‘A Trio Of Easter Eggs’?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

‘Take Out Islamic Holy Sites’?

Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo (search) is refusing to apologize for suggesting that the U.S. could threaten to "take out [Islamic] holy sites," including Mecca (search), if Muslim terrorists attack U.S. cities with nuclear weapons. Democrats have called the remarks "ignorant" and "inexcusable," and the Bush State Department has called them ''insulting and offensive." But, writing in the Denver Post, Tancredo insists, "…[my remarks] may have offended some. But in this battle against fundamentalist Islam, I am hardly preoccupied with political correctness. ... As long as the war [against terrorism] goes on, being 'offended' should be the least on anyone's worries."

‘A Trio Of Easter Eggs’?

Washington Post fashion columnist Robin Givhan (search), who during the 2000 elections said then-Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris looked like she put on her make-up "with a trowel," who has called President Bush's hair a "dull gray thatch" and described John Edwards' hair as a "beautiful shade of chocolate brown with honey-colored highlights,” now says the family of Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts looked like a "trio of Easter eggs" at last week's presidential announcement, adding that his children's clothes were "Old World, old money and a cut above the light-up/shoe-buying hoi polloi."

Overall, Givhan said, the family did not represent the "commonly accepted styles of this century."

Uninvited Guest

Pennsylvania Democratic Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll (search) showed up — uninvited — to the funeral of a Marine killed in Iraq last week, gave out her business card, and according to the soldier's family said, "I want you to know our government is against this war." The soldier's sister-in-law, quoted by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, says she's "disgusted" that Baker Knoll "made a mockery of [the Marine's] death."

Baker Knoll has apologized, saying, "My heart and prayers are with your family," and adding that she offered her business card to show her willingness to help.

Frist's Fundraising

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (search), accused of being "ineffective" by some, has already raised more than $1.9 million this year for his Volunteer Political Action Committee — a major cash source for Republican congressional candidates. The PAC's fundraising is twice that of any other Senator's.

And, according to Roll Call newspaper, that's largely due to a shift in strategy, from big GOP donors to a direct-mail campaign. The campaign cost more than $700,000, but it put Frist's name in thousands of households across the nation.

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report