I don’t know about our readers but come Friday, I am ready to forget politics for a few days and yes, I’ve been slacking on the blogging on the weekends because of it. So veering off the course of the usual political discussion, here’s the big gossipy celebrity news of the day (h/t to TMZ for the pic):

Paris Hilton must serve 45 days in jail

Poor Paris, she never has quite learned that sometimes if you want to play… you’re gonna pay. And now it seems that Hilton heiress and socialite, Paris Hilton will be learning the hard way. Or, as hard is will get for someone who can usually buy their way out of just about anything.

The judge in the downtown L.A. traffic court was not amused when Paris Hilton showed up for her probation violation hearing “more than 15 minutes late,” so he threw the book at her…

It was perhaps a moment when being prompt would have proved more fashionable.

Two hours later, Hilton departed with a 45-day jail sentence and a verbal comeuppance from the judge, who told her the time had come to take responsibility for her own actions. She has until June 5 to report to Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood to serve her time or risk a total of 90 days behind bars.

On the stand, the socialite blamed her handlers for her being caught behind the wheel twice while her driver’s license was suspended for a drunk-driving conviction.

Asked whether she had understood the terms of the drunk-driving plea that she agreed to Jan. 22, Hilton, 26, said: “I just sign what people tell me to sign…. I’m a very busy person.”

At one point, her attorney, Howard L. Weitzman — calling his client someone with “unique issues and needs” who simply made a mistake — tried to shoulder some of the fault Hilton was placing on others.

Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer saw it otherwise.

“She disregarded everything and continued to drive,” Sauer said.

And he made it clear that he wanted no special treatment for Hilton — an heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune and a successful entrepreneur in her own right — ordering her to spend her sentence in a county jail and not a privately run “glamour slammer” where other celebrities have done their time.

Hilton, who made the sign of the cross in the moments before the judge gave his verdict, sobbed afterward.

“I don’t know what happened,” she said in the moments after Sauer pronounced the sentence. “I did what they said.”

Hilton’s lawyer, Weitzman expressed “shock and disappointment at the judge’s decision, which he said “bordered on ludicrous.”"

“It’s clear she was selectively prosecuted because of who she is,” Weitzman said. “Shame on the system and shame on the city attorney for bringing this case.”

City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo’s spokesman Nick Velasquez said Delgadillo’s office disagreed strongly, saying prosecuting Hilton for repeated violation of her probation “sends a clear message that in the city of Los Angeles, no one is above the law.”

In the blogoshpere the celebrity blogs are having a hey day over this, while in the political blogosphere reactions to the verdict are mixed. I’m torn but tend to lean with Jeralyn on this, there are better things to do with taxpayer dollars. Memeorandum and We Smirch have all the buzz.

AP News reports on “What Paris can expect behind bars.”

Inmates at the Century Regional Detention Center get low-sodium meals…

Ooh… Now that’s a relief… Perish the thought that Paris should retain water and plumb up while behind bars because of too much sodium in her diet.

Okay… Gossipy news flash is now officially over here at The Dem Daily. Stay tuned for more of As the Bush Administration Turns and other hot topics like “‘D.C. Madam’ Client Ready to Testify About Sex.” Never a dull moment.

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