TIPS FROM THE POOL, INTO THE DEEP END

Christian Science Monitor‘s Senior Editor and Washington Bureau Chief  David Cook added an interesting nugget to his Pool Report Monday night: He’s old.

The event was a DNC fundraiser dinner hosted by Alexandra Santon and Sam Nataproff in Manhattan.

“Elderly pooler tramped up 5 flights of stairs into the Stanton residence and into what appeared to be a dining room. There were six tables of 10 in a rose colored room with light gold curtains. The meal included beef. And as the pool left the room after his remarks, Co-pooler David Nakamura heard POTUS say ‘how is the meat?’”

Cook, a member of the Gridiron Club who began working at the Christian Science Monitor in 1974, was not too old, however, to notice the importance of an attendee, singer Justin Timberlake. He wrote, “NOTE: Pooler saw Timberlake wearing trendy glasses with thick black plastic frames and his hair was parted on the side and slicked back.”

We reached out to him to ask his exact age as it isn’t mentioned in any article we found about the CSM. “He’s ancient, almost as old as me,” remarked a really longtime Washington journalist.

Please note: “tramped up” is not a sexual term, even on Urban Dictionary. It means, “to walk with a heavy, firm, resounding step.” (Source: Dictionary.com)

TIPS FROM THE POOL, INTO THE DEEP END

Christian Science Monitor‘s David Cook took a moment in a late Monday night Pool Report to thank White House Press Assistant Antoinette Rangel.

“And the thanks of scores of poolers go to Antoinette Rangel who completed her last day as pool wrangler tonight. She brought grace, warmth, and humor to a sometimes difficult job. And her reward was getting to ride home tonight on Marine One.”

In an evening press release, the National Press Club issued a request to the Obama Administration to publicly explain the reasons why the DOJ secretly obtained the phone records of AP reporters.

“This appears to be a gross violation of press freedom,” said National Press Club President Angela Greiling Keane, a Bloomberg News reporter. “If there’s a good explanation for this, the public has a right to hear it promptly.”

In a May 10 letter, DOJ told AP that last year it had obtained two months of personal and professional phone records for AP reporters working the House Press Galleries as well as AP bureaus in Washington, New York, and Hartford.

SiriusXM Politics has noticed the goodness in White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, who passed out what look to be grocery store level brand of donuts to briefing room reporters. He has access to a fancy chef, right?

Clearly he didn’t clear the treat with first lady Michelle Obama or MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinksi.

On Facebook, Sirius posted the news: “From Fox News’ Rich Johnson: White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough hands out McDoughnuts to reporters in the White House basement. Sugary delight!”

Johnson added, “He assured us he bought them with his own money.”

The White House Soup of the Day, as reported by MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown” is…

Greek Lentil Stew.

“I believe we just had Greek Easter, so kinda fitting,” remarked host Chuck Todd.

Today’s White House Correspondents are not lapdogs, but in the past, that’s exactly what they were. So says White House Correspondent Paul Brandus in a column for The Week published this morning.

An excerpt:

Conservatives often like to say that White House reporters (who often work for big, conservative companies like News Corp., Time Warner, and Disney) are liberals who just pass along whatever they are spoonfed by Team Obama. In this view, it’s all a big love fest between journalists and the president down the hall.

They ask why the “liberal media” ignored the Sept. 11 Benghazi attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Somehow these critics missed the 800+ articles that The Washington Post and New York Times alone have run on the story.

The past tells a different story. Read more

The White House Soup of the Day, as reported by MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown,” is…

Ribollita.

“Sounds good,” said host Chuck Todd, majestically stretching out the pronunciation of the name of the soup.

Ribollita is a Tuscan soup made with day-old bread and vegetables.

The White House Soup of the Day, as reported by MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown” is…

Miso.

“Me so happy about this,” said host Chuck Todd with a fairly straight face.

(A sprinkling of what we think you ought to know…)

New conservative publication brands itself with Bush slogan– Rare, an online news site for “today’s conservatives,” makes its official debut April 15. The publication, headed by former TWT Editor Brett Decker, is hosting two events at the Newseum to mark the occasion, one an interview by Decker of a to-be-named “high-profile” guest, the other a video showing “a modern, fresh, technologically savvy approach to conservative media.” Noteworthy: The video calls for “a new way forward” in branding conservative ideas, according to a press release from Rare. “New way forward” was the slogan adopted by the Bush (43) administration in the Iraq War troop surge of 2007.

Glenn Greenwald on Margaret Thatcher and “death etiquette”– Unless the person was truly vile, it’s customary to withhold any strong dumping on someone immediately after his or her death. Writing in The Guardian, Glenn Greenwald says it’s time for that to stop when it comes to political figures like former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. “When a political leader dies, it is irresponsible in the extreme to demand that only praise be permitted but not criticisms,” Greenwald writes. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with loathing Margaret Thatcher or any other person with political influence and power based upon perceived bad acts, and that doesn’t change simply because they die.”

In any case, Thatcher helped invent soft-serve ice cream… Read more

Seems the White House is serious about security. So much so that AP’s Julie Pace, who failed to update her credentials, wasn’t allowed in this morning.

Classic first day back from vacation. White House pass expired while I was gone so I’m stuck outside the gates

— Julie Pace (@jpaceDC) April 8, 2013

Thankfully it all ended well. Approximately 43 minutes after she first tweeted the news, she wrote, “Back in the building. Whew.”