The Clintons bid farewell to their adorable cat, Socks after he was battling throat cancer since November.  Socks was 20!

Socks came to be in the Clinton household when Chelsea discovered him as a stray.  Isn’t that beautiful?   Socks lived in the governor’s mansion in Arkansas and later moved with the family to the White House.

The Clintons released the following statement to People.com:

“Socks brought much happiness to Chelsea and us over the years, and enjoyment to kids and cat lovers everywhere,” “We’re grateful for those memories, and we especially want to thank our good friend, Betty Currie, for taking such loving care of Socks for so many years.”

Betty Currie and her husband Bob took over the care of Socks when the Clintons left the White House.  Socks was put to sleep Friday morning.  According to family friend and presidential historian Barry Landau:  “He could no longer stand and wasn’t eating,”  That is so sad to envision, isn’t it?  The Clintons did not abandon Socks, as Betty had asked if she could keep him.  According to Landau:

“The truth be known, Betty asked if Socks could come live with her. The Clintons didn’t abandon Socks. They were totally conflicted. It broke their hearts, but they knew it would be the right thing for Socks’ welfare.”

“Betty had lost a close family member and a dog and they wanted to do something nice for her,”

During their days in the  White House, Socks grew close to Betty:

“Socks was always curled up on a blue striped silk chair, next to Betty,” in her office outside the Oval Office, Landau says. “Socks didn’t act like a cat. Socks was very dog-like, and Buddy and Socks got along well.”

When Socks left the White House and lived with Betty:

“Socks had an incredible life. Betty cooked for Socks,” he said, noting the cat loved chicken. “

Hillary Clinton even wrote a book based on Cats and their dog Buddy entitled:  Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets

Madonna is seen leaving the offices of Christian Audigier after attending a private fashion show.  I wonder if there was also a ‘meeting’.  Could Madge be looking to get into clothing design?  I’m surprised she hasn’t gone down that route before now.

Not loving the misdirected Princess Leia hair.

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Photos:  WENN.com

Dancing With The Stars is just around the corner!!!  Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Denise Richards exit their dancing studio on what looks like two seperate days.  I’ve included all the pics of Maks because I know there are a lot of women very hot for his form and you can never have too much Maks (right M?).

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Amy Poehler cracks me up and I love the facial expressions in some of these pictures as she is on the set of her new show ‘Parks and Recreation’ filming in Van Nuys, California.

Pics after the break

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Gwen Stefani, Gavin Rossdale, Damon Wayans, and Lady Victoria Hervey attend the Global Green’s 6th Annual Pre-Oscar party at the Avalon.

Are you excited about the Oscars?  Who do you hope wins?

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