remote control, Robert Adler, died.

Sadder news: His remains were lost somewhere in the couch.