Prominent Politician Flies Off the Handle

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Rhymes With Witch

New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer is apologizing today for apparently calling a US Airways flight attendant a name normally reserved for female dogs.

Politico reports Schumer and fellow New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand were returning to Washington Sunday. A Republican aide seated nearby says both ignored an overhead announcement to end all cell phone calls.

When a flight attendant told Schumer the plane was waiting on him, he began to argue with her, eventually uttering the "b-word" according to witnesses.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee pounced on the story with spokesman Brian Walsh issuing this statement: "It's often said that the most dangerous place to be in Washington or New York is between Chuck Schumer and a TV camera ... but it's increasingly clear that a close second is when someone has the gall to ask the senator to follow the same rules that every other airline passenger must follow."

Double Trouble

The White House is trying to explain how another couple wound up shaking the president's hand without the proper invite.

Two weeks before a Virginia husband and wife crashed a state dinner, a Georgia couple ended up at a Veterans Day prayer breakfast when they were supposed to be on a White House tour on a completely different day.

An administration spokesman says it was a "nice gesture" to let them attend the breakfast and points out they were cleared by the Secret Service.

Harvey Darden said it appeared to be a mix-up, telling The Washington Post: "I was the only man in the room that wasn't dressed in a coat and tie. I was just a plain tourist."

Price Is Not Right

Buyers beware: Some retailers are charging more to ship items to military addresses overseas. Stars and Stripes online reports Wal-mart says it costs more to get goods to Europe and the Middle East.

But Army Postmaster Earl Small says that's not true because the Defense Department pays the shipping costs from New York to Europe: "There are no higher transportation costs ... companies are abusing the system and making a killing."

Amazon and Target charge regular domestic rates or less to ship to overseas military addresses. Wal-mart says it will try to negotiate more favorable rates.

— Fox News Channel's Megan Dumpe Kenworthy contributed to this report.