Yeas and Nays

Palmer’s still got it for Jockey, ‘of course’

Chicago had Michael Jordan in his Hanes, but most around here prefer Baltimore’s Jim Palmer in his Jockeys.

The Hall of Fame pitcher for the Orioles met up with fans for a luncheon at Morton’s on Thursday — and while on air with ESPN during the steak course he mainly talked baseball, we got him to talk with us beforehand about his famous half-naked ad.

“Of course I would do it,” Palmer, aka “Cakes,” responded to our challenge if he would still pose today.

But the real question is could he?

“Nowadays they can make you look any way they want you to,” he joked about being airbrushed for an underwear ad today, cause back in the ’80s it was au natural. “So of course I would [pose].”

Sounds like he may like being in the spotlight — he also told Yeas & Nays that wouldn’t mind being on a reality show.

“Well you know I know Donald Trump, so I’d like to be on ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ ” he said. “Or maybe ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ but I don’t think my knee could handle that.”

It’s still unsure if he will battle The Donald, but when he does, rest assured he’ll be doing it in his Jockeys.

“Of course I still wear them. They’re comfortable.”

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Toby Keith: More celebs should visit troops

Country superstar Toby Keith will leave D.C. for Afghanistan on Tuesday night to add to the 100-plus USO shows he’s played throughout the past seven years. But at the National Press Club earlier in the day, Keith lamented that more celebrities don’t make similar trips to back the troops.

He said when they’re being paid to make movies, few stars want to leave “Disneyland” and “go to a war zone.”

Not that the danger isn’t real. “I’ve raced Marines to a bunker when the sirens go off,” he said. “It took me 100 shows to learn to trust how good our guys really are.”

But “you don’t have to go to a war zone,” he implored any celebs who were listening. “Go to Walter Reed Hospital.”

“Most of the time they’re rowdy and drinking ‘near beer,’ ” he said of his USO performances. “Most of the time it’s just a party.”

Keith (black baseball cap, green camouflage pants, desert camouflage jacket issued to him by the Army) largely kept it light, telling the crowd they had him to thank for the chicken-fried steak lunch. But like most of his appearances before the media, the conversation focused on politics more than music.

“I’m not political,” he repeated throughout the hour-long lunch. “I’m not an activist,” he added. And he kept trying to prove it. “My lefty friends think I’m a Nazi and my righty friends think I’m a hippie,” he joked.

On President Barack Obama, he said any president should get the benefit of the doubt, but “right off the bat, he got a big brownie point from me” in appointing Gen. James Jones his national security adviser. He reminded the crowd that after a performance at Constitution Hall in 2001, Jones encouraged him to release “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” perhaps his most controversial song (and one of his biggest hits).

And he sounded like a man who would never run for office. “I couldn’t deal with all the lies,” he said. “I couldn’t shake your hand and then walk five feet and say something bad about you.” Besides, “Being a politician would mean I’d have to get along with too many people. ... I don’t shake hands well with people who don’t like me.”

Not that he hasn't learned how to use people who don't like him to his advantage. "I go on [The Colbert Report] and I know who's watching," he said. Then all the bloggers get going "with their sick hate." But whatever they write, they'll mention that "he's got a new album out."

Hatch’s comedy knocks out The Rock

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was a tough act for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to follow Tuesday, as both men spoke at the Motion Picture Association of America’s “Business of Show Business” symposium.

Hatch opened his speech poking fun at himself, saying he “wished [he] had a body like [Johnson’s]” and that he was a “97-pound weakling.” He followed by taking a shot at the moviemakers in attendance for the ridiculous scenarios they love to put in movies.

Some of the things he mocked included:

* How air ducts are always the best place to hide in a building — they are never dusty and you can easily maneuver through any building.

* You can survive any battle unless you made the mistake of showing a picture of your sweetheart.

* Business meetings are always held in strip clubs.

* If there’s a large glass pane in any scene, someone will be thrown through it.

* A single match can ignite a room the size of a baseball field.

And Hatch knows movies: He has his own Internet Movie Database page for appearing in multiple films — including Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic” — as himself.

Carter, Usher share a flight

That was former first lady Rosalynn Carter and R&B artist Usher arriving at Dulles on the same flight from Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon. Carter was in town for the signing of the Edward Kennedy Serve America Act at the SEED School; no word on why Usher was here.

Also spotted: Richard Gere dining at Blue Duck Tavern in the Park Hyatt Hotel Tuesday for lunch. Wearing a gray suit, blue button-down shirt and glasses, he appeared to be “having a great time” with the seven others at his table.

Then on Monday night, Jordanian Prime Minister Nader al-Dahabi dined at the Bombay Club with Jordanian Ambassador Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, five companions and a platoon of security.

Obama hangs loose, but won't don helmet

President Obama had a little taste of home Tuesday afternoon, as the Navy football team brought a little aloha to the White House.

Both Head Coach Ken Niumatalolo and quarterback Kaipo Noa Keahaku Enhada are native Hawaiians.

"I hear Kaipo is a pretty easygoing guy," said the president, as he presented Navy with the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. "He doesn't get rattled easily, performs under pressure. That's the Hawaiian spirit. That's how we roll."

Just for good measure, the president flashed the "shaka" sign with his thumb and pinky finger.

In fact, just like President George W. Bush did when he welcomed sports teams to the White House, Obama was full of one-liners. "I understand your unofficial motto is 'No Excuses, Nobody Cares,'" he said. "That is my wife Michelle's motto for me also."

And at the end of the ceremony, when Navy gave him a silver football helmet, he wondered aloud whether it would fit. Then, obviously remembering Michael Dukakis, he said, "There's a rule for presidents that you never put anything on your head.''

Wrestler, Disney star and good looking guy

We just love that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was introduced Tuesday as a “true member of the Disney family,” for there’s something sweet about a 6’6”, 275 lb. wrestling-icon-turned-Disney-blockbuster movie star.

Though now deemed a more family friendly actor than when he first made his move from the WWE to the big screen eight years ago in “The Mummy,” The Rock still couldn’t hide some of his signature charismatic bad-boy persona.

Appearing in a button-down shirt (unbuttoned just enough to see part of his large tribal chest tattoo), the keynote speaker for the Motion Picture Association of America symposium said he knows what’s on our minds.

“I know what you’re thinking. He’s just as good looking as the President,” Johnson joked, alluding to his recent skit on “Saturday Night Live,” “I’m The Rock Obama.”

Though he compared himself to the prez, Johnson told Yeas & Nays he has no plans to run for office because he’s “enjoying making films too much.” In fact, he told us this is his first time he’s been in town since his “good looking” twin has been in office, and he plans to bring his daughter (who sat by his side at the lunch) back for another trip so they can tour the White House.

I think we smell what The Rock is cooking: a little presidential meet and greet?

Speakeasy: Mike Huckabee

"You have a champagne appetite and a Coca-Cola paycheck."
-Mike Huckabee, speculating on what his late mother would tell President Obama and the "educated people" running the country.

Before meeting with Obama, Tiger admires a Bush’s game

On a day when Tiger Woods met with President Barack Obama, he was talking up another president’s prowess with the clubs — and his poker face.

Tiger paid a visit to the White House at about 5 p.m. Monday and did get an audience with the president. But earlier in the afternoon, he appeared at Congressional Country Club for the pre-tournament media day that precedes the annual AT&T National — the PGA tournament he founded two year ago.

In response to a question from Yeas & Nays, Woods recalled when President George H.W. Bush hit the ceremonial first tee shot during the inaugural tournament.

“He complained that he just had surgery and couldn’t hit, and he striped it right down the fairway,” recalled Tiger. “He’d probably be a pretty good poker player.” (Hear that, Obama? There’s a Bush who can still take you down.)

When asked if he’s picking up any Swedish from his wife, Elin, Tiger said he can speak a little bit, but he’s better at reading it. “I understand a little,” he said — mostly phrases like “Take out the trash.”

“I understand that in Thai, too,” he joked. (His mother is Thai.)

He and Greg McLaughlin, head of the Tiger Woods Foundation, said after a year and a half of searching, they do have a site chosen for a Tiger Woods Learning Center in the Washington area, though they wouldn’t say where. Now, they’ve got to grapple with the economy.
“It’s not exactly the best time to start securing funds for a learning center,” said Woods. “The economy has been tough for us.”

White Sox, White House

Tiger Woods wasn’t the only pro athlete to grace the hall of the West Wing on Monday. The Chicago White Sox, President BArack Obama’s hometown team, also got a private tour. The Pale Hose begin a series with the Orioles in Baltimore today, so they made the 30-mile trip south on their day off to meet the commander in chief and check out his office.

The Chicago Tribune reports about 35 players, family and team officials got the tour, which was arranged by Obama senior adviser David Axelrod.

The team already has shown its thanks to its most important fan: In January, the South Siders announced they developed two prototype designs of a team hat with Obama insignia on the side and back. Major League Baseball has approved the design, but the team is still waiting for the White House to weigh in before they can be produced.