Washington in 60 Seconds: Turkey to Be Pardoned (and It's Not Joe Biden)

Good morning, Capitolists! As the holiday week gets underway, President Obama is making up for lost time from his Asia trip by huddling with his top advisers tonight on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and hosting his first state dinner tomorrow for Pakistan's neighbor, the prime minister of India.

Here's what else is making news in Washington today:

* Jobs, Jobs, Jobs . . . for Lobbyists. It may not be the employment boom he meant to spark, but Obama can take credit for doubling the number of health care lobbyists in Washington. With the president's reform proposal moving through Congress, industries have beefed up their teams and are on track to spend a half billion dollars this year on influencing lawmakers, according to USA Today.

* Turkey on the Side. As senators entered the Capitol on Saturday night to cast their party-line votes on debating health care, a protester dressed as a giant Thanksgiving turkey -- named "Harry the Turkey," after the Senate majority leader -- stood by the East side of the building and called out to senators, "Don't vote for it! This bill is a turkey!!"

* Stuffing the Middle. Although the Democrats did get to 60 votes on Saturday night to start Senate debate on reform, moderate senators made it clear they're not voting for a final bill that looks like the one they have now. Blanche Lincoln said the public option has to go, as did Joe Lieberman. Ben Nelson wants tougher abortion restrictions and Mary Landrieu wants major changes -- but one of them isn't the $300 million extra she nabbed from Harry Reid to supplement Louisiana's Medicaid payments.

* Biden's Not the Turkey. The White House may have a state dinner Tuesday night, but the real excitement will come Wednesday when Obama gets to pardon the Thanksgiving turkey for the first time in his presidency. "Saturday Night Live" joked that when he heard the news, Vice President Joe Biden said, "Really? I didn't even know I was in trouble."

* Pardon? And finally, Levi Johnston's reps released some photos from the former hockey player's Playgirl shoot, but Sarah Palin's almost-son-in-law said nobody should get the wrong idea about him. After originally telling Us Weekly, "I just get naked, that's what I do," Johnston explained to the "CBS Morning Show": "We don't want no bad boy image. I don't want to be looked at as someone who is getting naked for fame."