From The Hill:

Tom Hanks’ endorsement of Barack Obama is fairly conventional stuff, typical Hollywood celebrity me-too gruel. We’ll probably soon forget it ever happened.

But one thing does stand out: An odd but reassuring embrace of … Ronald Reagan?

Yup. Ronald Reagan merits mention in Hanks’ message, and believe it or not, it’s not hateful, derogatory, or sneering.

Here’s what Hanks says about Obama:

He has the integrity and the inspiration to unify us, as did FDR and Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy and even Ronald Reagan when they ran for the job.

Not bad company for the Gipper. Brings back happy memories the early ’80s … and “Bosom Buddies.”

We pick up a conversation featuring actor Marlo Thomas and writer Joan Juliet Thomas, already in progress:

MARLO: I asked Bill Clinton, at a dinner party, why he and the first George Bush didn’t go to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, and ask them to come up with a foolproof way that our elections would be fair and honest.

JOAN: Brilliant.

We’ll let others define what they think passes for brilliance these days.  As for us, we think this other comment by Marlo Thomas sufficiently passes the brilliant idea threshold:

MARLO: Look what they did to Hillary, from the very beginning. With her headband, and her not wanting to bake cookies. My God, you would have thought this woman had robbed a bank.

Actually, we do think Hillary Clinton had robbed a bank, at least based on her various disguises…

Larry King just asked Barack Obama-booster Michael Moore what Moore would do if he were president.

One of Moore’s proposals: “Free HBO for every American.”

Let’s see, last night Larry King interviewed Bush hater Joy Behar (”I just don’t want another Republican in office anymore. Have you watched the ‘John Adams’ series? Isn’t it brilliant? When you see what John Adams was like and George Bush, it’s almost like Darwinism in reverse?”).

The night before, Larry King interviewed Jimmy Carter (”[Jeremiah Wright] preaches the type of sermon that I think appeals to many people”).

Boy, Democrats must be proud to see their best and brightest in front of the nation every night. Makes you wonder who they’ll put forward at their summer convention … Sean Penn? Barbra Streisand?

That’s not a serious party. That’s a lounge act.

From Anne Schroeder Mullins’ “Shenanigans” coverage of the White House Correspondents Dinner in Politico:

The story about Pam Anderson is that the whole reason she attended was so she could get a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She hoped that after meeting them they’d help advocate for PETA.

Let’s just say, we sure hope the Joint Chiefs have done away with their onerous dress code.

We learn this in the Washington Post today:

The schedule is coming into focus for President Bush’s second trip to the Middle East this year: He is planning to visit Israel next month to celebrate the country’s 60th anniversary. While in Israel, Bush appears likely to visit Masada, the desert fortress overlooking the Dead Sea where nearly 1,000 Jews committed suicide in the 1st century rather than be taken alive by the Romans.

He is also planning a speech to the Israeli Knesset, and will attend a giant celebratory conference being hosted by Israeli President Shimon Peres that is expected to feature such notables as Tony Blair, Mikhail Gorbachev and Henry Kissinger. But Barbra Streisand, the liberal singing and acting icon who had been tapped to sing the Jewish prayer “Avinu Malkeinu” (Our Father Our King), abruptly pulled out last week for “personal obligations.” Was Babs unhappy about the prospect of sharing the bill with Bush? We will never know.

Actually, that Streisand news should come as a relief to the already long-suffering people of Israel.  At least they’ll be spared Stresiand’s unique, cutting-edge, and breakthrough political commentaries and observations, such as the knee-slapping hilarity we see here…

There was Richard Daley …

And then there’s Bruce Springsteen…:

Dear Friends and Fans:

LIke most of you, I’ve been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.

He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I’ve envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that’s interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where “…nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone.”

At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man’s life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams of My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.

After the terrible damage done over the past eight years, a great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project and to lead us into the 21st Century with a renewed sense of moral purpose and of ourselves as Americans.

Over here on E Street, we’re proud to support Obama for President.

But neither boss holds a candle to Tim Russert….

We’ve had many thoughts about Dennis Kucinich over the years — but too Hollywood?

Glory be.  That’s a new one on us.

Apparently, though, it’s a huge worry in Kucinich’s Cleveland congressional district, where he faces a tough primary.  What’s one of the obstacles he must overcome, according to the Washington Post?  Get a load of this:

“He doesn’t want to be our congressman anymore. It’s clear he’s left the building. The guy’s got Hollywood fever, and that would be fine if he was using his national stature to actually get things done,” City Councilman Joe Cimperman, Kucinich’s main opponent, said in a telephone interview. …

Cimperman also showed up at Kucinich’s home with local pastries, sausage, Stadium Mustard and a map of Ohio, accusing the lawmaker of abandoning his roots in favor of “eating sushi with Sean Penn.”

What a great name for a Kucinich movie: “Desperately Seeking Sushi.”  Surely Sean Penn would prefer to remember Madonna that way.

With all the plagiarism charges swirling around Barack Obama, that’s the only explanation we could come up with for these thoughts from Susan Sarandon (supplied by Tim Graham in Newsbusters):

Well, I’m going to back Obama. But I hope — I think that he, as a symbol, has really excited people, and he’s definitely confusing to everyone who really hates America for hating Muslims because a name like Obama and a black man, they’re probably going to go “Oh, wait a minute — What?” It’s kind of like when you’re out on the line for freedom to have an abortion and you’re incredibly pregnant. They just can’t quite figure it out.

So I think he definitely has convinced people that he stands for change and for hope, and I can’t wait to see what he stands for.