For those who have absolutely no interest in my activities in the capital of the free world, feel free to scroll down. I spent Saturday and part of Sunday with some old friends Mark & Jane Milosch who live in Silver Spring. I worked with Mark when he was an intern in the Commons in 1986 and we have remained friends ever since. It's good to pick up with someone you haven't seen for ages, and you feel totally at ease with them. Last night I arrived at my hotel to find their car park closed for 'emergency repairs'. Why does it always happen to me?
Today I eventually found a copy shop which could make 1000 DVDs of our WORLD WITHOUT AMERICA advert, which we'll be distributing at a conference later in the week. It was then off for a talk at the Heritage Foundation with Andrew Roberts, followed by lunch. It was good to meet Fred Barnes from the Weekly Standard. He used to be on the McLaughlin Group, which was a high impact political talk show hosted by the veteran John McLaughlin with two right of centre journos and two from the left. Fred's spats with Newsweek's Eleanor Cliff were a sight to behold. Also at the lunch was someone from the White House who knew all about our advert.
This afternoon we visited the Leadership Institute in Arlington, where we'll be recording some interviews for 18 Doughty Street on Wednesday with various Washington based politicos. And tonight, we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Anyone who has been to one of these restaurants will tell you that the portions are so huge that there is rarely room for any cheesecake. I'm about to go to bed and I feel totally obese... No change there, then.
Tomorrow I'm off to the State Department to meet my friend Colleen Graffy who used to be chairman of Republicans Abroad in London, but who is now Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs in the Bush Administration. Later in the day I've got a tour of the Library of Congress, after which I will be attending the Henry Kissinger Lecture, which is being delivered this year by former Secretary of State James Baker.
