More recently, he sparred with sportswriter Bill Simmons over a joke that Olbermann found in poor taste. Simmons used the JFK assassination to make a crack about Kobe Bryant‘s career.  Olbermann scolded Simmons by saying Simmons “had no talent” and “no taste”.  Simmons responded with this: “You shouldn’t tell people how to act.  You’ve burned bridges at 3 different companies.  No one wants to hear it from you.”  Yikes!

For those of us in the Twitterverse, it’s great theater. But Olbermann has grown tired of the fighting. HuffPost reports that tweeter @Ceilidhann, a self described “Wannabe writer/politcal wonk”, talked crap about Olbermann’s friend, comedian Richard Lewis.  Or did she?  According to her livejournal page, @Ceilidhann merely called Richard Lewis by his last name. That prompted Olbermann to block @Ceilidhann. He then spent the next several hours working himself up into an impressive lather, fighting with people who wanted an explanation. Eventually, Olbermann posted the following tweet:

Anyone taking bets on how long this vow will last?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Jill Lawrence

In 2004 Columbia Journalism Review named Lawrence one of the top 10 campaign reporters in the country and she was included in Washingtonian‘s 2005 list of the 50 best and most influential journalists in Washington. She will begin work at National Journal on December 12th.  Congrats to Jill!

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

When The Daily Caller broke its widely-known “exclusive” that President Obama borrowed the title of his book “Audacity of Hope” from a sermon given by Reverend Jeremiah Wright in 1990, HuffPost media critic Jason Linkins was among the first to knock them for it.

He also cited Slate‘s Dave Weigel who earlier pointed out a post on BigGovernment.com that rehashed the story of Bill Ayers hosting a dinner for Obama in the ’90s: “Hey, Dave Weigel, what else is going on this morning?” Linkins wrote in his story. A little odd. But maybe not considering the relentless man crush he seems to have on Weigel.

Over the years, we’ve noticed a lot of cross referencing in stories and blog posts by Linkins and Weigel. We mean, a lot. Though Weigel tells us he doesn’t recall he and Linkins hanging out “one on one, ” they met through DCist and ever since, they come off like a team in their work. Like Sonny and Cher. Captain and Tennille. Laverne and Shirley. The Odd Couple.

Since 2009, Linkins has referenced Weigel by name in his media news stories no less than nine times. And that’s just on HuffPost. On his personal blog, we found two references, in one he gushed about Weigel, calling him “a really great person.” In an interview with Washingtonian, he named Weigel as one of D.C’s “especially” great reporters.

He must be. Maybe even perfect. Not one of the references to Weigel in Linkins’ reporting was negative. Media critic? “Maybe he’s just reading me on even days,” Weigel joked to FishbowlDC.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the fierce, almost boyfriend-like defense Linkins offered up for Weigel over the JournoList scandal that resulted in Weigel’s resignation from WaPo. (He said FBDC should die in a fire for breaking the story.)

Weigel has returned the back rub, though to a much lesser extent. He has dropped Linkins’ name on Slate at least five times in the last two years.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

MSNBC censors silenced Coulter’s microphone. Here’s the awkward exchange.

When Team Joe freaks out, Coulter seems genuinely stunned, as if she doesn’t even realize what she said. She managed to sneak out half of the word “douchebag” before the censors struck again. What exactly did Coulter say? Did MSNBC fail to bleep out the douche bag comment? Coulter went on Joy Behar’s HLN show last night to explain WITHOUT getting bleeped. The word was “dickweed.”

For those of you keeping score at home:

Dickweed = Not OK
Douchebag = Totally OK

Unless of course you’re TIME‘s Mark Halperin, who famously said President Obama was being “kind of a dick” earlier this year without getting bleeped. However, he was suspended for over a month for his comments.

We reached out to “Morning Joe’s” Willie Geist who “doesn’t have anything to add to the story”.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Ginger Butternut Squash.

Humongous sigh of relief that host Chuck Todd is back today from vacation and taking the segment seriously (unlike some of his subs who treated the soup as petty and unimportant). He remarked, “This is seasonal, I like it. Ginger Butternut Squash. You’re basically saying I’ll throw in a little Halloween, a little Thanksgiving, a little Christmas — it’s all in there.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

WaPo‘s Erik Wemple took a hatchet to his innocent and pure Tuesday morning plea for readers to buy his eBook. Allen reported that some readers have offered to pay for Playbook even though it’s free. Best quote in the WaPo piece comes from attorney to Washington’s big shots Robert Barnett (who apparently has said he’d pay): “Mike . . . personalizes [Playbook] by things like birthdays and weddings and engagements, and in a world in which we all tend to pay not enough attention to the people around us and their real lives, that’s a real public service.” So let’s get this straight: We need Allen’s Playbook to remember who is important to us? That’s humbling.

Today the humblebrag turns more cringeworthy as Allen announces that “The Right Fights Back” eBook has hit the top of the Kindle political charts (he again explains that you can purchase the book by simply clicking on the Politico banner — it’s just that easy). And then there’s this: a big wet kiss from Business Insider‘s Zeke Miller (read: look for more Zeke in a Playbook near you sometime soon): “I just finished ‘The Right Fights Back’ … The tone and authority sets it apart from anything that’s been written on the campaign to date – and in my humble opinion, Richard Ben Cramer and [the late] Theodore White should enjoy their royalties … Thank you for filling in some of the gaps in my knowledge, confirming more than a few of my educated guesses. Already I can’t wait to read the next installment.”

The statements in bold are intense — a humblebrag within a humblebrag? Now that is deep.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

On ABC News’ blog, Stephanopoulos wrote: “Ginger White, who says she was involved in a 13 or 14 year ‘on and off’ affair with Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, today told me she does not think he is fit to be president. ‘I honestly do not think that he is, in my opinion, would make a good president as far as I’m concerned,’ White told me in an exclusive interview on GMA.” … Stephanopoulos later added, “She told me the spotlight is ‘difficult’ and she has been ‘absolutely humiliated [and] embarrassed.’ ‘I can’t image [sic] waking up one morning and deciding to come out with this if this was not true,’ White said. ‘This has been a very difficult situation for myself and for my family.  And it’s nothing that I’m proud of.’”

George’s best question: “Was it an affair, was it fun, was it just sex? Tell us about it.” Ginger said the affair was casual. She said, however, that coming out like this “has not been fun.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

We continue our week-long tribute to FishbowlMatt by photoshopping him into another compromising position with Gabby Sidibe. Please notice that Matt’s entire physique is nearly the size of Gabby’s left arm. (The handiwork is by QGA’s Meghan Smith.)

Reader says Ezra went rolling in manure

Jeff84 comments on Ezra Klein‘s WonkBlog yesterday morning after the liberal blogger/Democratic activist denied that he “briefed” Senate Democratic Chiefs of Staff: “Since you were discussing the low approval ratings of Congress, you should have been aware that by proximity, you would hurt your own approval ratings. You can’t go rolling in the manure and then complain when people say you stink.  It’s like going to the birthday party for a really unpopular kid in school. Sure, it’s a nice gesture, but the next thing you know, you’re a social pariah and the next four years of your life are ruined. Next time you get an invite to Congress, just remember that it’s an invite to a party for the most unpopular kid on the entire planet. There is nobody less popular than the kid that likes the filibuster. Nobody.”

Threatening Tweet of the Day Award

“I’m a good guy, honest, and true but if ya screw with me … I’ll win.” — Cheoff Geoff Tracy, husband to CBS’s Chief White House Correspondent Norah O’Donnell and typically sweetly obsessed with his burgers and not threatening to kick anyone’s ass. Is Tracy being life coached by MSNBC Contributor Meghan McCain? As some may recall, just yesterday we reported that she tweeted this: “I’m a lover not a fighter. But I’m also a fighter, so you’d better watch it.”

Tapper tweets about ‘poopy diaper’

“Morning score: Poopy diaper 1, Dad 0.” — ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper.

Is he serious?

“Question in the newsroom: if a woman gives birth to a stillborn child, is it correct to call her a mom if it’s her only child?”– WaPo Express‘s Clinton Yates.

Journo speaks in third person after cold shower

I’ll have hot water again in about an hour ^_^ No more cold showers for Timmy (hopefully)! — Washington Business Journal designer Timothy Wong.

Frustration is…

“@AmericanAir Have been waiting for refund for a canceled flight for 10 days, cannot get anyone on the phone! How long do these things take?” — NYT‘s Annie Lowry (Ezzy’s wife).

Eddie Scarry and Peter Ogburn contributed to this report.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Wednesday morning TV guidance: ABC “GMA” Host George Stephanopoulos will interview the now infamous Ginger White, the woman who claims she had a 13-year consensual affair with GOP Presidential hopeful Herman Cain. This is Ms. White’s first live television interview. ABC  is calling it “exclusive” which in the news business means until her next “exclusive” live appearance.

Let’s hope she switches out those heinous frames for the morning program.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Washington Post: Chincoteague fears proposal to move beach would hurt tourism, economy

Washington Times: CURL: Does Obama really want to win?

Washington Examiner: Cab drivers cash in on support for Gray, expect D.C. fares to nearly double

USA Today: Nude yoga fueled Kim Kardashian-Kris Humphries breakup

NPR: First Listen: The Roots, ‘undun’

Real Clear Politics: Herman Cain To “Reassess” Staying In The Republican Race

The Hill: Christie rips Obama over deficit talks: ‘What the hell are we paying you for?’

Politico: Ann Coulter bleeped on ‘Morning Joe’

Roll Call: GOP Tries Undercutting Democrats on Payroll Tax

National Journal: It’s the Numbers, Stupid

The New Republic: The Psychological Foundation of Obama’s Political Problems

The Daily Caller: Holder lashes out at The Daily Caller while refusing to address growing calls for his resignation

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Politico

Indeed, welcome Donovan to Politico and to the Fishbowl.

In an internal memo, Politico‘s Bill Hamilton lays out plans for a new and improved 44 page. The highlight will be a White House blog that focuses on news and personalities. While the entire White House team will write for the blog, two reporters will anchor it — namely Donovan and Byron Tau, who has been hopping around as of late. For a year he worked for Ben Smith and then moved over to Mike Allen‘s team. Tau replaces Matt Negrin, who just left Politico for ABC News.

Congratulations to the new duo on anchoring the page.

See the memo…
continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Finite Spectrum Infinite Demand” is not the name of a conference. It’s a Black Sabbath album. Or at least it should be.

On Wednesday CQ Roll Call is teaming up with LightSquared, Information Technology  and Innovation Foundation to host an forum on wireless demands.  WHAT: “CQ Roll Call’s veteran technology reporter Keith Perine will moderate a panel discussion with some of the most knowledgeable and influential government and industry officials at the epicenter of this issue. WHO: “Congressional leaders, academics and industry stakeholders. Newsmaker interviews led by CQ Roll Call’s Editorial Director Mike Mills. Speakers and panelists include: Rob Atkinson, The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation; Congressman Cliff Stearns; Rebecca Murphy Thompson, Rural Cellular Association; Former Congressman Rick Boucher, Internet Innovation Alliance; Harold Feld, Public Knowledge; Rick Kaplan, FCC; and Chris Riley, Free Press.”

The event will take place at The Columbus Club at Union Station from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. It’s free, but registration is required. Sign up here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

As some of you already know, we’ve started a new series here in the Fishbowl where we help Washingtonian out with their advice column “Ask Harry and Louise.” As we’ve noted before, it’s not that we don’t LIKE the Harry Jaffe and his wife, Louise.  It’s just that if THEY are qualified to write an advice column, then WE are qualified to write an advice column.  Here’s this week’s question from “Feuding Father.”

QUESTION: Four years ago, we were visiting my parents in Florida when my brother-in-law had a run in with my son, who was 11 at the time. My son was running across the living room when my brother-in-law stuck out his foot and tripped him. My son wasn’t hurt badly, but he came up crying. “Why did you trip me?” he asked. My brother-in-law thinks of himself as a jokester, and he probably didn’t mean to hurt my son. But he said, “I didn’t trip you. You’re a klutz. You fell down.” My son, who’s small for his age, couldn’t believe it and said, “Uncle Stu, you stuck your foot out.” Instead of admitting it or laughing it off, Stu replied, “You’re a liar. Don’t be such a girl!” I didn’t see this, but my wife was in the room. She was aghast. I asked my brother-in-law to apologize so we could move on. He refused. We have not spoken since. My mom has invited us to Thanksgiving dinner. It would be the first time we would be with my brother-in-law. My wife wants to make peace, but my son is still wounded, and I never got my apology. Should we go to dinner?

OUR ANSWER: Your brother-in-law sounds like the type of ruthless, psychotic maniac that is perfect for a management position at Politico.  But, that doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy.  I’m sure he thought he was being funny. It was four years ago.  It’s time to move on.  If a reporter for Politico Pro held onto a grudge like that every time Tim Grieve did the journalistic equivalent of tripping them up or making them feel badly about themselves, we’d have no more reporters in Washington. I guess what I’m trying to say is…  While being somewhat of a dick and a sexist, Uncle Stu has a point.  While I wouldn’t make fun of a kid like he did, you are being sort of a baby.  Now, suck it up, schedule dinner with him and WIN THE DAY!!!

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.