“Hmm which to choose?” — ABC’s Martha Raddatz with accompanying photograph.

Reader explains “tricks” scribes use to avoid crediting others

On Friday, WaPo‘s Paul Farhi wrote a story on Politico pulling a video that featured Sen. Min. Leader Mitch McConnell‘s (R-Ky.) COS blowing them love kisses. Turns out may that be against Senate rules, as reported by Roll Call‘s Meredith Shiner. So we wrote about Farhi’s failure to adequately cite Shiner and her story.

An Anonymous reader writes in…“Farhi’s failure to credit Roll Call: He use two of the oldest tricks in the book for skating past the explicit crediting of others: Don’t mention at top, but then mention the name of the news breaking organization without crediting them but attributing some small detail to their reporting. Fig leaf covered! The second dodge is when one your “friends” (your editor) tells you, “Farhi, you got beat on something!) Like the immaculate conception, if you hear it from someone else, then it is no longer breaking news!”

Important Question to Ponder: “Does Gray’s Anatomy have to be so bloody?” — FNC’s Greta Van Susteren.

The Observer

“Well, that was a new one: person in our row at Star Trek got up periodically throughout movie to do lunges in aisle.” — Anna Sproul-Latimer, literary agent.

S.E. Cupp finds perfect hamburger

“Found out the @innoutburger by LAX opens at 10:30 am. Plenty of time to grab a double-double animal style before my flight. #Worththetrip” — MSNBC’s S.E. Cupp.

Journo blows off steam

“Getting some aggression out at the driving range….” — Fox News Senate Producer Kara Rowland.

And another tries to recreate his heart attack

“Where is my ambulance? I think this is the widow maker – jk” — Mediaite White House Correspondent Tommy Christopher.

Producer looks to Trumps for finer things in life

“Got fabulous @IvankaTrump shoes this wk & delicious wine from @trumpwinery last wk. They sure make some good stuff. @realDonaldTrump” — WMAL Executive Producer Heather Smith.

Guiding Sophia’s Light

“New Golden Rule 21st Century style: I will do To you before you can do it to me! I will burn you before you can break me. I ain’t no punk.” — Essence and theGrio‘s Sophia Nelson.

See more Morning Chatter…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Smoke was coming out of my phone yesterday.” — NBC “TODAY” Show’s Savannah Guthrie on announcing her engagement to Michael Feldman Monday.

Editor wants to prank house sitter

“Friend stayed @ our house while we were away. Thinking of removing all furniture & taking photos, telling him, ‘You forgot to lock the door!’” — WaPo Book World Editor Ron Charles.

Postcard to DOJ

“Dear DOJ: my email password is “GoScrewYourselves’” — Daily Beast Contributor Justin Green in reaction to news that DOJ secretly obtained phone records of AP reporters and editors.

Important Q to Ponder: “Can’t we just ban talking points altogether? Or would that just confuse everyone?” – NYT‘s Mark Leibovich, who has a book coming out this summer that isn’t worrying anyone (wink wink).

Journo followed strange source rules

“In Belfast, had source who wouldn’t let me call or email. Ever. I had to go to house, but not park o/side. Got to know his wife & kids well.” — Toby Harnden, Washington Bureau Chief of The Sunday Times.

The Fashion Hound

“No one on television has better ties than Brian Williams. (And that’s what really counts.)” — Politico‘s Roger Simon.

WORST HEADLINE OF THE WEEK

By HuffPost‘s Jason Linkins

Paranoia Strikes

• “Someone walking n th bldg behind me who asked wt floor I live on last time. If they do it again I’m running down th hall yelling STRANGER!” — Editor of The DC Pundit Javonni Brustow.

• “Have never been this terrified of the sound of an approaching ice cream truck. Got the feeling it’s secretly a black helicopter.” — Justin Green.

Words to live by or casting call for Bad Girls Club?

“I love bad bitches.” — Meghan McCain.

World crumbles as reporter’s TV show is not on and, by far, the strangest news of the day concerning a Politico reporter.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

MAKING AN ENTRANCE AND AN EXIT: Host of “CBS This Morning” Gayle King walked into the Washington Hilton on Saturday night in an eye-popping kelly green gown by Vicky Tiel. On Friday night, she was spotted leaving the Turkish Embassy residence where The Hill was hosting its pre-WHCD party.

“Don’t hurt yourself.” — A St. Regis employee to guests of Friday night’s TIME-People party at which partygoers, many of whom were White House correspondents, received gift bags so heavy they could give you a hernia. More on the contents later…

Humility is…

“I have been told many times I look like @MatthewPerry. I just saw him at #nerdprom. He is far better looking.” — The Hill’s Managing Editor Bob Cusack.

Editor wants WHCD weekend to be more substantive

“It kind of sickens me when you’re here for the White House Correspondents’ Weekend that there are not more substantive discussions.” — Steve Clemons, Editor-at-Large for The Atlantic, who hosted a discussion over the weekend with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Sen. Joe Manchin (R-WVa.) at the Ritz. The banquet room was packed. Breakfast disappeared too fast. The discussion centered on American military power today. Attendees included BuzzFeed Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton, NJ‘s Brian Fung, Yahoo! News‘ Chris Moody, Newsweek-Daily Beast‘s Eli Lake and The Atlantic‘s Jay Lauf.

A plea for help

“Someone catch me up on the last 9 days of news.” — Politico White House Correspondent Byron Tau.

Important Q to Ponder: “In a cab going to the airport but our driver is sleepy so he has the window down – to freeze or get into an accident?” — Oversharing Sherri Shepherd, co-host of ABC’s “The View.”

HuffPost‘s Sam Stein “impressed” with Politico

ThinkProgress‘ Judd Legum: “Politico currently has 54 separate links to stories abt WHCA Dinner on its front page.”

Huffpost‘s Sam Stein: “I’m kind of impressed.”

And in Bob Schieffer, Claire Danes father-daughter news… 

“Someone asked Bob Schieffer if he was Claire Danes’ daddy.” — former White House reporter Myles Miller.

Some buzz on BuzzFeed Party

“CSPAN showing super long line for @BuzzFeed party. A lot of sad faces who can’t get in #buzzfeedbbq” — Washington Examiner‘s Charlie Spiering. And this from Roll Call HOH’s Warren Rojas: “Crowd in #BuzzFeedbbq just let out very self-satisfied collective whoop after @cspan live shot of line @JackRoseinDC #counterwhcd”

Psy or is it more like Sigh?

“Psy just walked by me. I feel somehow cooler. Or at least more relevant.” — WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza. Good thing Cillizza didn’t actually try to communicate with Psy.

Starting new pub is stressful

“Rare has oped from Jeb Bush today so big relief we can get the big names when so new. I’m on pins and needles every day.” — Rare Editor-in-Chief Brett Decker. See here. Will Jeb run or won’t he? Who knows, but his last graph sounds rather presidential. He writes, “American greatness comes from the power of individuals – not the government – to create wealth and opportunity through competition, innovation and empowerment. Not only must we pursue reform, we must do a much better job communicating how these reforms protect and promote the genius of America.”

More WHCD fallout…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Prior to the screening, actor Robert Redford, documentary producers Andrew Lack and Laura Michalchyshyn and famed Watergate journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein walked a red carpet.

Woodward was at the center of a minor media scandal earlier this year when he suggested that he had been threatened by a White House official. Once a thorn in the side of Republicans, Woodward’s claim won him fans on the right and several appearances on FNC’s “Hannity.”

Asked what he makes of Woodward’s tendency to stir trouble on both the left and the right, Redford told FBDC, “it means he’s doing a good job.”

“We don’t live in a world where everybody’s one way or the other,” he added. “There’s a lot of gray there. I think if somebody’s doing their job, they’re going to provoke people who don’t want to see the job well done.”

In remarks before the film, WHCA President and FNC Chief White House Correspondent Ed Henry said this year’s WHCA dinner is trying to focus on the scholarship that WHCA offers aspiring journalists rather than the celebrities who will be attending. He said Redford agreed to attend the screening in that same spirit.

Fun fact: The documentary contains a scene wherein TV commentator Ben Stein starts crying at the memory of President Richard Nixon‘s final speech as president.

Following the film was a panel discussion with Redford, Bernstein, Woodward, Henry and Newsweek‘s Eleanor Clift.

When asked about the state of journalism today Redford said… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

BREAKFAST AT ABC’s THIS WEEK: HuffPost-AOL Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington: “French toast, home fried potatoes, sausage patties and bacon in the ABC green room. Seriously?” Host George Stephanopoulos replied, “Sorry, Arianna, I ate all the Greek yogurt.”

On Margaret Thatcher’s passing

“Margaret Thatcher was the first politician I ever met. She was a wonderful person and a great leader.” — FNC Contributor and RedState Editor Erik Erickson.

“Obviously, everyone should relate Thatcher’s death to something in American politics, and then tweet it, because that is a Good Thing to Do.” — Politico‘s Tony Romm.

“Over-under on # of people who will write interesting columns about what Thatcher meant to them: 4″ — Politico‘s Alexander Burns.

Music editor ties the knot

“En route to the church to marry my best friend, @mabinty. #weddingday.” — WCP‘s Marcus Moore, who married Mabinty Koroma.

Violent dream talk.

“I’m killing people off in my dreams right and left this week. Sorry, everyone. I don’t like it either.” — Photographer and blogger Laurie White.

Weekend TV Watching

“This episode of Cops takes place in Portland. The squad car pulls over a naked man on a bike who is ‘protesting global warming.’” — Politico’s Byron Tau.

“Watching ‘Point Break’ with Alex Pappas. It’s his favorite movie.” — The Daily Caller’s Will Rahn regarding he and his colleague, Alex Pappas.

Tschida’s exotic vacation to southeast Asia

“Long airport layover, so sign up for ‘foot massage.’ 90-year-old man comes in says please take off trouser but please leave underwear on.” — ABC7′s Stephen Tschida. And unfortunately, upon returning home, Tschida falls ill: “Back from the jungle and all day long I go from chills to sweat. Sure hope it’s the D.C. weather and not dengue fever. But with my luck?”

Editor throws caution to wind

“Went to the P St. Whole Foods after 2pm because YOLO” — Foreign Policy magazine Managing Editor Blake Hounshell.

TV anchor admits culinary weakness and a reader panics that Politico Playbook has been nixed today. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The Media Critic

The new Prince book from Toure sounds interesting. – CNN’s Jake Tapper

Spring Fever

You guys, this is the last Friday of the year for which baseball is not an option. - Roll Call’s Meredith Shiner

Never Forget

The song “Friday” by Rebecca Black is two years old this month. – Politico’s Byron Tau

Conversations Between Two Journos

“Somewhere in my family’s junk there is a receipt, signed by Lincoln, for a bunch of fixed roads/sidewalks in dc. No joke.” – Politico’s Ben White

WaPo’s Plumline author Greg Sargent writes back, “uh, dude? might be worth digging that out.” White replied that he’s “been on hunt for some time.” Best of luck, Ben.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The gang from R to L: WSJ’s Danny Yadron and Andrew Grossman, Sahil Kapur from TPM, Politico‘s Tim Mak and Emily Schultheis, and Asawin Suebsaeng from Mother Jones and his girlfriend.

Earlier this week, friends of National Journal‘s new tech reporter, Brian Fung, former an associate editor for The Atlantic, drank to his success at Shaw Tavern while he was markedly absent.

Dinner apparently ran late, causing him to miss the festivities. But friends kindly toasted to him anyhow. “Congrats to @b_fung on your new job,” cracked Politico‘s Byron Tau on Twitter. “Wish you could have made it to your own party!”

We asked Fung about missing out. He replied, “I had a bit of an accidental scheduling conflict that evening. Serves me right — you live by the meme, you die by the meme.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“This here is a Christopher Hitchens Christmas ornament.” — The Hill’s Daniel Strauss. 

Questionable footwear

“Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s shoes — not what a senator typically wears to work.” — HuffPost‘s Ethan Klapper.

Journo’s react to laziness accusation: NYT‘s Carl Hulse comes up with perfect response

“Laziness in political reporting is becoming an epidemic.” — Josh Holmes.

• “I’d like to know what he means but wld take 2 much time.” — NYT‘s Carl Hulse.

• “I totally agree. I mean, I haven’t checked, but totally true.” — Politico‘s Josh Gerstein.

Journo wants legal help with parking ticket

“I need a constitutional law attorney to help me with a parking ticket, pro bono. Any volunteers?” — Politico White House reporter Byron Tau.

 ABC reporter bashes CNN

“CNN’s headline that Obama/GOP are ‘running out of time’ on fiscal cliff is the reason people don’t watch CNN.” — ABC News’ Matt Negrin.

Quote Taken Out of Context

“I’m just bummed Kei$ha couldn’t make the afterparty.” — Politico‘s Dave Catanese.

Hey Touré: WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?

“@Toure since you’re RTing me how about UNBLOCKING me so I can FOLLOW YOU.” — FBDC and TheBlaze‘s Eddie Scarry.

Bosom Buddies

“First reported by @JakeSherman the #GOP has sent a new cliff offer back to the WH.” — NBC’s Luke Russert. Luke’s bff is Politico congressional reporter Jake Sherman.

Unnecessary Tweet of the Day (although we’re absurdly glad he did it)

“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<”)))><~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<”))><~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~” — Politico‘s Dylan Byers.

See what has a cartoonist in a twist… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“John Feehery, in a strange way you have a point.” — MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Hardball Wednesday in the rare instance when he concedes anything. Feehery works at Quinn Gillespie & Associates and regularly appears on the program.

Goddamn deep thoughts with Byron Tau

“Man, it’s only been 17 days since the last goddamn fundraising deadline. Too. Goddamn. Soon.” — Politico‘s Byron Tau.

Anonymous Tips from the past 48 hours…1. “Mormon men do not think of women as equals, butt [sic] subject to them, so he will never approve equal pay.” 2. “Romney puts women in binders and dogs on the roof of his car.”

The Jokester: “Binder? I hardly know her! ” — Democratic blogger John Aravosis.

From the Dept. of Bragiculture…

“So I am now officially Chief Economic Correspondent for POLITICO. But you can just call me ‘chief’ or ‘dude.’” — Politico‘s Ben White. We’re just relieved he resorted to ALL CAPS for our viewing pleasure. Congratulations Ben!

Commenter to the rescue! A reader calling himself (or herself) “Coconut” under FBDC’s Peter Ogburn‘s story on anti-Candy Crowley stories dominating right wing news sites Wednesday: “Candy you did an excellent job!!! Retards get over yourselves!”

The Observer

“You could say Lance Armstrong is having a pretty bad news CYCLE –> sadtrombone.com” — ABC News reporter Matt Negrin. Get it?

Reporter survives on Guinness

“I’ve been up since since 3a.m. One Guinness, and I feel like I could go another 24.” — The Washington Examiner‘s David Freddoso.

Quote Taken Out of Context

“Ana Marie Cox, let’s put it this way– they are cork-heel orange satin slingback pumps with white polka dots. They are audacious.” — GOProud Advisory Board Member Liz Mair.

Journo hailed as “national treasure”

“‘@BresPolitico is a national treasure,” an influential reader emails.’ That was awesome.” — Politico‘s James Hohmann referring to his colleague, John Bresnahan.

Congrats to Nick Massella who has been hired by BrandLinkDC, a public relations and marketing firm that engages reporters around town. He begins his new job as Public Relations Manager on Oct. 29.

Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In the presidential debate last week Republican challenger Mitt Romney said if he wins the election, he would cut federal spending, in part by ending subsidies to PBS. This, despite the fact that as Romney said in the debate, “I love Big Bird.” Since then, it feels like it’s all we hear about. (“Three of the top 10 most-read Politico stories are about Big Bird,” Politico‘s Byron Tau tweeted yesterday.)

Injecting a puppet into a presidential election is silly. And so, it follows reason that news coverage of it will also be silly. And it is… continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“A lot of moist sheets going into this next debate…” — Politico‘s Mike Allen on the Democratic sentiment going into the next presidential debate on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this morning just after dawn. Gross, Mike, please stop talking like this so early in the morning!

A Stupid Question to NEVER Ponder: “Wolf Blitzer, CNN why is it hard 4 journo 2 tell the truth y is easier 4 u 2 tell a lie ppl respect u when u do that.”

Preacher Sophia lifts us up where we belong

“Love is always full time, never part time, never some times, and certainly NOT just on your time. #LoveLifts #LoveCovers #LoveMakesTime” — theGrio.com and Essence columnist Sophia Nelson.

Big Bird stories score high marks

“Three of the top 10 most read Politico stories are about Big Bird. The people have spoken and they want more Big Bird news.” — Politico White House reporter Byron Tau.

Joan Walsh in Hell

“Oh dear Lord, between by Obama diehards and my [San Francisco Giants]diehards, my Twitter feed is some fine circle of hell right now.” — Salon‘s Joan Walsh, who regularly appears on MSNBC’s “Hardball.”

Writer has message for “important” people

“Gotta love the big name Tweeters who never acknowledge when us small people tweet them. respond to their tweets or RT them.” — Rockville, Md.-based marketing writer and consultant Deborah Brody.

Laura Ingraham’s embarrassingly bad debate humor

“If Biden flames out Thurs night how will Al Gore explain it away? What’s the altitude change from Delaware to Kentucky?” — Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham in an attempt to be funny ahead of Thursday’s VP debate. She added this equally unfunny tweet: “At debate Ryan will wear an American flag pin on his lapel–perhaps he should hand Joe a white flag pin for his.” Ugh.

Convo Between Two Journos

Daily Kos‘ Markos Moulitsas: “For liberals freaking out: The fundamentals of the race are still in our favor.”

Parody Andrew Sullivan account SullyPanic: “You’re fucking crazy.” CORRECTION: Goddammit. We got suckered by another parody account today. This was “SullyPanic” an faux account for The Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan. We’ve changed the content to reflect the truth.

Congrats Ryan, you’re the BEST!

A heartfelt congratulations to our good pal Ryan Kearney who has resigned from Politico to go to work for The New Republic. Washington City Paper’s Will Sommer reported the news early Tuesday. Kearney was in a newly created position of breaking news deputy editor. He leaves Politico after just six months. In a quote to WCP, he thanked Politico profusely for throwing him a life preserver after his former pub, TBD, sank like The Titanic. We’re sure VandeHarris is thrilled he made good use of them for the past several months. We hear Ryan didn’t make much of an impression with his Politico colleagues — in fact one said it would be tough to know who he was even if he walked right by.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

To the left is a photo of Nandi, who works with Emperor Vodka, which sponsored the soiree. “I’m just here for pictures,” she said, graciously posing for cameras. Nandi, whose arms are reminiscent of Angela Bassett‘s What’s Love Got to Do with It, said this was her first time working with Emperor. Fun first day on the job!

The Daily Caller hosted the party in its Farragut Square newsroom celebrating The Lizard King, an ebook written by their own Jamie Weinstein and Will Rahn.

“I have no good answer,” said Rahn when asked who should read his book. “It’s a transformative book,” he said (“transformational” also works). He compared it to reading the Bible. “Is this off the record?” Rahn asked at the conclusion of our interview.

Weinstein was a little more willing to talk about the book, though we get the impression he thought he was on TV. “Truth-seekers will like it,” Weinstein said. He emphasized that the book is actually a manuscript provided by a White House insider and that he and Rahn are simply the vessels through which the book is being delivered. “Once in a while, history falls upon you and I think it happened to us,” he said, adding that it “may be one of the most important books since [Fox News host] Sean Hannity’s book.”

The Daily Caller‘s bar was stocked with wine, soda, alcohol and a beer tap that poured Pabst Blue Ribbon. Edibles (vegetables and a few hors d’oeurves) were a little on the slim side.

As guests trickled in, a couple faces stood out in the crowd: Politico‘s Byron Tau and Tim Mak. The DC and Politico have been known to publicly quibble in the past. One Daily Caller staffer said the relationship between the two publications “on paper” is often not the case between individual reporters. He said there are several Politico employees he regularly drinks with. Both Tau and Mak chatted with The DC‘s Alex Pappas for a while, as well.

In the crowd we also spotted a distinguished gentleman with a badass eye patch. It turned out to be Will Rahn’s father, ex-husband to WSJ‘s Peggy Noonan.

The DC‘s editor Tucker Carlson was seen talking with RollCall‘s Jonathan Strong, a former Daily Caller reporter. Strong said work for him has been slow and “a little boring,” given he covers Congress, which is currently out of session.

Notables: The Daily Caller‘s Alex Treadway, Sarah Hoffman, Taylor Bigler, Jeff Poor, Caroline May, Brian Danza, Chris Bedford, Neil Munro, Pat McMahon, Nicole Roeberg, and Vince Coglianese; The Free Beacon‘s Adam Kredo and CJ Ciaramella; RollCall HOH‘s Neda Semani and Warren Rojas; Fox News contributor Jim Pinkerton; WaPo‘s Alexandra Petri; U.S. News‘ Steven Nelson; The Daily Beast‘s Eli Lake; and Donald Rumsfeld‘s former chief of staff Keith Urbahn. Conspicuously absent were Matthew Boyle and Martosko, who had kid duty. We rode the elevator with him down to the garage. He puffed away on what may have been an illegal cigar the whole way down and said Rahn and Weinstein would know he was there “in spirit.”

Quotable:

• “He’s a bit of a self promoter.”– Keith Urbahn on his former boss Donald Rumsfeld, who was Defense Secretary under former Prez George W. Bush. Urbahn spilled that Rummy is currently working on a new book. UPDATE: Urbahn writes in to tell us he was talking about his other former boss, The Daily Beast‘s David Frum.

• Asked about former and recently fired Daily Caller reporter Michelle Fields, Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson said, “I haven’t seen her much on TV lately. That ended for some reason.” Fields was not in attendance.

• “I don’t want to be written about.”– Steven Nelson, after FishbowlDC inquired about his job at U.S. News, which he only recently started.

• “I’m holding out for the chance that Matthew Boyle shows up.”– FBDC’s Peter Ogburn.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Some background: Last week a song by rapper Lil’ Wayne made its way online, featuring a verse by Minaj. “I’m a Republican voting for Mitt Romney/You lazy b*tches is f***ing up the economy,” Minaj raps. It was reported (with some skepticism) as an unlikely endorsement of Romney. President Obama was asked about the possible endorsement in a radio interview. “I’m not sure that’s actually what happened,,” Obama said. “She likes to play different characters.” Minaj wrote on Twitter that same day, “Thank you for understanding my creative humor & sarcasm Mr. President… *sends love & support*”

CLICK- Caitlin McDevitt had her writeup published first. She was not, however, the first reporter on her own site to break the news. She picked it up from her colleague Byron Tau who writes for the Politico 44 blog. The lede: “Nicki Minaj was being sarcastic when she rapped about voting for Mitt Romney, POLITICO 44 reports.”

Yeas & Nays- The Examiner‘s Jenny Rogers had her item on the story up three hours later. We like the conversational lede (“OK, so maybe Nicki Minaj didn’t endorse the Romney-Ryan ticket after all”).

In the Know- Last to the ball was The Hill’s writeup by Jonathan Easley. It was published nearly five hours after CLICK’s, one and a half after Yeas & Nays’. But there’s an extra bit of information on Minaj added to The Hill‘s writeup. We learn here that Minaj is “rumored to be a new judge on American Idol.” What’s more, when Easley tweeted out the link to his story, he included lyrics to the song “Monster” which also features Minaj. “Nicki Minaj finally puts Romney endorsement flap to bed,” Easley wrote. “Also, her money so tall that her body gotta climb it.” The tweet was retweeted 22 times and favorited twice. He tells us, however, that he’s not really a big fan. “The primary reason I know her stuff is because I’m a big Kanye West fan,” he said. “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is one of my favorite albums, and Minaj absolutely killed it on that ‘Monster’ track.”

Winner: Easley’s lede could have used a little punch (“Rapper Nicki Minaj on Monday ended the dispute over whether she endorsed Mitt Romney in a song released last week”) but for demonstrating prowess on the subject of Minaj, we conclude that Easley wrote it best.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Russert Makes it to the Big Screen: “On the jumbotron at the Nats game: ‘Happy birthday @LukeRussert‘ – Politico’s Byron Tau, who spotted a birthday shout-out to MSNBC’s Luke Russert at Wednesday night’s Nationals baseball game. Russert has been very vocal about his love of the Nats.

Speaking of Russert…. “Hey @LukeRussert, no wildcat today. Run the pro-style.” NBC’s Chuck Todd issued that warning moments before Russert filled in for him on The Daily Rundown.

A Lesson in Journalism: “Tweeting candidate speeches made sense during the primaries, when not every speech was drawing media. It’s pretty dull now…” – Slate’s Dave Weigel

It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere: “If I’ve been up since 4:30 I can eat Thai leftovers at 9 am right?” – Politico’s Kate Nocera, who had an early morning. (The answer is that you can ALWAYS eat Thai leftovers; no matter what time of day.)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Not exactly health food

“The kids are winners of a contest to create “original lunchtime recipes that are healthy affordable and tasty. Guess my grilled cheese with bacon, chocolate morsels and mini-marshmallows didn’t stand a chance.”  – CBS’s Mark Knoller, tweeting about the Kids’ “State Dinner” at the WH that will feature healthy food creations from students.

Brothers from Another Mother?

“Cab driver naming “great politicians:” Marion Berry (sic) and Bill Clinton #onlyinDC” – Politico’s Ginger Gibson

Who’s Your Daddy?

“Random kid in the supermarket line just turned to me and said, “Are you my daddy?” – Politico’s Byron Tau

Fashion is her Passion

“Can we take a 20-sec. TO to talk about the female Dem Sen fuchsia jacket trend?” – Roll Call’s Meredith Shiner, who posted this pic of a BRIGHT Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO)

Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.