How come the obituary for John Francis Mullen, a Washington Post copy editor who passed away over a year ago, has been one of washingtonpost.com’s most viewed articles on and off this week…?

He turns 90 today.

(Schorr with Scott Simon and NPR CEO Kevin Klose)

(Earlier: “Schorr Goes On Record About Off Record Event”)

(Megyn Kendall, Laurie Duhe, Bret Baier, and Amy Baier)

DC’s Upper Crust made it out to Cafe Milano last night for Capitol File’s celebration of MyNetwork TV (from the folks who brought you Fox, the Fox News Channel and FX).

Bo Derek was the main draw (she’s in the MyNetworkTV show “Fashion House”).

Media types in the house: CNN’s Edie Emery and David Bohrman. Fox’s Megyn Kendall, Laurie Dhue, Bret Baier, Mort Kondracke, Hadley Gamble and Chris Wallace. WUSA’s Mike Walter. WMAL’s Chris Berry. Washington Times’ John McCaslin, Stephanie Mansfield and Kevin Chaffee. Washington Post’s Roxanne Roberts. WUSA 9′s Derek McBinty. Alexandria Times’ John Arundel. Fox 5′s Laura Evans and Will Thomas. MyTV’s Taylor Kinney, Natalie Martinez and Donna Feldman. National Geographic Channel’s Laureen Ong. Washingtonian’s Garrett Graff and National Journal’s Katherine Birrow. Wonkette’s Alex Pareene and Wonkette Photog Liz Gorman.

David Bass protege Qorvis’ Seth Thomas Pietras and Capitol File’s Anne Schroeder.

Natalie Martinez of MyTv

Derika Abraham and Donna Feldman of MyTv

(Keri Meslar, Katherine Kennedy, Pamela Sorensen, Hadley Gamble, and Ashley Taylor)

Feed me.

Wonkette’s Alex Pareene and Liz Gorman

And, of course, more Liz Gorman.

More recent chatter from the Post’s internal critique board:

Michael Powell:

Re: Mike Wilbon’s on line chat today

GAWWWWD I feel good that Mikey W. makes a lot & a lot & a lot of money (I sure hope he pays his union dues) and talks to a lot of really important Washington DC lawyers — a SENIOR partner, no less! — a pols of NOTE! (Can you imagine?) And it’s great that he’s managed to give his fellow power-brokers the lo-down on these mangy mutts in style and news who keep woofing at his pleated trousers. Not to mention poor Anthony Kornheiser, with his rarefied and Soprano-like sense of humor.

I mean, Mikey W. almost sounds like an athlete, conflating bling and dough with brains. Almost.

Here’s hoping that between television and radio and meeting with his financial advisor, Mikey can find time to tutor the rest of us about writing on deadline, and talking stupid, too.

Shout out to you, Mikey & Tony.

Jennifer Frey:

Gotta back up Powell on this one. I’ve spent a lot of time in locker rooms, and it sure sounds like Wilbon has been drinking the Kool Aid. One valuable lesson I did learn in those locker rooms: no amount of money can hide ignorance.

And I have to say, I can’t remember the last time I hung around listening to my Style colleagues talk about who makes how much money–but I can relate for you about 2 billion of those conversations heard in sports press boxes over the years. Talk about a hotbed of insecurity complexes.

BTW, that deadline thing? Hey, I’ll give you the enormous demand for copy, the brutal travel, the jerks you have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Sportswriting is HARD. But I have to say, filing a deadline story on a live night event is the EASIEST part of my job these days.

Neely Tucker:

…can we send wilbon and kornheiser into iraq, afghanistan, gaza, sudan, et al, for a week so they can (a) have a sense of what difficult reporting actually is (mr. tony’s mnf football bus was delayed for TWO whole hours last night, he informs us today. goodness! did the ice in the mini-bar melt?? how DO we pay him enough?) and (b) understand that a “hostile” reaction to a story is not a review of your work that fails to mention your undeniable brilliance but, you know, gunfire into your vehicle.

Darryl Fears:

Mike Wilbon may be drinking the Kool-Aid. But some of you critics out there sound like you’re swilling the Haterade. Sports isn’t politics and it’s not war, in spite of the soundalike headlines about players locked in battle and throwing bombs. It’s entertainment, and it’s as out of control with the bling-bling as Hollywood.

Granted, sometimes Wilbon seems a little cozy with the folks he covers. But is that so unusual in this business? It happens all the time with political reporters — national and local, war correspondents who run around asking soldiers who they “lit up” today, and bleeding heart social journalists.

I don’t always like Wilbon, but often I do. Turning out some of that stuff on deadline looks damn hard to me. And face it, the reason he’s doing what he’s doing in all the arenas that he’s doing it, is that he’s better at it than you and me. Or is it you and I? Whatever, I think I made my point.

Today, we chat with DC Style’s Kelly Ann Collins.

How many suits do you own? Including the ones in storage? Lots. Triple digits. But, I’m not a “suit person.” I hate wearing suits.

What word do you routinely misspell? Dumbbell.

Did you see Brokeback Mountain? No.

Did you see The Da Vinci Code? No.

What’s the name of your cell phone ring? Charlie’s Angels (TV Theme)

What time did you get up this morning? 6:23

When did you last cry and why? Last week. I shut my finger in a door.

Which of the seven deadly sins are you? Lust.

Beach, city or country? City.

Would you say you’re cute? Pretty? Hot? Beautiful? Depends on when you ask. Right now, I look like a monster. You know, because I have on a stupid Von Dutch hat, last season’s Juicy Couture, which I spilled my Mint Condition on about five minutes ago, and I have a serious case of bedhead under this hat.

More when you click below…(and see previous FishbowlDC interviews: Julie Mason, David Shuster, Joe Curl, Alex Pareene, Peter Beinart, Jonah Goldberg, Megyn Kendall, Ana Marie Cox, Jim Brady, Howard Mortman, Amy Argetsinger, Jose Antonio Vargas, Chuck Todd)

Read more

Technically, it’s still August, so we feel slightly okay writing another post about the endless Tony Kornheiser debate.

There’s been some chatter on the Post’s internal critique board regarding the whole mess and it’s good:

From Gene Weingarten:

I think after the first regular-season Monday Night Football game, every section should have its own review of Kornheiser’s performance. Even, like, Food and Health. It should be the cover story in Book World. Toles, too. The only section that shouldn’t cover Tony is Sports.

Peter Carlson:

Now we know why Gene Weingarten, although he is a great American and a fabulous columnist, is not the editor of this newspaper.

Weingarten:

Peter, not recognizing satire is WILBON’s job.

Howard Schneider:

I thought you already said that was Deb’s job. Please decide.

Carlson:

Gene, not recognizing satire is WILBON’s job.

Weingarten:

Peter, not recognizing a satirical response to satire is WILBON’s job.

(Earler: “Blitzer Facts“)

The Washington Post today announced that Glenn Frankel–a 27 year Post veteran and Pulitzer Prize winner–is leaving the Washington Post to join Stanford University’s journalism department as their Hearst Professional in Residence in Communication. Tom Shroder and Sydney Trent said “Glenn is one of the best human beings we know — hugely humble, deeply caring of his colleagues and remarkably generous with his wisdom.”

After reading this…

“Gov. Blanco of Louisiana chokes while being interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on Late Edition. Wolf keeps his cool. Of course he does. He’s Wolf Blitzer.”

…we thought of one thing and one thing only: Chuck Norris Facts.

And if you substitute Wolf Blitzer’s name for Norris’ in some of the Chuck Norris Facts, they actually seem fitting because, after all: Both Chuck Norris and Wolf Blitzer are total bad asses.