Gossip Roundup: Afflicting the Trojans Edition

•Reliable Source: Life-size cardboard cutout ofClintonmissing from the Pentagon. Says ownerRuss Beland,"[A cardboard cutout ofClint Eastwood]has been up there for a couple of years without incident, but by noon,Billwas gone. Just gone. No one seems to know what happened, andClintsure isn't talking. I assume it's just a coincidence, but the office space from whichBillvanished is almost exactly one floor above the old office space of oneMonica Lewinsky."He adds, "I don't think it could have gotten too far.". . .Olbermannin FHM: "The key thing that's left out ofBill O'Reilly'scareer is that he got to where he is by being an abject failure at every step." Replies Fox News flak, "Since he stopped reading sports scores,Keithhas attracted fewer viewers than a test pattern and his career has been nothing short of a train wreck. We pity his tortured soul and wish him all the best.". . . Watergate conversion gets green light, for now. [ WP ]

•Heard on the Hill: Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.)pins woman who claimed to have a gun. . .Edwardshas strong support in online poll of VP candidates onRep. Dutch Ruppersberger's (D-Md.)web site. . . Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays face Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays on Capitol Hill. . .Cynthia NixonjoinsGarry Trudeaufor new installments of "Tanner '88." [ Roll Call ]

•Inside the Beltway: PETA presents "Veg Eye for the Fat Guy" aimed atRuben Studdard, John Madden, Luciano Pavarotti,andJohn Goodman.[ WT ]

•Rush & Molloy: Brad Pitt: "I think ["Troy"] deeply resonates with [the search for WMDs]. There was a line in 'The Iliad' that sticks in my mind - where Achilles asks, 'What are we doing here, afflicting the Trojans and afflicting their land?'" [NYDN ]

•Fox 411: Russert'sbook party at the Four Seasons includedCuomo, Matt Lauer, Al Roker, Brian Williams, Harry Evans, Tina Brown, Jack Welch, Rick Kaplan,andHarvey Weinstein[ Fox News ]