As pre-White House Correspondents’ Dinner cocktail parties at the Washington Hilton came to a close Saturday, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes (a.k.a. Hazy) was spotted mingling in National Review‘s private room with other stragglers, including The Daily Caller‘s Senior Online Editor Vince Coglianese.

After introducing himself to Hayes, Coglianese asked if the two could pose for a picture together. “You’re not going to deface it or anything, are you?” asked Hayes, half joking. Coglianese assured him he would not and the photo was shot.

“We just spoke for a second,” Coglianese told FishbowlDC. “I asked him to take a picture with me so I could send it to [Daily Caller TV reporter] Jeff Poor. He obliged and asked that I extend to Poor this message: “Auburn sucks.”

Poor, an Auburn University graduate, has written critically of Hayes in the past.

The Media Critic

“Tonight I will officially be able to tweet, “Awww, crap. Did Bikram Yoga thru All In with Chris Hayes!” – Brian Beutler

 The Traffic Cop

“If you’re looking to drive anywhere in our great city today, know that many traffic lights on constitution and independence aren’t working.” – Politico’s Jake Sherman

Speaking of Jam Bands

“Want to see a clip of John Fogerty jamming with Clarence Clemons, Jerry Garcia & B Weir?” – Politico’s Jonathan Martin, who linked to a video that we did not click.

The New Guy

“good idea: giving @dcbigjohn the job of catching it when ppl fuck up. bad idea: being the person that fucked up.” – Buzzfeed’s Evan McMorris-Santoro catches heat from Bureau Chief John Stanton.

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes has found himself in the most unusual company of late. And no, we don’t mean No. 1 Hayes fan Tommy Christopher hovering over Hayes while he sleeps at night.

On Saturday Hayes leaped to the defense of the gay Republican group GOProud, which was banned from participating in this year’s CPAC. Hayes had previously been secured by organizers of CPAC, the annual mega gathering for conservatives and Republicans, to speak on a discussion panel.

“My initial reaction was, ‘Of course I’ll go!’” Hayes, an outspoken liberal, said on his show Up! “As someone who attempts to convene discussions across various ideological boundaries, I have a special appreciation for CPAC’s willingness to invite someone with my politics to speak to the attendees.” He said he opted not to attend once GOProud was banned from participating as a group. “It’s not okay to ban organizations for reasons of pure bigotry,” he said.

GOProud was also banned from speaking at CPAC last year after other conservative groups boycotted the event, citing GOProud’s inclusion as the reason.

Jimmy LaSalvia, GOProud’s executive director, commended Hayes. Though CPAC organizers have invited GOProud members and supporters to attend as individuals, LaSalvia told FishbowlDC in an email that he won’t be going. As for calling for a boycott of the event: “I think boycotts are stupid.  I’m sure that there will be plenty of people there who will show their support for GOProud.” Read more

Happy Valentine’s Day to Mediaite‘s Tommy Christopher and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. We’ve named their love child “Upperletta,” in honor of Hayes’ show “Up” and his legions of Twitter dork fans affectionately referred to as “Uppers.” Christopher has been an “Upper” since the show began. We know, a downer, but we’re trying to put a positive spin on it.

Today we have another installment of: “Ask Piranhamous Anything.” And we do mean anything. Send your queries to FishbowlDC@mediabistro.com. This isn’t an advice column — Piranhamous doesn’t know what the hell you should do with your life any more than you do — and worse, he doesn’t care. Try to keep your questions short — we want to keep this fun, simple and insightful.

1. Which journo would you most want to spend the holidays with?

Dear God, do I have to? I’m fairly certain Hell would be filled with more cheer. But since I’m obligated to answer, I’ll put it to you this way – depends on the holiday.

Hanukkah – Chris Hayes, Ezra Klein, Dave Weigel and the rest of the Boy Banders. Some are Jewish, some aren’t, but that doesn’t matter because I’d imagine it would be an 8-day bender. Come to think of it, any 8-day stretch with them is probably a bender, and it would be a lot like hanging out at a hipster bar after all the hipsters moved on because the wannabes started outnumbering them. And I value my IQ points too much to emerge myself in that much MSNBC so I’ll just limit it to one MSNBCer and revise my remarks to Al Sharpton. This may seem like an odd choice but I think picking up all the remarks he mutters under his breath each of the 8-days would be amusing.

Christmas – Bill O’Reilly. Aside from the embarrassing gang on Fox & Friends, no one has done more to defend Christmas from idiots who seem only to engage in their “War on Christmas” to get publicity for their fringe group no one has ever heard of before or will hear from again than Bill. And I imagine the whole day will be spent tackling anyone who tries to TP a pine tree since he never stops.

Kwanza – Lawrence O’Donnell and Ed Schultz. Why would I pick the two whitest men on the planet next to Sean Hannity to spend a little-known, radical separatist black holiday with?  Because I think they’d try to celebrate it to prove they’re multi-cultural and would have no idea how to do it. Can you imagine anything more amusing than watching them trying on Dashikis and trying to mean it? I can’t.

Boxing Day – Howie Kurtz: For no particular reason.

Or course this is all moot, or at least most of it, since the world is ending on Dec. 21^st. So I’d just like to say thank you to the Mayans for saving me from this Hell.

2. Do you have high hopes that Jeff Zucker will really shake things up at CNN? 

Am I supposed to? I don’t have high hopes that the guy who sucked up NBC and re-unleashed Katie Couric on the world will be able to patch the hole in that Titanic. He’d have a better shot, and I’d probably actually care, if he were one of the Zuckers who brought us the movie “Airplane!” But he’s not, so I don’t.

Read about reporters sleeping with their sources… Read more

Quotes of the Day

“Sunset over BloomingdaleDC” by Tracy Wahl, Supervising Producer at National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.

BuzzFeed bureau chief gives D.C. tavern a big thumbs down

“If you can’t clean your damn collards and put a lil swine in em, WHY TRY YOU DUMB YANKEE?? #fallofshawstavern,” wrote John Stanton. “Also I have some sharp ass teeth. If its hard for me to eat your damn ribs YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG, Shaw’s Tavern ‘Chef.’”

Post respiratory failure diet

“Pizza for dinner, cupcakes for dessert, washed down w a Super Big Gulp. Sounds like a lonely single guy’s political statement.” – Breitbart.com‘s Dan Riehl‘s riehlly stupid diet.

Wife orders editor to Target at 5:30 a.m.

“Dispatched by bride to Target at 530a to get in line for lad’s Xmas present. Second person just showed up. #merryxmas.” — National Journal Editor-in-Chief Ron Fournier. When asked by U.S. News & World Report‘s Robert Schlesinger what the present was, he replied, “The new Wii system. I’m just following orders.”

This 4-year-old wants your job 

“My 4-year-old daughter to me: ‘Dad, I want to be a blogger.’ #changingtimes” — Political writer and jazz pianist Peter Daou.

And this father is in big trouble… “Bad dad forgets ballet slippers <shame>” — WTOP’s Neal Augenstein.

Journo bugged by building noise

“My weekends are now filled with the noise of construction on the apartment below. There oughta be a law.” — Kelly Jane Torrance, writer.

Peter Ogburn and Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

A mean Helen Thomas joke and a journo spends part of weekend in ER…

Read more

Everyone knows the term “Cougar,” right? The older woman who goes after younger men. It was funny five years ago for about 10 minutes. Now it’s a sitcom and a slogan found on T-shirts at the Goodwill.

But the “OC,” the original cougar, is back on the prowl – and no nerd is safe.

Cher, the great-grandmother, patron saint of the cougar movement, has herself a bit of a crush… on MSNBC’s Chris Hayes (or Rachel Maddow depending how you see him.) Hayes, who is happily married, nerdy, not funny or a lesbian, has no known fetish for plastic nor a known desire to leave his wife for the vapid actress twice his age (he’s 33, she’s 66). So that love will remain unrequited.

Cher has no delusions about her ability to get Hayes, so she’s interested in his “type.” After a good 45 years of dating hippies and bikers, she’s is now interested in the nerdy type. She’s put friends on notice to be on the look out for someone with whom she can avoid raising hell with and discuss economic policy and world affairs.

Given the intelligence level of her tweets… Read more

Our prayers may soon be answered. A story by NYT‘s Brian Stelter over the weekend hints that our Ezzy (a.k.a Rep. Ezra Klein (D-Washington Post) may land his own program on MSNBC. One thing’s for sure, he’s our pick over MSNBC Boybander Chris Hayes, who has a show, a book and a staff goddammit. Note to producers: We’re thinking politics with a dash of cooking.

From Stelter’s piece… Read more

Quotes of the Day: Hurricane-Cyclone Sandy Edition

“DC, take it from Coco Pebbles Chanel: it never hurts to be prepared.” — The Hill’s Howlma Kurtz, a.k.a. Judy Kurtz with accompanying picture.

Mixed feelings: “TWIITTER, I HATE YOU…. OK, I LOVE YOU” — HuffPost‘s Sam Stein. NYT‘s Jonathan Weisman was less confused: “TV seems dull compared to Twitter. Reading my feed I eagerly turned on cable and … Meh.” And Assoc. Editor of The Atlantic Brian Fung slammed the medium: “Glad to know that even in the midst of a hurricane, the Internet is still capable of kicking up monstrously dumb debates. Whew.”

Dork in the Storm

“My wife just remembered we had a bunch of small airline-style bottles of booze squirreled away. #yesplease.” — MSNBC host Chris Hayes.

Morally outraged.

“Protip: Tweets that make political jokes about storm that’s killed at least five people are maybe not worth sending.” — Politico‘s Maggie Haberman.

“Twitter is great and all but it’s proving tonight why journalism with real reporting and sourcing is essential.” — The Hill‘s White House Correspondent and resident Michelle Obama Fan Club Prez Amie Parnes.

“My wife gave birth to our three children at NYU. Horrifying to think of what’s going on there now. Horrifying.” — Conservative writer and professional Twitter fighter John Podhoretz, affectionately known as PodWhore.

“Has the storm past DC and we are through the worst of it? Swear I can’t tell from the coverage.” — CNN Democratic Analyst Hilary Rosen.

“Sandy has taken down Buzzfeed AND Huffington Post! The horror!” — The Times of London‘s Matt Spence. Reacting to the news, Breitbart.com‘s John Nolte remarked sarcastically, “That’s a shame.”

Powerless.

“Lights out here in McLean, Virginia” — The Daily Mail’s Toby Harnden, who will join the UK Sunday Times in January. He posted the accompanying photo.

“NoVa storm update: Power out. Water in basement. Reading Cat in the Hat to 3-year-old by flashlight.” — The Atlantic‘s Molly Ball.

“Feeling stir crazy so went to neighborhood Izakaya place. Returned home to find cable + Internet down.” — The Atlantic‘s Garance Franke-Ruta.

“First electricity flicker. 4:32 p.m.” — HotAir‘s Mary Katharine Ham.

“Afraid for your power? Both the Gtown and West End Ritzs are offering $229 ‘Sandy’ rates for locals. Beats a night in the cold dark!” — Washingtonian Editor Garrett Graff, who likes to appreciate the finer things in life such as Scotch and beautiful hotels.

“And my power just went out here in North Bethesda Maryland. It was a good run folks.” — The Daily Caller‘s Matthew Boyle.

Journo upset about stew and other random complainers

“Sandy is whistling here in my neighborhood. Not as loud as a train coming through the alley or dump truck moving down the street. But loud!” — Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile.

“Afraid the storm-related low pressure is causing my stew to tenderize freakishly slowly.” — Slate economics reporter Matt Yglesias.

“Suddenly, insisting on having a top floor apartment seems like a bad idea. Sounds like debris is hitting my roof!” — The Daily Caller‘s Publicist Nicole Roeberg.

Storm Chasers

“The wind outside my window has very quickly gone from interesting to extremely troubling.” — MetroWeekly‘s Randy Shulman.

“Flying debris now showing like a fast-motion movie through my back window.” — WaPo‘s Erik Wemple.

Comic relief

“El Chucko de Schumer esta hoggingo el microphoño! Que learno to shareo!” — Miguel Bloombito, expressing the media whore tendencies of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).  If you’re not following him, you must: @ElBloombito.

“Anderson Cooper is doing a phoner on CNN so I have no idea how tight his shirt is. Therefore I have no idea how bad things are.” — NBC News’ Shawna Thomas, who later claimed to borrow a variation of a joke from SNL’s Seth Meyers.

“Sexual CNN Headlines.” — NYT comm asst. Jordan Cohen with accompanying picture.

“Oh thank God, David Corn is about to give us his perspective on Sandy on Hardball. Storm coverage is complete now.” — TownHall‘s Derek Hunter.

“Watching CNN coverage of Sandy giving me PTSD. Just put on my CNN windbreaker and started interviewing neighbors w/a plastic microphone.” — former CNN anchor Miles O’Brien.

See which blogger feared the storm might make her pregnant and what advice could MSNBC Contributor Meghan McCain possibly have?

Read more

Say hello to Richard Prince, a veteran journalist who writes “Richard Prince’s Journal-isms,” a news column on diversity issues in the news media, for the website of
the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. He often, and sometimes harshly, calls journalists and publications out for not covering black journos enough and even once hilariously harped on Washington City Paper and FishbowlDC that there were no blacks among the Washington, D.C.’s “Boybanders.” It’s hard to envision a black Ezzy (WaPo‘s Ezra Klein) or Hazy (MSNBC’s Chris Hayes) but life is full of wonderful surprises. Most recently Prince won the Ida B. Wells award for his diverse reporting. Read on…He may have the best new question for the FishbowlDC Interview that we’ve seen so far.

If you were a carbonated beverage, which would you be?  Dr Pepper.

How often do you Google yourself?  Not as often as I should. Too many
others with the same name.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to an editor/boss (or vice
versa)? “Sure, I’ll be happy to take that assignment!”

Who is your favorite working journalist and why? Nicholas Kristof of
the New York Times travels the world reporting on outrages that would otherwise get little attention. And he was among the first to take advantage of video. But to call him my favorite would eliminate too many friends and colleagues.

Do you have a favorite word?  Party.

Who would you rather have dinner with – CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, MSNBC’s
Chris Matthews or Fox News’ Megyn Kelly? Tell us why. Matthews would probably produce the most copy.

The Earth’s human population is dying out and you must save it. You
will spend a romantic evening with either Scandal’s Kerry Washington,
any of the women from FNC’s “The Five” or MSNBC’s S.E. Cupp. Who will
it be? (None is not an option.) Kerry Washington.

What swear word do you use most often? Does “damn” count?

You’ve just been told the big news: You get to have your own Sunday
morning talk show. Who will be on your roundtable? (Pick four
journalists or pundits types.) A multicultural grab bag. It would be
counterprogramming.

On a serious note for a moment, if you could have dinner with a person
who has died, who would it be? Wonder what Martin Luther King would
say about the icon he has become.

Who is your favorite Boybander and why? (Ezzy, Hazy, Weigel,
Attackerman, Beutler) Who? Cultural disconnect.

When you pig out what do you eat? Why pig out?

What is your absolute favorite item of clothing in your closet? We want the fabric, the brand, the store and the price if possible. If it’s a certain kind of underwear we don’t want to know about it. A black cotton T-shirt from Kingston, Jamaica inscribed with a map of the city. Cost $1,100 at a tourist store. In
Jamaican dollars.

Pick one: Mad Men, Scandal or Grey’s Anatomy. Mad Men.

Read more