The Hill is throwing a goodbye party for outgoing White House Correspondent Sam Youngman late Friday afternoon. Expect Youngman to be holding court at one of his favorite haunts, the Hay Adams Off the Record bar that is a hop, skip and jump from the Briefing Room.

An internal invitation from Managing Editor Bob Cusack says: We will be toasting Sam’s five years at The Hill and his future at Reuters tomorrow night at the Hay Adams Off the Record bar, which is just a Michael Vick throw from the office. We are aiming to be there at 5 pm. (I’m told Sam’s beloved Kentucky Wildcats tipoff at 7 pm). Please stop by to send off Sam in style.

We hear Cusack has a couple of good stories to tell about Sam’s time at The Hill. As we’ve reported, Youngman is going to work for Reuters. For the next year he’ll be out on the campaign trail. We gather it won’t be boring.

Quotes of the Day

Coincidence? We think not. Last night FishbowlMatt and I were texting about a variety of hot topics when he entered the Chipotle and saw this.

Deep Thoughts…

“Sun. Grass. Newspapers. People. A family of teeny mice tiptoe through the shrubs in their own private world. #sittingstill #whatching” — National Geographic Contributing Editor Carl Hoffman.

Luke and Maureen off to see Bruce

“On my way to see Springsteen with Luke. Wrote Newsweek cover story on Bruce exactly 36 years ago this coming week.” — Vanity Fair Correspondent Maureen Orth. (The late Tim Russert‘s favorite musician was Springsteen. The musician gave a surprise performance at Russert’s memorial service in 2008.)

The Political Consultant

“Sen. @DavidVitter uses Twitter to congratulate individual Republicans for winning in Saturday’s La. Election #notnecessary” — CNN Senior Political Editor Mark Preston.

Flashback

“Mechanic told me today my car failed inspection. He had a look of disappointment as I tried to explain what happened #highschoolflashbacks” — The Hill‘s Managing Editor Bob Cusack.

TWT Senior Op-ed Writer Emily Miller‘s reaction to ex-Gov. Mark Sanford being hired by Fox News: “WTF?”

Really?

“I’m so tempted to ad-lib but I won’t.” — TIME‘s Mark Halperin on this morning’s “Morning Joe.” After calling President Obama “kind of a dick” on national TV we’d think Halperin wouldn’t even think about ad-libbing. This involved a reenactment of Texas Gov. Rick Perry‘s interview to Parade Magazine. Willie Geist played Perry. Halperin played the interviewer.

Happy 24th wedding anniversary to WaPo‘s Karen Tumulty.

ABC’s Klein welcomes baby into world

“A warm welcome to Max Rubin Klein (9lb 8oz!). Future slugger? Congrats to parents Laine and @rickklein and big brother Jack.” — ABC’s Jonathan Karl.

Reminder: TMZ’s Harvey Levin talks to GWU students and then he’s off to the National Press Club for lunch.

If you’re up…

Call Trail Mix blogger Craig Crawford on C-SPAN starting at 7:45 a.m.

Democrats: (202) 737-0001
Republicans: (202) 737-0002
Independents: (202) 628-0205
Outside U.S.: (202) 628-0184

Quotes of the Day

WaPo‘s Richard Leiby: “Cleaning old desktop files, I found this photo. LBJ swore his dogs liked the ear-lift. Press corps demanded proof, so he showed ‘em. Innocent times. Today someone in the White House would be subpoenaed to produce the beagle’s vet bills.” Leiby is relocating to Islamabad where he’ll be the Bureau Chief.

Simply heartwarming

“How could they not LOVE the ween?” — Traci Nobles, a cheerleading coach with whom ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) sexted, reacting to Weiner telling her that his in-laws wanted him to become Muslim. Excerpts of her new book “I Freinded You” are being published by MailOnline. It gets worse. Particularly disturbing is the part of the excerpt where she talks about sexting Weiner when he changed his avatar to that of his young niece. Nobles writes, “It felt strange to dirty talk with a toddler looking back at me. I was distracted by the photo of his niece; it felt weird, not so sexy.” Readers you have to see this.

FNC’s Bill O’Reilly opens up to Politico

Let your mother know how much she means to you in the form of a haiku. “My mother is 88. She isn’t into haiku. She knows I am looking out for her.” — FNC’s Bill O’Reilly partakes in Patrick Gavin‘s “Answer This” interview. Find out about his happy childhood here.

9-9-9 Branding

“Cosi cashier on my $9.99 lunch: “What d’ya know — 9-9-9!” #branding” — Politico‘s Alexander Burns.

Oopsie! This week The Hill‘s Managing Editor Bob Cusack appeared on FNC’s Neil Cavuto program. The host, a sub named Eric, got momentarily confused and called him John Cusack (we presume after the actor). He quickly corrected himself.

A belated Happy Birthday to… Bloomberg‘s Anna Edney. Her birthday was yesterday.

Journo gets ready to sweat

“Currently psyching myself up to do P90X abs. 15mins that leave me sweatier than Hank Williams Jr. in a… well, anywhere.” — The Blaze‘s Eddie Scarry. We have to wonder, was he inspired by Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.)?

This afternoon’s Incest Desk features a pair we’ve featured before. Apparently this father-daughter duo doesn’t care about the image factor. Things to ponder: Is The Hill going to start paying Howie? And will The Daily Beast start compensating Howiella for any scoops her father may leak to her?

The Daily Beast‘s Washington Bureau Chief Howard Kurtz got that exclusive about Elizabeth Smart joining ABC. The Daily Beast wrote on Twitter: “Exclusive: Elizabeth Smart to join ABC News as pundit for missing persons cases. @HowardKurtz on the surprise hire.” Read here.

But guess who also gets an “exclusive”? Kurtz’s daughter. The Hill‘s @JudyKurtz: “ITK Exclusive: Elizabeth Smart defends role as ABC contributor, “feels bad” for critics.” Read here.

UPDATE: The Hill‘s Managing Editor Bob Cusack wanted to weigh in on this. He wrote FishbowlDC, “This item is false, which we would have explained had we had a chance to comment before it was posted. Earlier this week, two editors at The Hill, including me, were contacted by Hybrid Communications. The firm simply offered us an interview with Elizabeth Smart and we got Judy on the case. Judy has hit the ground running at The Hill and readers in the nation’s capital have taken notice.”

Editor’s note: Agree to disagree. When FBDC makes observations about fishy coincidences, we do not think it’s necessary to get anyone to comment on whether they share our sentiment that it is an unusual coincidence. The fact that two related Kurtz journalists had a scoop on Elizabeth Smart after Howard Kurtz recently pimped his daughter’s story on Rob Lowe’s son after Howie personally profiled Lowe, caught our eye. We wish Judy Kurtz the best in acquiring new readers.

If “suck up to Drudge Report’s Joe Curl” is on your list of to-dos, now would be an excellent time to check off that box.  Why?  Because FishbowlDC’s favorite silver fox is celebrating his birthday today.  We’re not sure how old the sterling scribe is…but does it really matter?  When your lustrous locks rival Anderson Cooper‘s coiffure, you can only get better with age.  Happy birthday, JC!

*Note to Bob Cusack:  Don’t take the “favorite” part of this post personally.  We’re not sure if you’re dabbling in “Just for Men” or if simply making a slow and steady transition into fox-hood but we consider you more of a “silver fox cub” or “silvering fox.”

The Hill‘s Managing Editor Bob Cusack is having a pretty exciting week, and amazingly it has nothing to do with the White House Correspondents’ Dinner pre-parties. He’s resuming his long-dormant acting career on Friday in Baltimore where he’ll be an extra on the set of the HBO movie “Game Change.”

He has no script to learn as the role won’t  likely involve speaking. He also didn’t even have to audition. “Once you’re in SAG, you just email the casting agent with a head shot,” he explained of the Screen Actors Guild, of which he is a member.

Cusack is an old hat at being an extra. He has been in more than 20 movies, including “The Pelican Brief,” “Guarding Tess,” “In the Line of Fire” and “Dave.” Sometimes it’s hard to spot him though he’s clearly seen in “Clear and Present Danger.” (See here for a refresher course on that.)

“Game Change” is based on the bestselling book by TIME‘s Mark Halperin and NY Mag’s John Heilemann on the 2008 presidential election race.

Julianne Moore is playing the part of Sarah Palin while Ed Harris is taking on the role of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Woody Harrelson is also in the film.

Just after dawn this morning, MSNBC “Morning Joe” Host  Joe Scarborough used a phrase on his  program that would have made a certain senator’s ears perk up.

“What Harry Reid just said wasn’t true – he pulled a Cornyn,” said Scarborough.

The former Republican congressman turned TV host got into a public scuffle with National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) last week when The Hill‘s longtime Managing Editor Bob Cusack wrote a story quoting Cornyn saying that he had suggested to Scarborough that he run for Senate in Florida. Cornyn and the NRSC denied it, saying the journalist must have misunderstood. Scarborough confirmed it.

Hence a phrase is born.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) drifted into the fray of the new phrase by saying that everything is just fine with Social Security. “He just said in two decades we’ll take a look at it,” said an incredulous “Morning Joe” co-host Mike Barnicle. “He’ll be 140.”

We called Cornyn’s Washington office for comment, but “due to high call volume” they cannot answer the phone or accept messages at this time. We also checked in with NRSC Spokesman Brian Walsh.  Stay tuned…

UPDATE: Walsh commented to FishbowlDC: “We’ve moved on.”

Last night The Hill‘s Bob Cusack published a piece claiming Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), has been courting MSNBC host Joe Scarborough to run against Bill Nelson (D-FL) in the upcoming Florida Senate race.  The article, written following an interview, claimed Cornyn has twice approached “Morning Joe” about a potential bid and quoted him saying, “I’d be delighted to talk to him a third time.”

But it seems the Senator may have said too much because this morning the NRSC and Cornyn challenged Cusack’s reporting.  Both denied the story’s validity via telephone and Twitter:

@NRSC: THE NRSC is not courting Joe Scarborough for #FLSEN. The story is not true. http://j.mp/ey22AW @AoSHQ @danriehl

@JohnCornyn: Story is wrong RT @emilylgoodin: .@NRSC Chairman @JohnCornyn tells The Hill he’s talked to Joe Scarborough abo… (cont) http://deck.ly/~Rf0L8

And it worked.  Bloggers and journalists took Cornyn’s word, writing that rumors had been “squashed.”  National Journal even sent the below email alert:

SAY IT AIN’T JOE. Let’s be very clear: former Florida Rep. and current MSNBC host Joe Scarborough is not running for Senate, and Republicans aren’t courting him. Asked by a reporter whether the television host’s name had come up, National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman John Cornyn, R-Texas, said it had, but Republican officials say they’re not counting on Scarborough to take on Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. Instead, expect a raucous primary on the GOP side. State Senate President Mike Haridopolos is, at the moment, dominating the spotlight and the fundraising circuit.

But this gloomy story of  Washington spin has a silver lining.  Scarborough responded to Cusack’s request for comment this afternoon and made Cornyn look the fool:

“John suggested last month that I consider running for the Senate against Bill Nelson. His intent was clear and unambiguous and echoed his quotes in The Hill. However, I love the job I have and have no intention of running for the Senate,” Scarborough told The Hill.

Cornyn FAIL.  Point Cusack.  And kudos to Joe!  That’s exactly the kind of honesty we need in a representative.

UPDATE: The gloves are off.  The drama between The Hill, Joe Scarborough, Sen. John Cornyn and the NRSC is getting nasty.  Read the latest after the jump.

Read more

Top L: A surfy, turfy entree Top R: John Feehery and Doug Heye Bottom L: The Hill‘s Christina Wilkie preparing for her close-up.  Bottom R: The glistening locks of a silver fox – Bob Cusack, The Hill‘s M.E. and resident Clooney.

To reporters at The Hill, all they know is that their colleague, Senate reporter J. Taylor Rushing, has not been to work since two Fridays ago. He has been at the paper for nearly three years. One dubbed it “missing” and expressed worry.

The mystery is solved — Rushing and The Hill have agreed to part ways, FishbowlDC has learned. “J.T. is leaving The Hill by mutual agreement,” said Managing Editor Bob Cusack.

Not a word has been said to staff from management. In the past, when they’ve parted ways with employees at least they’ve sent out a perfunctory email about “pursuing other opportunities,” one employee remarked.

Rushing has been searching for new employment since last week, including inquiring at one of The Hill‘s competitors, Politico, for any openings.