Quotes of the Day

RAINING IN THE ROSE GARDEN: “Overheard: ‘Melt the Press.’ @MarkLandler of NYT pops out a Georgetown umbrella.” — NPR White House Correspondent Ari Shapiro with the accompanying photograph. And NBC’s Luke Russert: “The #Marines holding the umbrellas at this presser are unbelievably cool, had no idea there’s military protocol for umbrella holding.”

Umbrella memories

“In my first job as a sports reporter, my editor had me hold the umbrella over him & his camera on the sidelines. Good times.” — HotAir’s Mary Katharine Ham.

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 5:48 a.m.

From the Dept. of Bragiculture…

“So much happening-impt stuff must be slipping by for bandwidth lack. Just in my niche, turned in 7 stories in past 4 days & 8th mostly done.” — NYT‘s Charlie Savage.

ABC “Scandal” finale fallout

“So Fitz is porking a black woman to bring diversity to the Republican Party? Wow. #StartedFromATwerkNowWereHere” — Javonni Brustow, Washington editor of The DC Pundit.

“Oh damn Fitz just went rogue! And quotes Dillon Thomas to boot!” — Essence and theGrio.com‘s Sophia Nelson.

“Damn, Fitz just went Bulworth on Mellie! @ScandalABC #Gladiators” — Washington Watch and Tom Joyner Show regular Roland Martin.

“When @tonygoldwyn saw this two page monologue for the first time at the table read, he gasped. Then he dove in.” — Scandal creator and writer Shonda Rhimes.

“Mellie is going to fuck everybody. #Scandal” — @emokidsloveme.

“Liv. #shutitdown and call a locksmith.” — Avid “Scandal” watcher Shawna Thomas of NBC News as Olivia Pope nearly gets killed. And later, after Fitz sees a video in which Olivia, his mistress, has sex with another man, she writes, “OK Fitz. She is not a virgin nor your wife and she didn’t know that guy was charged w/ bedding/protecting her. STOP BEING A CHILD.”

“Can’t even type. This ending kills me! #scandalfinale” — Actress Kerry Washington, who plays Olivia Pope.

“Lemme get this straight, the season finale of Scandal is on during #ScandalWeek? THIS TOWN” — TPM Assistant Editor Igor Bobic.

Brian’s Stelter’s walk on the moon

“I vividly remember my first time watching ‘The Office.’ It was May 2005, on my laptop, on a train from Baltimore to NY.” — NYT‘s Brian Stelter. And were you simultaneously monitoring your Tumblr account, Facebooking, and checking your MySpace?

The power of ass kissing

“The power of @carr2n: He tweets your story and you get 126 clicks in 15 minutes.” — Slate‘s Jack Shafer in reference to NYT‘s David Carr.

Journo annoyed by mouth breather

“This kid who is mouth breathing next to me really needs to get off the train. Can’t deal. #imsoannoying” — Roll Call‘s Emily Cahn.

Unnecessary Tweet of the Day

“Intrigued by Cool Ranch tacos tho I’m normally not a Taco Bell fan & hearing cool ranch flavor gets overwhelmed by filling. Anybody tried?” — Washington Examiner‘s Philip Klein.

See more exciting Morning Chatter… Read more

Three weeks after moving into 529 9th St. in Chinatown, The New Republic officially celebrated its new office space on Friday.

“The convenience of the location played a big part,” Chief Operating Officer Sloan Eddleston told FishbowlDC. The office, which sits over the International Spy Museum, features a newsroom with some 30 computers, a library for reporters seeking a quiet respite and a spacious roof deck with a view of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery (another selling point).

Eddleston said the space was renovated before the TNR crew could move in and that changes to the office were paid for by the owners of the building. He said TNR has signed a multi-year lease, but declined to say how many years.

Notably, most of the computers in the office are desktop PCs with only two or three Macs. Asked if any of the staffers gripe over who uses which computer, TNR Editor-in-Chief Franklin Foer said no. Actually, most of the computers go unused. “I think you find that most people have laptops,” Foer said, “and they’re working off Macs.”

Foer said it’s “very sweet to be in a place that is our home and will be our home for a long time.” Previously, TNR was taking up shelter in an office sublet by the American Grain Council.

The party featured two fully-stocked open bars and another bar where attendees could sample different liquors. WaPo‘s media reporter Erik Wemple was spotted taking a shot of something dark before heading out onto the deck. Catering included copious amounts of humus and cheese, veggie spreads and an assortment of chips.

Throughout the early evening, Chris Hughes, publisher of TNR, was seen… Read more

Say hello to Talking Points Memo Assistant Editor Igor Bobic. Born in Bihac, Bosnia, Bobic moved to San Diego when was 7. “I moved during the war,” he explained in a phone interview this afternoon. “Basically we left. My mom was persecuted for awhile, so that’s why we left. She comes from a Muslim background; my dad comes from a Christian background. My mom’s uncle was the Chief of Police. Due to various political factors, his opponents were trying to get to him through my mom. They threw her in jail for a couple days. Pretty much after that, they decided it was time to get the hell out of there.” What was his experience like from a  7-year-old’s perspective?  “From what I can remember, a lot of fear, basically,” he said. “I don’t talk about it too often because I’m not the only one. A lot of people went through the same thing.” Fast forward to journalism. Bobic says he really wasn’t interested in it at all until after he graduated college from the University of California-Irvine. “I was going to go to law school for some stupid reason, but then decided to give an internship with TPM a shot.” Bobic began the day after President Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden had been shot and killed. “I got to go to the Hill, go to all the press conferences,” he recalled. “Got a job offer, ended up staying.” It’s a job that involves interacting and sometimes arguing with reporters. “I’ve gotten cussed out before, but it’s fine,” he said. You work around it. You’ve gotta know the people you work with and their temperment. It’s basically understanding where they’re coming from.” Future goals? He really wants to report on Capitol Hill.

If you were a carbonated beverage, which would you be? Whiskey Ginger

How often do you Google yourself? Unfortunately my mother does this job for me. It’s quite scary.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to an editor/boss (or vice versa)?
(On a crystal clear connection) “I’m having some trouble hearing you I think you’re breaki –”

Who is your favorite working journalist and why? Politico’s Ben White. Dude keeps it real. Just not in the afternoon. He’ll also enlighten you on any number of subjects, including but not limited to banking, entitlements, Taylor Swift and HBO’s “Girls.”

Do you have a favorite word? You wouldn’t be part of TPM if you didn’t use “fail” incessantly. We get a bonus if you can manage to sneak it into a headline.

Who are you named after and what are people’s general reaction to your name? Igor Stravinsky. “Eegor? Eyegor? Eyygor? Eeyore?….Ivan?”

Who would you rather have dinner with – NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, ABC’s Martha Raddatz or Fox News’ Megyn Kelly? Tell us why. I’d take Megyn Kelly to dinner. Karl Rove’s election night meltdown made for great TV.

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, Homeland’s Claire Danes or any of the women from FNC’s “The Five”. Who will it be? (None of them is not an option.) I’ve actually met some members of “The Five” (which I enjoy), and it made for awfully awkward conversation. I’d love to do that again.

What swear word do you use most often? I throw out a lot of audible “f*cks” while I’m editing. Also, it’s remarkable how much leeway I have to swear in Bosnian without anyone knowing.

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.) No one. I like sleeping in on Sundays. Read more

Quotes of the Day

WTF? Save Politico‘s Byron Tau, from himself

(Igor Bobic, an assistant editor at Talking Points Memo was as shocked as we were with Tau’s tweet. He wrote, “Is this DM?” Then he added, “Anyone want to join me in TPing @ByronTau‘s house sometime this month? A little bird gave me his address.” Hey Byron, our resident paparazzo Eddie will be over to your house later to snap some pictures. To provide context, Tau was reacting to the online outrage of Gawker and Journal News publishing gun owner names and addresses.)

Why are people all weird about their addresses being public? Here, I’ll go first: 526 Kenyon Street NW, Washington D.C. 20010.

— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) January 8, 2013

Morning Oopsy!

“Correction on huffpost - ‘earlier version said West Wales is located in England. In fact, it is located in Wales’” — Katherine Faulkner, Asst. News Editor at Daily Mail. The correction was on a story about a McDonald’s employee who was fired for being rambunctious with the chocolate sprinkles on a coworker’s McFlurry. She sued the company and won $5,000. “Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly said that West Wales is located in England. In fact, it is located in Wales.”

Reporter puts RGIII in his prayers

“Saying a prayer for @RGIII. He has brought DC together in a way very, very few have in a very, very short time.” — Roll Call White House reporter Steven Dennis. Also see NYT’s Maureen Dowd‘s columnon the subject. She begins, “Everyone told me not to fall in love so quickly, that I’d get my heart broken. But I couldn’t help it. Robert Griffin III and Alfred Morris, the stellar Redskins rookies, were such appealing palliatives to our ugly, nihilistic politics and our cascade of lurid sports scandals.”

Today at the White House

“[Today] at the WH: ‘The President will host cast and crew members of the television show 1600 Penn for a screening at the White House.’” — Tribune‘s Mike Memoli.

Convo Between Two Journos

This morning’s conversation between NBC’s Chuck Todd and NYT’s Mark Leibovich concerns the late Richard Ben Cramer. Leibovich is referring to his upcoming book on Washington culture that has the working and likely title, This Town. The book will be available in April.

Todd: “@MarkLeibovich friend sent note about how he asked RBC why there no index, RBC’s reply: ‘sick and tired of seeing DC people’ read via index”

Leibovich: “@chucktodd totally agree… I’m contemplating no index myself”

Local meteorologist shivers in workplace

“Freezing in the office this morning, but a mild afternoon ahead. Partly cloudy with highs in the mid-upper 50s in D.C. today!!!” — WJLA’s Jacqui Jeras. Come on, WJLA! Turn up the heat already. Your METEOROLOGIST is freezing.

Peter Ogburn and Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

Quotes of the Day — Home for the Holidays Edition

HOLIDAY JOKESTER: “My favorite 2012 picture of Steve Buttry.” — Mimi Buttry, wife of Steve Buttry. Buttry is the Digital Transformation Editor at Digital First Media. Nice, fancy title, Buttry!

Blogger goes nuts over bourbon balls

“Soaking nuts in Bourbon before I make Bourbon balls and I’m totally going to eat these nuts aren’t I?” — Laurie White, photographer, writer and blogger.

Roll Call researcher gets on wrong Metro car

“Of course I got on the Metro car with the puddle of barf in it.” — Katie Kovach, international affairs and defense researcher for Roll Call.

Important Question to Ponder: “I can’t believe people are tweeting about politics on Christmas Day. Why aren’t you people drunk struggling with electronics?” — InTheseTimes labor reporter Mike Elk.

“Fuckers”: The new way to say Happy Holidays!

“Happy Holidays to you too, fuckers.” — HuffPost‘s Sabrina Siddiqui to BuzzFeed‘s John Stanton, Politico‘s Kate Nocera and TPM‘s Igor Bobic.

Someone had to say it… “U.S. Senator in Deep ‘Crapo’ After DUI Arrest” — El Sharko blogger of Miami. (The Mormon senator from Idaho, Mike Crapo, got a DUI Sunday night. Nice timing!)

BuzzFeed editor gets weepy over gay weddings

“Watching a bunch of gay wedding videos and slowly getting emotional.” — BuzzFeed senior editor Stacy Lambe.

Uh oh. Scratch the drunken driving jokes

“Drunk driver jokes aren’t funny, folks. Especially if someone you love has been taken from you by one. Not a GOP or Dem. thing.” — Paul Brandus of  WestWingReport.

“People, there is nothing funny about drunk driving. Nothing.” — Politico‘s Ben White.

“Good thing people sending gleeful tweets re Crapo DUI have never needed compassion after some stupid/hypocritical human failing.” — Harold Pollack, University of Chicago professor.

Not a happy ending for this journo

“Merry Christmas to the TSA agent who touched my junk.” — Free Beacon‘s  CJCiaramella.

Editor copes with new holiday traditions

“My Presbyterian brain can’t process my Catholic wife’s family’s tradition of unwrapping presents on Christmas Eve.” — National Journal “The Hotline’s” Editor-in-Chief Reid Wilson.

Peanut Gallery du Jour: “I bet Jesus gets super pissed that his birthday is so close to Christmas.” — FBDC and “Full Court Press” co-host Peter Ogburn.

Real HuffPost Headline: “Not having sex? 7 ways to start again”

Oops! Wrong address.

“Someone sent us five pounds of dry aged steak for Christmas. Sent it to the wrong house. Sat on a porch for a week. #tryingnottocry.” — CNN Contributor and RedState‘s Erick Erickson. As our own Rachel Ray (a.k.a. Ogburn) explained it, “aged meat = good, aged meat outside = not good.” Erickson also doubles as an imbibing Santa. He wrote, “The kids are sound asleep. Santa is about to put together the toys as soon as he finishes his bourbon.”

HELP!

“Just drove past a car completely engulfed in flames on the Ohio turnpike. Scary stuff.” — National Journal daily production employee Michelle Bloom.

Dicking Around With John Dickerson

“During Christmas service tonight, my 3rd grade daughter: ‘Mom what’s a virgin?’” — CBS Political Director and Slate‘s John Dickerson.

Um, constituents?

“Good morning Twitter constituents! Everyone have a Merry Christmas, a happy holiday and I hope u all experience the joy the season brings.” — Javonni Brustow, Washington editor of TheDCPundit.com, who transformed himself into a politician as millions of Christians celebrated the birth of Christ.

Holiday gun jokes: too soon?

“20-year-old twins Bob and Jim give Christmas gifts to 14-year-old Jefferson and 12-year-old Emerson: GUNS!” — Conservative blogger and ex-TWTer Robert Stacy McCain.

“I’m told a bearded guy may break into my house tonight. Should I greet him w/ AK-47 or Glock?” — Current’s David Shuster.

“Idea: arm every air traveler.” — Wired senior reporter and third tier Boybander Spencer Ackerman.

Unnecessary Tweet of the Day

“Hostess told me I just booked the last available reservation tonight at our local Chinese restaurant. #christmasmiracle.” — Howeesha Kurtz (a.k.a The Hill‘s gossip columnist Judy Kurtz.)

Down and out journalists… Read more

Quotes of the Day

Important Question to Ponder: “Does Gov@NeilAbercrombie wear a lei to every press conference?” — Roll Call‘s Shira Toeplitz.

Funniest note to a D.C. reporter: “Dave Weigel, I loved seeing you in that ED ad.” — Pelicanette to the infamous Slate reporter. To which he replied, “You sure it wasn’t an Extenze ad?” (ExtenZe, for the uninformed, is an herbal supplement that promotes natural male enhancement.)

Politico‘s Ben White: Please assure us you’re not serious!

“I now instantly block people who Tweet obnoxious/offensive things at me. It’s such a pleasure.” — Politico‘s Ben White, who has apparently READ the Politico Ethics Manual? Say it isn’t so!

Terrible gift-giving idea…“Xmas shopping update: I’ve decided everyone is getting souvenirs from the Capitol this year.” — Politico‘s Kate Nocera. Please, Kate, don’t do it. No one wants that sh-t! (Just looking out for your karma.)

Overheard…

“Overheard in the newsroom: ‘Is this the old coffee or the old old coffee?’” — Neiman Lab’s Adrienne LaFrance.

A Fox News reporter said what?! Read more

Say hello to Benjy Sarlin, who covers politics for Talking Points Memo, where he is readjusting to life after the 2012 election.

His colleague, Evan McMorris-Santoro, says this about Benjy: “Benjy is a Twitter virtuoso. He needs to stop making me look bad by being so good at hashtagery.” But another colleague, Igor Bobic, jokes on Twitter that he’s a “total dick.” (At least we think he’s kidding.)

Previously Benjy reported on national politics for The Daily Beast, where he was Washington correspondent. Born and raised in New York City, he covered city politics for the New York Sun until its untimely death (though, it’s still in shambles with the occasional zombie editorial). To be truthful, we’re still don’t think we’ve gotten to the core of Benjy Sarlin. But we do know a lot of seemingly useless details.  He has an unhealthy attachment to barbecue and Twitter. “Twitter is like my Kryptonite, both the source of my reporting strength and its biggest weakness,” he tells me in an email exchange. “I get annoyed when I see stupid stuff floating around and if you’ve seen something silly pop up in one person’s feed, you’re about to see it everywhere, only worse. It’s fun engaging with people over these little dust ups, but I think I’m irrationally invested.” On the subject of astrology: “I don’t believe in astrology, but I’m willing to be convinced if Nate Silver posts some kind of chart.” Strange hobbies: He insists he is an accomplished juggler. Fine dining: He wants to dine with George Washington (if he could, that is).

Perhaps one of those most interesting things about Benjy is his name and its weird spelling. “My name is almost uniformly misspelled thanks mostly to those dog movies in the 1980s, even by friends and family,” he explains. “‘Benjy’ was the name of my dad’s closest childhood friend, so that’s how I ended up with the particular spelling. My folks are Jewish and you’re not supposed to name someone after a living person, but at the time I was born the original Benjy was in the Hare Krishne and had changed his name to — I believe — Paramananda Das. Since then, he’s left the Hare Krishne and gone back to his old name, so I’m actually not sure if it’s kosher for me to stick with Benjy. Maybe I’ll change my byline to Paramananda Sarlin?”

If you were a carbonated beverage, which would you be? 

I’d like to think of myself as pre-Schumer Four Loko, but I’m really not hardcore enough to justify it. Let’s go with root beer.

How often do you Google yourself? 

Phsaw, I got alerts for that.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to an editor/boss (or vice versa)?

My first day as an intern out of college, my only task was to set up a device to record a phone interview between an editor and Joe Wilson. I blew it and the whole thing was lost. To the editor it was probably the most minor daily annoyance, but to me I had just screwed up the only real world task I’d ever been assigned about as badly as possible. I was all nerves for a week after that.

Who is your favorite working journalist and why? 

Present TPM company excluded (and really, they are the best), I’m a big fan of Molly Ball at The Atlantic. It’s hard to find good campaign reporting that has a broad national scope but also involves talking to actual voters and she’s amazing at tying the two together. Voters have interesting things to say, really!

Do you have a favorite word? 

“Gluttony” is an incredible feat of English language. Say it out loud — gluttony. It sounds exactly like what it means. Aliens could land tomorrow and understand “gluttony” the first time they heard it.

Who would you rather have dinner with – CNN’s Candy Crowley, ABC’s Martha Raddatz or Fox News’ Megyn Kelly? Tell us why.

Funny enough, I was on the same plane as Candy Crowley on the way back from the final presidential debate last month. We had a coffee while we waited to board and she could not be nicer. I’d just spent the last week talking to Republicans in Florida who were incensed over her mid-debate Benghazi fact check and passed on a couple of choice quotes. I was extremely impressed with the way she handled both the debate itself and the backlash afterwards. She took the complaints against her seriously enough to defend her performance but she had enough perspective to not make herself the story and enough wisdom to know everyone would just move on to the next outrage in a few days time. Which is a long way of saying that I’d be glad to get dinner.

Much more on Benjy after the jump…

Read more

Quotes of the Day - Wacky Road to the White House Edition

The travel agent

“Perry dropping out to spend more time with his Niggerhead Ranch.” — TPM‘s Brian Beutler.

Journo has vivid imagination

“I would just about empty my bank account for someone to yell ‘GET OFF THE STAGE, HIPPIE’ during this pre-debate rundown #fits” — Reuters‘ Sam Youngman.

Obesity alert

“Sure, I’ll eat these free cookies at the debate file. Haven’t eaten enough down here. #obesity” — RealClearPolitics‘ Scott Conroy.

Warming up the audience

“What you are missing at home: Press file is watching feed of what I would describe as a crowd fluffer: ‘ARE YOU EXCITED TO BE HERE??’” — Yahoo! News‘s Holly Bailey.

Holding out until bitter end

“The field is set. There is one last chance to avoid a Romney nomination. I won’t fall in line until all other choices are exhausted.” — BigGov’s and CNN Contributor Dana Loesch.

Question to ponder…

“Newt wanted an ‘open’ marriage. Did that also include an ‘open’ extramarital affair?” — Mother Jones‘ Washington Bureau Chief and MSNBC Contributor David Corn.

Howeesha’s unusual proposal

“I’ve decided DC needs a ‘Rent a Mom’ service for when you’re sick. I’d pay top dollar for some pillow fluffing and soup right about now.” — The Hill‘s Howlma (a.k.a. Judy Kurtz).

Reporter set to retire?

“Stephen Colbert used a story of mine for his latest Super PAC ad. Well, now I can retire.” — Yahoo! News‘s Chris Moody.

Unnecessary Tweet of the Day

“‘Gently heated yoga.’ What does that mean?” — Elahe Izadi, a race and class reporter for DCentric, an NPR Project Argo blog on WAMU 88.5. We have no explanation for the dense tweet. (But shhh…she is a former TBDer.)

Gingrich’s daughters: Something suddenly came up?

“Gingrich’s two daughters were set to do all morning shows to respond to Marianne interview. Now, they cancelled; per @bnurretoday” – NBC Chief Political Correspondent Chuck Todd.

The Ass Kisser

“It will take incredible guts and self possession for Newt to do well tonight” — Political Commentator Dick Morris. He added, “Imagine doing this with your ex wife coming on one hour after the debate to blow you to hell!”

Disrespectful or inventive?

“What would I serve for #cnndebate if I didn’t have to work? No question I would start with a Mitt Martini since he doesn’t drink. Add olives.” — CNN Commentator Donna Brazile.

Such pettiness…

“Is John King going to make those annoying ‘um’ sounds during each candidate’s answer again?” — TPM Assistant Editor Igor Bobic. To which NJ‘s Ethan Klapper reached skyward and replied, “Oh God.”

Question of the hour

“Who are all these women who willingly sleep with Newt Gingrich and how can we help raise their self-esteem? #ewwww” — Kenny Rufino, Creative Director, Crown Publishing.

Convo Between Two Journos

“After all Rick Perry‘s gaffes to date, how can we be sure he won’t mistakenly show up? #CNNdebate” — NYT‘s Frank Bruni. To which NJ Editor-in-Chief Ron Fournier wrote, “You made NJ newsroom lol.”