Analysis - FishbowlDC

Hello Buttercup! Harvard Prof Praises Arianna on HuffPost

Betsy Rothstein — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:30:49 +0000

A feature in which we point out how writers suck up to themselves, each other and others in a particularly buttery fashion.

This one must have been tough to decide. Hmmm….let a Harvard Psychology Professor write a bunch of complimentary things about HuffPost-AOL Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington on HuffPost or not?

Twist their arms. Fine, they’ll allow it.

In a HuffPost blog post Sunday in the Health Living section, Harvard Psychology Professor Ellen Langer wrote a post that had to make Arianna smile. She wrote: “I’m not one for mindless flattery..” — whoa, wait, really? Do we stop her here before she goes down the mindless flattery rabbit hole? – “so it is with great sincerity that I say that Arianna is a force to be reckoned with. She’s extremely bright and incredibly effective so perhaps it’s no surprise that the event was so successful.”

Langer goes on to say… continued…

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What’s Weingarten Writing?

Peter Ogburn — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 15:00:07 +0000

Where in the world is WaPo’s Gene Weingarten? The “humorist” took a week off from his weekly column, so we have been given a “Best Of” from Gene. While, that might seem like an oxymoron, this week’s column is actually quite good. Plus, it tackles one of our favorite topics: big butts.

The column originally ran in 2006 and it chronicles a curious trip that Gene took to New York to meet with a plastic surgeon. According to Gene, he saw an ad for buttock enlargements, so he lined up an interview with Dr. George Lefkovits, the man who makes big booty dreams come true. Sorry, I shouldn’t be so crass. The doctor told Gene that he tries to “augment and re-profile buttocks”

How does a doctor make the bottom bigger and how is Gene’s derriere doing? continued…

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Leubsdorf Claims 50 Years in D.C. Journalism

Betsy Rothstein — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:20:46 +0000

During MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown’s “shameless plugs” segment this morning, USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page without any shame whatsoever gave the shout-out to her husband, Carl P. Leubsdorf Sr.

She began, “50 years ago almost to the day, Carl P. Leubsdorf arrived in Washington to work as the overnight reporter for the Associated Press. He is still writing a column for the Dallas Morning News.”

Asked about his 50th anniversary and to point out stark differences between the press then and now, Leubsdorf told FishbowlDC: continued…

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What’s Dana Tweeting?

Peter Ogburn — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:15:06 +0000

We’ve documented the twitter habits of Dana Perino, part of the quirky quintet that hosts “The Five” on Fox News several times before. Her tweets almost always fall into the category of self-congratulatory pronouncements or pictures of her hound, Jasper. If it’s not something along those lines, I get very concerned that something is wrong. Her Twitter feed is a steady diet of pics of Jasper in compromising positions. Viewers of “The Five” have even gotten into the act and they send Dana photoshops of the pooch like the one above. Honestly, Jasper looks like he’d fit right in with that pack on “The Five.” Hell, he might even have more intelligent things to say than Bob Beckel. She’s so obsessed with the dog, that when Mary Katherine Ham tweeted that she was going to be on Redeye, another show hosted by Perino’s frenemy, Greg Gutfeld, she told her, “bring up Jasper. He’ll love it. Double dog dare ya.”

She’s also known for just tweeting random thoughts. continued…

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The Fight Over Off The Record (and Ron Fournier’s Blooming Twitter Addiction)

Peter Ogburn — Fri, 31 May 2013 15:20:15 +0000

The Department of Justice must really feel like they screwed up, because Eric Holder is making the apology tour and meeting with various media outlets. It’s an effort to build bridges over the Obama administration hunting of leaks in the media, which many feel is overly aggressive. Naturally, there’s one little hangup: The DOJ wants the meeting off the record. While an off the record meeting with a high-ranking government official is hardly groundbreaking in Washington, the optics are pretty shitty. Here’s the Attorney General, who led a media witch hunt, who now wants to have an open dialogue with the media, who feels slighted and no one can know what was said.

National Journal’s Ron Fournier penned a thoughtful piece on what “off the record” really means, and gives reasons why the media should ignore Holder’s request for silence. Fournier sums up the problem with this off the record nonsense by saying that ”it puts a reporter in the position of a priest: Keeping the government’s secrets.” Fournier reminds reporters that this story isn’t about them or their rights, but it’s about the next President, who might be worse than Presidents Bush and Obama combined.

Fournier was really proud of the piece. Oh, how do we know? continued…

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Marty’d: The Memorial Day Edition

Peter Ogburn — Tue, 28 May 2013 14:45:11 +0000

We are All Just News Junkies Online. If you follow Marty Rudolf on Twitter, you’re used to frequent attempts at conversation. Randomly, he’ll ask questions like, “Does any Sports Fans or Journalists/Bloggers feel like chatting?,” or “Any “Y&R”, “Days” or “B&B” Soap Fans on here?” He’s a lovable oddball who will often tweet directly to actors, journalists and anyone else who will listen. Sometimes, they actually respond.

You never know who may give Marty a response. continued…

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Michelle Obama Dated This Guy?

Austin Price — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:30:03 +0000

National Journal and The Weekly Standard took very different tacks in their coverage of Treasury Inspector General J. Russell George‘s testimony before the Senate Finance Committee today concerning the IRS scandal.

As a student at Harvard Law School… continued…

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The Great Zucchini Falls on Harder Times

Peter Ogburn — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:55:25 +0000

In 2006, WaPo’s Gene Weingarten wrote a profile of a children’s performer known as “The Great Zucchini.” Weingarten described a brilliant, but flawed performer. Throughout the piece, Gene convinced us that Zucchini is masterful in the way that he entertains children and wows parents with his comedy/slapstick routine. We also learn that, for all the Zucchini’s successes, he couldn’t manage his money and his personal life was a disaster. In the piece, Gene tells us what the Zucchini has planned for the future. “His business plan? To become the children’s entertainer to the stars, a star in his own right who is flown first class to Beverly Hills, to do parties at $5,000 a pop for Angelina Jolie’s kids, or Britney’s.”

So, how’s he doing?

continued…

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Gibbs Post White House: Needs Makeover?

Betsy Rothstein — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:15:21 +0000

What is going on with Robert Gibbs? The ex-White House aide appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today and he looks, well, different. What happened to him? Take a look at him then and now.

Then and now…

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What’s Weingarten Writing?

Peter Ogburn — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:00:31 +0000

In this week’s edition of “What’s Weingarten Writing?,” it’s Man vs. Machine. Gene ventured into the wilds of an Apple Store to fix a very serious problem he was having with his word processor. This classic setup sets the stage for a showdown between an Apple store employee and WaPo’s “humorist,” Gene Weingarten. In Gene’s weekly column, Gene lets us know that he is having a problem with his computer. What’s wrong with his device?

He writes, “When my computer finishes each save … it registers this operation by displaying the time of the save in year, date, hours and minutes, like this: ’2013-04-16-09.17. ‘ My problem … is that on the next line it gives me a two-digit number that seems to fluctuate almost at random.” She leaned in, nodded, and I detected a faint smile. This was pleasing her; a good technician must thrill to a good challenge.” Can you imagine fielding THAT customer? Gene probably just calls his computer an “email machine.”

How does the “genius” at the Apple store respond? continued…

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Drudge Rains on the POTUS Parade

Peter Ogburn — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:45:01 +0000

With the steady stream of bad news for the Obama administration, Drudge kicks POTUS when he’s down. To begin, the top story is this piece by Politico’s Jake Sherman and Lauren French. The piece highlights the scandalous couple of days that POTUS has been facing. The Drudge headline reads “When It Rains…,” and has a photo of Obama in a downpour.

He then takes it a few steps further and adds three more shots of POTUS getting caught in the rain. Get it? Like a downpour.

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Fish Food

Peter Ogburn — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:00:24 +0000

(A Sprinkling of Things we Think you Ought to Know…)

Crawford Commemorates Mother’s Day – To celebrate Mother’s Day, Craig Crawford is giving his readers the chance to vote for “Favorite TV Mom.” Crawford has an extensive list of 15 different TV Moms. Some are timeless, like Edith Bunker from All in the Family and Marion Cunningham from “Happy Days.” Others are a little less conventional, like Marge Simpson and Nancy Botwin from “Weeds.” Vote now at www.craigcrawford.com.

Cicada Nation – Yes, the cicadas are coming. Yes, people will freak out. No, it’s not the end of the world. Just don’t mention that to Mother Jones, which lists their story on the political history of cicadas as the “Top Story” in their Political Mojo newsletter. While everyone seems to be talking cicadas these days, it’s hardly a POLITICAL news item.

Major Garrett Continues to Battle Illness – Earlier this week, CBS’s Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett announced on Twitter that he was feeling a little under the weather. Even Twitchy noticed.

Tweeps, was off the air & off the grid yesterday & will be for a few days. I need to wrestle this case of double pneumonia to the ground.

— Major Garrett(@MajorCBS) May 7, 2013

Double pneumonia sounds pretty hardcore. Since it’s been a few days, we reached out to Garrett, who tells FBDC, “I’m on the mend. I’m taking more drugs than Elvis but doing fewer shows. I also have a sinus infection with the reach and aggression of the 19th century British Navy. Between the twin maladies, I feel older than 50 and slightly younger than Yoda.” Rest up, Major. And if you just read this, you might want to Lysol your computer. Just to be safe.

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Fish Food

Peter Ogburn — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:40:58 +0000

(A Sprinkling of Things we Think you Ought to Know…)

Will on the Hill – Monday night was the annual “Will on the Hill” event for the Shakespeare Theatre Company. It’s an annual event that gathers politicians, journalists and other D.C. insiders to put on a performance that pairs elements of Williams Shakespeare with modern-day references.

According to their website, “proceeds from the event support STC’s many education, artistic and community outreach programs including in-school workshops and online learning resources that inspire new and diverse audiences and deepen the connection to classical theatre in learners of all ages.” One of the members of the cast was The Hill’s Managing Editor, Bob Cusack. Cusack tweeted this startling photo of himself moments before taking the stage. Turns out, acting is in Cusack’s blood. He tells FBDC, “It was my first time performing in Will on the Hill and brought back memories of when my parents had an off, off, off Broadway theater company in New York City. Last night I did Shakespeare, but back then it was Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk and Agatha Christie plays.” Aside from Jack, Cusack was an extra “Clear and Present Danger” and “Game Change.”

The Tea Party says farewell to a longtime supporter. continued…

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Was Rivera Muzzled? A Tale of the Tape

Eddie Scarry — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:30:25 +0000

One man’s cut is another man’s dip is another man’s “Sorry, I’m not hearing anything.”

On Monday NYT‘s Brian Stelter reported on a bit from an upcoming book by Bloomberg View‘s Jonathan Alter. The part in question alleges that just days before the 2012 presidential election, nearly two months after terrorist attacks on a U.S. consulate in Libya, FNC CEO Roger Ailes personally called one of his channel’s producers and ordered that Geraldo Rivera‘s mic be cut.

In the segment in which Rivera appeared, he criticized his colleague Eric Bolling for what he said was politicizing the attack. As the segment droned on for seven minutes, Ailes ordered the muzzling of Rivera, according to Alter’s book.

Stelter wrote that he sought comment from FNC, which never returned his request (not unusual for the channel’s illustriously choosy PR department). Instead, a spokesperson for FNC went to Mediaite and gave them their side: It was that FNC Executive Vice President of Programming Bill Shine, who called up the producer and ordered not Rivera’s mic be cut, but that the show’s hosts move on to another, less emotionally-charged subject. (The next segment was on immigration, not at all an polarizing topic).

Rivera denied Alter’s account in a tweet. Alter replied, asking why Rivera’s “office” didn’t deny the claim when he called to ask about it. “Specifically to Jonathan Alter, I like you mate,” Rivera countered, “but you never spoke with me about Benghazi and you never asked if Roger Ailes cut my mic.”

Mediaite‘s Andrew Kirell posted the full video from the segment in question, noting that “At no point during the segment is Rivera inaudible.”

Oliver Willis over at the anti-FNC Media Matters disagreed. He also posted the full video, claiming to hear “a change in Rivera’s microphone volume.”

What you can take away from watching and listening to either clip… continued…

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Gene Weingarten Plays Grammar Police

Peter Ogburn — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:55:47 +0000

We’ll take a break from examining the weekly ramblings in Gene Weingarten‘s column for WaPo to look at his Twitter feed. When we checked in on him, we were VERY upset to learn that Gene has changed his Twitter pic from a piece of poop to the picture on the right. It’s a cartoon caricature of Gene ~~Shalit~~ Weingarten on the cover of GQ magazine.

After recovering from the trauma of seeing a poopless Weingarten, we found that he’s using Twitter to play grammar police to fellow journalists. On Monday he went after HuffPost’s Elise Foley because of her Twitter bio. It says, “Politics and immigration reporter for HuffPost. Jessica Alba tweeted one of my articles once–it’s all been downhill from there.”

What’s wrong with that? continued…

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