Alright, not for my favorite story of the week: President Bush is throwing a huge birthday party for the Pope in honor of his visit. 12,000 people have been invited to the event (the previous record for the Bush administration was 7000 for Queen Elizabeth) and it is scheduled for Wednesday, on the Pope's birthday. Only one minor detail... the Pope isn't coming.
The White House confirmed today that the dinner will go on as planned, even without a guest of honor in one of the more bizarre press exchanges I've ever heard (Let me get this straight... it's for the Pope... and he's not coming?), and the best part is... the Pope doesn't have anything else on his schedule for the night! When faced with a choice between dinner with Bush or sitting in the hotel ordering room service... his Popeliness went with the room service.