Last night we were lucky enough to drop into Sidecar for a fantastic panel and dinner focused on the intersection of politics and Hollywood. To be perfectly honest we were really just there to see House of Cards producer Beau Willimon and cheer for the always fabulous Neda Semnani, but the evening far outdid our expectations of the typical DC panel with every panelist throwing down wisdom and real talk. Kudos to the Bipartisan Policy Center, Capitol File Magazine and P.J. Clarke’s for putting on a great event with a powerhouse crowd. Just a couple excellent tidbits from the night:

“We’re great at the rules and know what we’re breaking.”

“Compromise is about freeing yourself from your ideology … It’s liberating.”

“Politics is theater and theater is politics.”

Famously Spotted: Ashley Berrang, Capitol File Magazine, Emily Hines, Brian Marshall Johnson, Shana Glickfield, Emil Caillaux, Neda Semnani, Devon Rodonets, Brent Roske, Peter Cherukuri, Megan Hughes, Kelly O’Neal, Katherine Kennedy, Beau Willimon, Michael Elliot, Evan McMorris-Santoro and a few trivia buffs.