Word on the Hill: Moulton Flashes Back to ‘Basic Instinct’ Uproar in Iraq

By Alex Gangitano

Posted October 16, 2017 at 5:00am

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., recently shared some stories from his time in the Marine Corps with Barstool Sports’ “Zero Blog Thirty” podcast. He recalled bringing DVDs to Iraqi engineers to broadcast across the country, but didn’t tell them about the rating system the U.S. uses.

Moulton said, “one night they put in ‘Basic Instinct.’ They must have been asleep at the switch. What they usually did is they got to a racy part of the film, they had this like 10-volume set of Islamic history videos they would put in to sort of like quiet everybody down. Well, apparently they didn’t make the switch fast enough.”

“The town was in an uproar,” he said. To take a break from crisis control the next day, Moulton said, he went to meet the Iraqi police who were furious and yelling at him. What were they yelling? You’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out.

Congressman @sethmoulton explains to @zeroblog30 why an entire Iraqi city got flashed by Sharon Stone https://t.co/3uZuM4fJQn pic.twitter.com/f0bnyDVGEI
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 13, 2017

Senate Democrats’ new look

Senate Democrats rolled out a new website on Friday. — Senate Democrats rolled out a new website Friday. (www.democrats.senate.gov)

Senate Democrats relaunched their website — www.democrats.senate.gov — with a new look on Friday, trying to better connect with constituents back home. The overhauled website is focused on creating a digital presence for constituents and local news outlets in their states.

“This new website will allow anyone to access op-eds, speeches, press releases, and reports from Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as well as learn more about individual senators’ activities, and see the votes and motions that are transpiring on the Senate Floor in real time,” the press release reads.

Your social calendar for the week

TuesdayLibrary Resources Workshop: Design Inspiration from the Archives, hosted by the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and the D.C. Public Library. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW). Register here.

TecNation 2017, hosted by Data Foundation to discuss technology in everyday lives. 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (1615 H St. NW). Register here.

ThursdayWomen’s Congressional Golf Association’s 20th anniversary celebration happy hour. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Capitol Hill Club (300 First St. SE). Register here.

Gun debate in D.C. cabs

Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund launched video advertisements inside D.C. taxi cabs to urge Congress not to ease restrictions on gun silencers. The ads quote five GOP members of Congress who witnessed a gunman open fire on a Republican baseball practice in June, saying they took cover after they heard the sound of gunshots. The ad will run for two weeks, starting Oct. 13, inside 2,500 D.C. cabs.

Staffer shuffle

Pam Stevens is now the vice president for congressional and public affairs at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. foreign aid agency. She previously was on the communications team for the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland and the House Republican Conference, among other roles.