It might be time for Commentary Editor John Podhoretz to get it over with and legally change his surname. Something with just a few more vowels.

At the National Review Institute summit this weekend, conservatives in media and politics gathered to talk about the future of the Republican Party. Those who participated on the “What is wrong with the Right?” panel on Saturday morning with Podhoretz either worked around having to say his name or completely botched it while trying.

National Review‘s Reihan Salam moderated the panel. While introducing the guests, he noted one John “Pod-hore-ets,” with emphasis on each syllable. “It’s ‘Pud-or-its,’” Podoretz said. Apologizing, Salam tried again: “Pud-hore-ets.”

Recognizing that his own name is difficult to pronounced, Salam thanked Podoretz “for the privilege of letting me butcher someone else’s name.”

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough also spoke on the panel. Though Podoretz has been a guest on Scarborough’s “Morning Joe” program, it’s a name with which the “Morning Joe” host still struggles. “I won’t try to say his last name because I always butcher it,” Scarborough said.

NYT columnist Ross Douthat had no luck either… Read more

Today we match one of the most famous journalists in the United States — WaPo‘s Bob Woodward and The Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol. Strangely, we also think Woodward has more than a tinge of “Steve” (David Eigenberg) from “Sex and the City”

in him.

No one can argue that MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough has been among the sharpest critics on the shortcomings of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But he isn’t the only conservative member of the media to make this case. And yet, it’s Scarborough’s relentless criticism that has put him on the receiving end of a firing squad from fellow conservatives.

In short, they think he went too far…

Read more

The weekend brought numerous media sightings around the city.

Thursday gave way to Bill Kristol, who FBDC saw wander out of the CVS on 17th and P Streets. It struck us as slightly odd to see the conservative editor of The Weekly Standard casually stroll up 17th, given the abundance of gay pride paraphernalia on display. No need to be alarmed, however. Kristol, who is married (to a woman), stopped at the Turkish restaurant Agora, not one of the other establishments on 17th such as JR’s, where bartenders have been known to serve drinks half nude or DIK Bar (exactly how it sounds).

At Eastern Market on Saturday we saw nothing short of an act of heroism by Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor. We spotted Brazile dressed comfortably in sandals, a T-shirt and what looked like sweat pants walking her fluffy black dog. A separate dog that was obviously lost padded over to Brazile, who yelled out to a woman in the crowd, “she’s over here!” The woman, apparently familiar with Brazile, approached and said “Donna, I’ve never lost her before.” A happy ending.

On the same day, also at Eastern Market, we spotted a distinguished gentleman walking alongside his bright red Schwinn bike. Our first guess was Pee Wee Herman, but it turned out to be Jimmy LaSalvia, co-founder of GOProud, a gay Republican group.

We reported last week that Anne Kristol, daughter of The Weekly Standard‘s Editor-in-Chief Bill Kristol, recently got hitched to Matthew Continetti, who works at — you guessed it — The Weekly Standard. But we also learned of more fertile ground at the magazine.

As it happens, Publisher Terry Eastland‘s daughter, Katie Eastland, who works at Commentary and previously The Weekly Standard as an assistant editor, is dating  Robert Messenger, a Books Editor at WSJ who previously wrote for The Weekly Standard.

The pair may be heading toward the chapel themselves — this pis her profile picture on Facebook. Comments include, “It’s about time!” and “Congratulations!! You and Robert look very cute together” and “fiiiiiiiinally!”

Over the weekend Anne Kristol Continetti, spawn of The Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol, got hitched, according to the New York Times.

Anne, who is studying for her masters in secondary education at George Washington University, is now the wife of Matthew Continetti. Matthew edits The Washington Free Beacon and also contributes to The Weekly Standard.

That must be one hell of a Take Your Daughter to Work Day over at The Weekly Standard. Congratulations to the Continettis.

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

Come Set Sail on the USS Annoying – All this week, The Weekly Standard Cruise has been out at sea.  It’s a chance for people to buy an opportunity to vacation with their favorite Weekly Standard pundits. Because nothing sounds more fun than being in the vast expanse of the ocean with political pundits like FNC’s Juan Williams, who also writes a column for The Hill. Or being around reporters who have sea sickness, as revealed in the Standard‘s own dispatches from the boat that they’re calling “Cruise News.” Could it be Matthew Continetti or Stephen Hayes? This sounds about as much fun as my 5th grade trip to a slaughterhouse. Guests had the opportunity to pass through the Bahamas, Honduras and a few other tropical locales.  (HELLOOO Gitmo!)  The cruise arrives back in to port this weekend.  If you missed out, have no fear.  Another Weekly Standard Cruise is in the planning stages for summer of next year.  So, if you absolutely must see Bill Kristol in a speedo, visit their website for details.  Just make sure you steer clear of Fred Barnes at the midnight buffet.  You’re likely to lose an eye.

Newt Should Have the District of Columbia Primary Locked Up -With the Iowa caucuses weeks ago, the GOP candidates have crammed their schedules with as many local appearances as possible. Politico has the lineup of what all the GOP candidates have in store today. Every candidate makes an appearance in Iowa, with some scheduling multiple events throughout the day. With the exception of Newt Gingrich.  He’ll be signing copies of his book at Hudson News bookstore at Gate A in Union Station.

No, Blitz – Mediaite brings us the video of a confused and/or out of touch Wolf Blitzer on CNN.  When Jack Cafferty reveals that half of American workers have less than 25,000 dollars in saving, Blitzer responds, “Homeless shelters, get ready.” Homeless shelters, get ready?!?! Yeah, Wolf, we’ve all heard those anguished conversations from struggling families:

HUSBAND – “Darling, how’s our savings account looking?”

WIFE – “Only 18,000 dollars.”

HUSBAND – “Oh no!  Dog food for dinner again?”

WIFE – “Please call it hobo chili so the kids don’t know!”

HUSBAND – “I’ll make a fire in an oil drum to heat it up”

Check out the video below

We spotted Bill Kristol, founder and Editor of The Weekly Standard, entering Reagan National Airport around 10:20 a.m Monday. He was wearing a dark blue suit with a lighter blue button-up shirt.

He was alone and wheeling one medium-sized piece of luggage. The blank expression on his face as well as his casual stroll indicated he was neither in a rush nor late for his flight.

We did our best to snap a photograph of Kristol to prove we really did see him. But, as fate would have it, he hopped on one of those conveyor belts that sends you speeding across the airport’s long halls, even if you are only walking at a leisurely pace. We were unable to catch up and the chase left us breathless near passenger check in.

– EDDIE SCARRY

It’s time once again to check in on how many one-eyed anacondas will hit the political talk show circuit this weekend. Last week we began our series looking at how many females appear on Sunday morning political talk show panels. Last week was rather dismal, with FNC coming in at a big fat zero and the highest showing, two females, appearing on NBC’s “The Chris Matthews Show.” Update: It’s official. This Sunday, ABC’s “This Week” claims the most number of female panel guests.

CBS’s Face the Nation: 1

Mark Zandi, Chief Economist, Moody’s Analytics
Norah O’Donnell, CBS News Chief White House Correspondent
John Dickerson, CBS News Political Analyst

NBC’s Meet the Press: 1

Donna Shalala, Former Sec. of Health and Human Services
William Bennett, Former Sec. of Education
Tim Shriver, Chairman and CEO, Special Olympics
Tavis Smiley, PBS

Fox New Sunday: 1

Brit Hume – Fox News Senior Political Analyst
A.B. Stoddard –The Hill
Bill Kristol – Weekly Standard & Fox News
Juan Williams – Fox News Political Analyst

ABC’s “This Week”: 3

Mary Matalin, Republican Strategist
Amy Walter, ABC News Political Director
Donna Brazile, Democratic Strategist
George Will, ABC News, WaPo columnist

CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: 2

WaPo‘s Jennifer Rubin, Current TV’s David Shuster, Craig Crawford, former WSJ reporter Ron Suskind, former Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Connie Schultz, wife of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

NBC’s Chris Matthews Show: 2

The Daily Beast‘s Andrew Sullivan, NYT‘s Helene Cooper, CNN’s Gloria Borger, and WaPo‘s Michael Gerson.

Do you have a penis? Do you know a little something about politics or can you at least fake it? Then the Sunday morning political talk show circuit is for you. This Sunday features a particular abundance of testosterone on Fox News Sunday and most of the other shows. Each week we’re going to keep tabs on the gender breakdown of the panels and guests and see who regularly invites females on their shows and more importantly, who doesn’t.

Take a look.

Fox News Sunday: 0

Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard and FNC contributor
Paul Gigot, WSJ
Juan Williams, FNC political analyst
Evan Bayh, former U.S. senator and governor from Indiana and FNC contributor

NBC “Meet the Press”: 2

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI)
Alex Castellanos, Republican Strategist
Mark Halperin, TIME: “President Obama was a dick yesterday” (Seems relevant)
Helene Cooper, NYT White House Correspondent

ABC’s “This Week”: 1

George Will, WaPo, Cokie Roberts, NPR, Jonathan Karl, ABC, Michael Beschloss, American historian

The Chris Matthews Show: 2

Major Garrett, NJ
Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News
Michael Duffy, TIME Magazine
Katty Kay, BBC

CNN’s Reliable Sources: 1

Steve Roberts, The George Washington University
Michelle Cottle, The Daily Beast
Ramesh Ponnuru, National Review
Jeff Zeleny, NYT
Ben Smith, Politico

Paul Carr, TechCrunch