Quotes of the Day

Reflection on WHCD’s past

“You know you are old if you can remember when the White House Correspondents Dinner was just a dinner in a hotel basement.” — WaPo‘s Karen Tumulty.

A polite and impolite view of Politico‘s Leibo piece

“Not a reflexive @politico hater by any means but the Allen/Vandehei piece on @MarkLeibovich sure bears out his thesis of DC’s awfulness.” — The Hill‘s Associate Editor Niall Stanage. Then there’s Michael Cohen, a columnist for The Guardian, who wasn’t so kind. He wrote, “Dear Washington DC: This article is kind of the reason people don’t like you.” Read the Politico piece here.

Number of Weiner jokes made National Journal‘s Political Pursuit game last night at the Newseum: At least 2. One was made by an unknown member of the audience; the other by WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza, who was on the winning team of journliasts that included WaPo‘s Paul Kane, NYT‘s Carl Hulse, Roll Call‘s Shira Toeplitz and The Cook Report’s Amy Walter. More on the event later…

And now a note from our Spiritual Counselor Sophia Nelson, of theGrio.com and Essence: “We are spiritual beings having an earthly experience. Protect your spirit. Feed your spirit. Guard your spirit. Bless your spirit.”

If you can’t beat ‘em, leave the country

“Out of the city and country for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Totally unplanned. Tears of unbridled joy. Alhamdullilah.” — Washington freelancer Sam Knight, who writes for Salon and Washington Monthly.

NPR has rep to uphold

“*sigh* If I had a nickel for every time I’ve thought this… ” –NPR’s Audie Cornish, host of “All Things Considered” in response to this: “@GeeDee215: okay. i’mma stop. This is NPR, etc.”

Yeah, riiiight: “It’s definitely smaller this year.” — SKDknickerbocker’s Doug Thornell on this year’s Garden Brunch hosted by Tammy Haddad, SKD’s Hilary Rosen and others.

AnonymASS Tipster of the Week: “Hey Peter Ogburn. While you humiliate some person who no one knows, same question can be asked of you: who the hell are you? Or who should care about the mostly puerile things you write? Advice? Find something else to do with your life.” Dear ASS: He is Peter Ogburn, THAT’s who. Who are you? Oh, right, the person who is too cowardly to attach your name to your note.

Journo Love

“Follow by the far the funniest @politico: @LucyConstance.” — Politico‘s Alexander Burns.

And finally, a morning Bible lesson from FNC’s Brit Hume‘s wife, Kim Hume: “A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones. Proverbs 14:30 (NKJV)”

NYT magazine writer Mark Leibovich‘s long awaited book, This Town, is toast. That’s right, canceled. Much to the shock of he and his trusted editors, the publishing house poo pooed the final read, reasoning it didn’t quite flow, and gave it the axe.

Socialite and PR maven Tammy Haddad was spotted smiling ear to ear over the weekend during a raucous dinner at Café Milano with CNN Analyst and WaPo Contributor Hilary Rosen, also a managing partner at SKDKnickerbocker.

Leibovich, meanwhile, is saddened, in shock, and questioning his entire career trajectory. He’s taking a few weeks off to do some serious introspection on a yoga and meditation retreat at an ashram in the Bahamas.

He replied only by email, saying… Read more

As we all know by now, Democratic Analyst Hilary Rosen usually has a few things on her mind and she’s not one to hold back. Anyone recall her interaction with Ann Romney? Sure, she apologized. But not without first going viral.

Anyhow, Rosen joins WaPo‘s opinion pages. She’ll write daily political commentary as one of  “The Insiders”, sparring alongside Republican strategist Ed Rogers. The Insiders are a group of writers that include Jonathan Capehart, David Ignatius, Michael Gerson and more.

As Rosen writes in her first blog post, “There isn’t much that this Jewish, lesbian, liberal woman has in common with [Ed] politically, but I sure do respect the dues he has paid and the knowledge he’s gained on his journey to success.  And I am proud to be alongside him as an ‘Insider.’” Warns Rogers, “I expect Hilary to whack me when she thinks I deserve it. I won’t hold back myself.”

Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt gives her the nod: “Hilary will be a lively addition to our diverse voices. Like Ed, she is an experienced insider with strong views and an original, independent mind.”

More on Rosen… Read more

By Betsy Rothstein, Peter Ogburn and Eddie Scarry

We know you have one more year-end list in you. Or maybe you don’t. But wake up anyhow because here’s ours — the 12 things that never, ever make us want to take an afternoon snooze.

12. NBC Luke Russert‘s loud and fratboyish ways. Even House Speaker John Boehner has noted his decibel level and called him “loudmouth.” Though he’ll never get White House Soup of the Day quite right when he subs for Chuck Todd on “The Daily Rundown,” among our favorite moments with Luke this year was when he had a stop and smell the roses moment at a Nats game and took a picture of a spellbinding dragonfly, which he later posted on Twitter. Perhaps more poignantly though was when he covered a Capitol Hill presser and asked House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi if she was too old to remain in the Democratic leadership. The crowd of female lawmakers openly booed him. Pelosi told him he was offensive, even if he didn’t quite get it. Among the most entertaining comments sprang from CNN’s Hilary Rosen, who wrote on Twitter, “Note to Luke Russert: Mitch McConnell is 70, Harry Reid is 73. Oh and Bob Schieffer is 75. Think they should step aside? #NewGuysRule?” The question wasn’t an inappropriate one to raise, as lawmakers themselves had been discussing it out of earshot of Pelosi. Perhaps, as some noted, the time and setting and brash way in which Russert executed his questions were troublesome. Still, we especially enjoyed the commenters on Politico. There was the irate Wendy: “Luke Russert got his ass handed back to him. Any more questions, punk?” And the more sensible Chance: “Reporters should be asking tough, offensive and even stupid questions.”

11. Video journalist Michelle Fields flashing her breasts on national TV to get a job for Fox News. Her large male online contingency didn’t mind it much, either. In the meantime The Daily Caller gave her the axe for being lazy. Somehow Executive Editor David Martosko‘s lectures didn’t work? Favorite 2012 memory: There was the January manifesto from a convicted rapist that Michelle showed off on Facebook. But we’re torn between that and the more recent BuzzFeed party, where she unashamedly performed dramatic hair flips as our own Eddie Scarry snapped pictures.

10. Most things Matthew Boyle. The 20-something dogged journo never ceases to amaze. There was the time he insisted that the President of the Free World should allow him over for an interview. The more recent jaw-dropping moment from Boyle came when he fled The Daily Caller for Breitbart.com because he wants to be the next Andrew Breitbart. He started this adventure by taking his own photograph for the site, giving himself the unfortunate look of a triple-chinned Michelin Man. In his opening story out of the gate, he wrote an atrociously unedited right-wing rant about “magic vaginas.” We’re still not sure what those our, except we think they don’t involve Sandra Fluke. It was perfect. And terrible. And because we love Boyle in our own special way, we’d like to kidnap and deprogram him before it’s too late and the goose is boiled. Stick to breaking news Boyle and it’ll be just fine. And whatever you do, don’t stay there long.

9. Inside stories from The Washington Times. Always weird, unexpected, mind-boggling happenings at the ominous building off New York Avenue. Who can forget when former writer Julia Duin publicly accused then-editor Sam Dealey of verbally abusing her by canning her on the very day she decided to bring her daughter to work? She was also reportedly on crutches that day. And then there’s the more recent spate of stories concerning the impending layoffs coming in early 2013. The newsroom has dubbed their CEO Larry Beasley “Evil Santa” for a number of reasons, including recently moving a new sofa into his office while deciding whom to lay off. He also recently displayed a Santa doll holding a Christmas tree with the word “joy” on it. As the journalists await possible pink slips, they’re anything but joyful.

See the remaining eight entries of things that never bore us… Read more

As the expression goes, those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach, right? Enter NYU Professor and blogger Jay Rosen, who makes a habit out of nerding out on Twitter. This week he went after NBC Congressional Correspondent Luke Russert, who has been under fire this week for posing a question about age to 72-year-old House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. At a briefing earlier in the week, Pelosi expressed how offensive it was that Russert had asked if staying in leadership prevented a more youthful one from persevering.

Female lawmakers on the dais shouted at him with cries of discrimination. Feminist and Democratic pundit Hilary Rosen and other offended women online also put him in his place. And then comes Rosen who jumped on Russert after the correspondent appeared on Martin Bashir‘s program. A particularly feisty Bashir grilled Russert about the beliefs of members of the Republican leadership, who won’t appear on his program. Russert answered his rapid fire questions as best he could. Could Rosen fare half as well? Even so, Rosen declared on Twitter, “NBC News should admit that its Luke Russert experiment is just not working out. Make him a producer.”

Russert, who doesn’t usually fire back at anyone, lashed back at Rosen. And we salute him for that… 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

QUOTES of the DAY

“I dunno how politicians wake up each morning and forget every phone everywhere is a multimedia recording device, but thank god they do.” — BuzzFeed Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton.

Round 2: Hilary Versus the Romneys?

“The disdain Romney has for those who’ve lived differently than his privileged family flows from every pore. #Sad” — CNN Democratic Political Analyst Hilary Rosen, who links to this story by TPM about Mitt Romney headlined “Devastated.”

TPM Editor gives Mojo’s David Corn a big warm hug 

“I don’t know the provenance of the tape. It’s apparently been bouncing around on the interwebs before getting published by Mother Jones. But I know David Corn. And he wouldn’t have posted it under his name if he weren’t pretty certain he had the authenticity of the tape nailed. So I’m assuming the tape is legit for the purposes of what I say below.” — TPM Editor Josh Marshall, who said he was on vacation and on “half-watching” the news on Monday.

An intriguing idea

“Starting [today], Romney campaign will allow cameras into fundraisers held at public venues. Up until now, was pen and pad only.” — ABC News Producer Emily Friedman. Or maybe that’s not such a hot idea…“Sound rule of thumb, for presidential candidates and everyone else alike: It’s always worse if there’s video.” — The Hill‘s Niall Stanage.

TV journo gets weight question

“Yep – trying – amazing when you eat better and exercise – what can happen -thnx.” — FNC’s Bret Baier to a follower who asked, “You losing weight?” It just so happens that Baier was recognized as one of the journos in need of a salad in our Summer Superlatives. The other was his colleague, Bob Beckel.

Reporter wonders if she’s the devil

“I have 6666 followers. Does that make me the devil?” — HuffPost‘s Elise Foley. (We’re sorry to break it to you here, like this, Elise, but yes, you might be the devil.)

Chef Geoff gets journo love

“@chefgeoffs Great news. Kid says yours is the best burger of all of the spots we go to. Has already asked to return. (Cheers to Norah)” — Yahoo! News’ Olivier Knox.

Convo Between Two Journos

Today’s conversation is between The Atlantic’s David Graham and The Guardian and Salon‘s Jim Newell, who formerly worked at Gawker.

Graham: Worth nothing Newsweek recently let go ace Middle East reporter Babak Dehghanpisheh in Beirut. So instead we get Ayaan Hirsi Ali retreads.

The Fashionista 

“LOVE Chris Matthews special Yom Tov shirt & tie combo! So festive! #hardball.” — Rachel Sklar on Matthews, who wore a red and white striped button down with a red polka dot and striped tie on Monday’s program.

Newell: So is Newsweek now like Gawker where the former writers shit all over it as soon as they leave?

 Graham: I’m really, really trying not to.

The liberal media hater

“Jonathan @capehart on MSNBC mocking @RickSantorum over ‘elite’ comments. This would be funny, if it weren’t so pathetically sad.” — Conservative blogger Robert Stacy McCain. Jonathan Capehart is a left-wing op-ed writer for WaPo and an MSNBC Contributor.

Important Questions to Ponder: “We are discussing Kate Middleton…is the topless photos a big deal as the Royal Family is making it? Would you buy the photos? #tmzlive” — TMZ Founder Harvey Levin. And from FNC’s Greta Van Susteren: “KATE MIDDLETON PICS POLL – did you? or didn’t you? click, read and vote: Take Our poll.” Take Greta’s poll here.

Brrr!

“It’s so cold in my office, my fingernails are purple. This device is clearly ignoring my request.” — Erica Elliott, Comm. Director for House Maj. Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report.

Quotes Of The Day

ABC7 Stephen Tschida braves Germany and Austria this week: “In Vienna. Aunt Molly suggested today I take bike ride through the park. I’m thinking ‘life insurance.’” Two days prior, Tschida got hit by a car. “Never won lottery. But lucky today. Hit hard by car while biking in Munich! shaken, bruised and dizzy. but think I’m O.K.” Stay off the trains, Stephen, please.

Campaign season realities

“Secret Service removed the mailboxes at Century Village. Man says he walked around retirement community all morning trying to mail letter.” — Nora McAlvanah, Executive Producer of FLDemocracy2012, “FL’s source for campaign news.”

Hilary knocks Michele

“Well maybe some of u think Michele Bachman isn’t irrelevant; but her celebrity IS entirely negative.” — CNN’s Hilary Rosen, who won’t likely be wearing the Queen Bee jewelry line favored by Ann Romney. She can, however, bond with Michele about their one “l” first names.

Journo drawn to waffle fries

“The more people hate on Chik-fil-a, the stronger my craving gets for their waffle fries. I feel so guilty.” — HuffPost‘s Laura Bassett, who recently went on that ill fated Date Lab date.

The Media Observer

“Talking to young reporters, there is a new genre emerging: Lotsa folks ‘want to be the@WillieGeist1 of [insert television show here]‘” — Politico‘s Patrick Gavin.

Convo Between Two Journos

WaPo‘s Karen Travers: Office debate-how do dressage horses get to the Olympics? Do they fly? Boat? Anyone have experience with this?

ABC’s Amy Walters: Fairy dust?

CNN Contributor Hilary Rosen, who caused a big flap when she said Ann Romney hadn’t worked a day in her life, returns to NBC’s “MTP” this Sunday for the second time since HilaryGate. She has also appeared on ABC’s “This Week” twice in recent months. She was invited on “MTP” shortly after the “scandal” over her comments broke in April,  but quickly backed out of her appearance.

Clarification and Correction: Erika Masonhall of NBC sent us a note saying Rosen appeared on the roundtable two weeks after the scandal broke. Turns out the sometimes getting information straight from the horse’s mouth can be tricky as memory slips the mind. This is actually Hilary’s second time appearing on the roundtable, not the first as we had reported earlier.