Brad Pitt Renders D.C. Inoperative

Capital brought to a standstill as politicians ogle actor

If Washington D.C. is "Hollywood for ugly people," then what happens when an attractive Hollywood actor sets foot on Capitol Hill? Heads explode, that's what.

Brad Pitt visited our nation's capital yesterday to meet with President Obama. He also hung out with Nancy Pelosi, which thrilled her, and spoke with Senator Patty Murray as well.

These people in Washington, these politicians and their staffers, hang out constantly with world leaders and Nobel laureates and have no problem getting everyone from Gorbachev to Mandela on the phone at a moment's notice. And yet they are all rendered giddy by an actor coming to visit:

Camera shutters clicked. Hundreds of House pages and interns stalked Pitt in the Capitol corridors before and after his tête-à-tête with Pelosi. Young women squealed. "I was 10 feet away from him! . . . Oh my God! . . . Did you see him?" After the movie star and his entourage passed by, Jon Kyl (Ariz.), the number two Senate Republican, got on an elevator without his security detail. "Apparently I've lost my detail," he told an aide. "They've been playing scout for the girls looking for Brad Pitt."

Poor Brad Pitt. People were so delighted just to be near a handsome man for once that the question of what he was there for almost went unanswered. He came to Washington to promote his Make It Right Foundation, which aims to build environmentally friendly homes for low-income residents in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. The foundation has built seven homes to date, and sprinkled them liberally with handsomeness.

Gorbachev and Mandela Fan Club founder Sara K. Smith writes for NBC and Wonkette.

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