Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...
Lobsters for Lunch
We begin with the irony that yesterday's meeting between President Obama and Senate Republicans to discuss the country's massive financial woes featured an extravagant lobster lunch.
But one person at the table did not eat a bite -- the president himself.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine tells the Daily Caller, the president abstained, apparently because his food taster was not there to try it first.
Quote -- "He honestly did look longingly at it, but apparently he has to have essentially a taster, and I pointed out to him that we were all tasters, that if the food had been poisoned all of us would have keeled over."
The president has long been rumored to have someone who tastes all of his food to make sure it's not dangerous, but the Secret Service will not confirm that as is the case with most security procedures.
Toaster Pastry Gun Freedom Act
Now for our Friday follows --
A Maryland state senator has crafted a bill inspired by the second-grader we told you about, who apparently bit his breakfast into the shape of a gun.
Some blogs have called it the Toaster Pastry Gun Freedom Act -- it restricts the severity of punishment for Maryland students who possess a picture of a gun or something else that resembles a gun.
Josh Welch was suspended for two days for creating the likeness of a gun with his pop-tart.
"Argo" Conspiracy
And finally, "Argo" conspiracy theories.
Earlier this week we told you Iran plans to sue Hollywood for the portrayal of the country in the Oscar-winning movie.
Now Iran's state-run TV station is alleging that actor/director Ben Affleck is in fact, a covert agent in real life.
It bases the claim on a story by 9/11 truther Kevin Barrett, who they quote as saying -- quote -- "If the makers of 'Argo' are deposed under oath, they may be forced to reveal that their film...is a covert operation disguised as a movie."
That is also the plot of "Argo" based on the 1979 attack on the U.S. embassy in Iran.
The article speculates that Affleck could be hanged for treason and war crimes.
It alleges his 2001 box office flop "Pearl Harbor" was propaganda -- quote-- "designed to pave the road to 9/11."
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