Don’t look for TWT Columnist and Drudge’s Joe Curl and ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper to kiss and make up anytime soon. Curl, a former White House correspondent, took a machete to the mainstream media in a Sunday column, taking large slices out of the media covering President Obama as a whole and ripping on TIME and MSNBC Contributor Mark Halperin. But he took special care and precision in going after “The Tap” as he writes, pointedly and personally mocking Tapper.

Curl begins with the “dog” metaphor and stretches it out, saying that the MSM has been in the “downward-facing dog position” for the past four years. And then, employing the reporter’s full name, the almost uncomfortable attack on “Jacob Paul ‘Jake’ Tapper” begins.

Tapper worked for Handgun Control Inc. and the “ultra-liberal” Salon magazine, writes Curl, who then goes after his wife, whom he does not name, indicating she’s the “former regional field manager for Planned Parenthood Federation.” He moves on to Tapper’s book, Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency, calling it a “mega-non-best-seller” and citing the author speaking about media bias. Then Curl twists the knife by making fun of an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”

Tapper has been praised by conservatives for asking tough questions that some think make him decidedly anti-Obama: National Review Online writer Jonah Goldberg: “There’s a reason why ABC’s Jake Tapper is one of the few nonconservative reporters respected on the right: He’s stayed as skeptical of Obama as he was of George W. Bush.” National Review Editor Rich Lowry: “In May, a bi-partisan majority of the House, including 20 Democrats, voted to ban abortion for the purpose of sex selection. As the National Right to Life Committee noted, it didn’t occur to reporters to ask the White House about the president’s position on the legislation, with the honorable exception of Jake Tapper (who, for some reason, is always the honorable exception).” Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham: “Jake Tapper of ABC News, one of the few honest brokers out there in the non-Fox White House Press Corps.”

This won’t sit well. Washington can feel like a small town where media is concerned, so this should make for some exquisitely awkward party moments. We just hope we’re there to witness them.

Tapper declined to comment on Curl’s column.

An excerpt:

…America’s reporters are prepared to do what must be done so they can get back to their skewered shrimp in the faux gardens of upper Manhattan — with Barack Obama back in the White House.

All of this comes as a tremendous shock to Jacob Paul “Jake” Tapper. The Dartmouth grad who once worked for Handgun Control Inc. and the ultra-liberal Salon magazine (is his wife a former regional field manager for Planned Parenthood Federation? Yes, yes she is) did not really know there was this “liberal bias” when authoring the mega-non-best-seller “Down and Dirty: The Plot to Steal the Presidency” (surprisingly, it was not about how Al Gore tried to steal the presidency).

As news of the passing of disco legend Donna Summer made the rounds yesterday, we were surprised to receive the following email from the White House Press Office.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 17, 2012

Statement by the President on the Passing of Donna Summer

Michelle and I were saddened to hear about the passing of Donna Summer. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Donna truly was the “Queen of Disco.” Her voice was unforgettable, and the music industry has lost a legend far too soon. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Donna’s family and her dedicated fans.

While it’s not unusual for POTUS to remember celebrities that had an impact on society, he seems to be picking and choosing these days. As we reported earlier, TWT’s Joe Curl famously took Obama to task for not issuing a statement on the passing of Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. While some might cry racism, I think it might just be that POTUS’s taste in music isn’t as “cool” as everyone makes out. When The Band’s Levon Helm passed away, POTUS was silent. Most recently, when Chuck Brown, the patron saint of go-go music and a God to citizens of Chocolate City, died, POTUS went mute. It’s not that he doesn’t care. It’s just that he’s just being selective about whose death is worth commemorating. When Whitney Houston died of a cocaine overdose, POTUS issued a statement and a prayer for her family. Is there anyone in their right mind who thinks that Donna Summer’s musical achievements rival those of Levon Helm or Adam Yauch? Is POTUS THIS out of touch?

New Rule for HBO’s Bill Maher: Make your “New Rules” biting and trashy enough to elicit more than a single hiccup in Washington. Last week Maher issued a new rule for TWT columnist and Drudge’s Joe Curl.

Few talked about it. Curl hadn’t heard of it and had no comment. He earned the rule for denouncing President Obama in a recent TWT column for not acknowledging the death of one of the Beastie Boys.

Maher flashed a picture of Curl and read the new rule: “A columnist for the right wing Washington Times suggested Obama is racist for not noticing the death of one of the Beastie Boys because he was white must be promoted to Fox News.” He added, “That is such a spectacular piece of hackery, I can’t believe Sean Hannity didn’t think of it first. It should be a reverse Pulitzer.”

Few things in life sound more deliciously appealing than getting primped and preened for a professional photo shoot with “Real Housewives of D.C.’s” uber stylist Paul Wharton at the helm. As many readers know, Wharton has his own show on Sunday’s called Paul Wharton Style, in which he downs a lot of booze and gets his eyebrows plucked among other activities.

There are a few male journalists we’d love to see Wharton get his hands on: Roll Call’s John Stanton, Politico‘s Jonathan Martin, ABC7′s Stephen Tschida and TWT Columnist Joe Curl to name a few. Of course, Slate‘s Dave Weigel may have a ball with this. A beach blonde Weigel could be intriguing. But if Paul burns up his scalp, do not take him to Whitman-Walker Clinic.

What your $250 gets you:
Fashion Hair Styling.
Professional Make-up Application.
Wardrobe Styling Advice.
Easy to Download Digital Files.
2 Distinct Looks
Photo Retouching Available.

It’s all in the details: Get a two look photo shoot with hair, make-up and wardrobe styling all for $250. Presented by Paul Wharton and his team of experts! Photographer Drew Xeron When: Saturday June 9, 2012 Where: Studio 52 DC 52 O Street NW # 204 Washington, DC 20001 Time: Once you’ve made your reservation (click Paypal link), we will contact you to set up your call time.
Important note: Bring 2-3 wardrobe options and come with face clean and hair clean and ready to be styled.

Reasons to do it: Paul states in his enticing announcement, “As you’ve now heard, the Beautiful You! Photo Shoots by Paul Wharton and his team are the best way for you to get up the up to date, professional  shots you need for your career or just for yourself. Take part in a fabulous day of being pampered as you become the star in front of the lights, camera and action.”

Sign me up! Write info@paulwhartonstyle.com for more information.

President Barack Obama is probably pretty busy during his waking hours, what with his day job of being President and running for a second term. But couldn’t he have at least found the time to say a few words on the death of Beastie Boy and national treasure Adam Yauch who died Friday? It would have meant a great deal to TWT‘s Joe Curl.

Over the weekend Curl wrote a column bemoaning “half-white” Obama’s neglect to acknowledge Yauch’s passing:

“[Yauch] was the real deal, groundbreaker, up from his bootstraps, Brooklyn boy made good. Funny the “coolest president ever” doesn’t say a word about the passing of MCA. Weird and kinda sad, actually.”

It’s a race thing. Further in the column, Curl says it’s not fair that Obama’s thoughts on the deaths of Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson (both celebrities that were black, in some form or another) were made public. So why not comment on Yauch, a whitey?

Good question and we’re hoping someone, anyone in the White House press corps. can right this wrong.

Joe Curl, who works for Drudge and is a columnist for TWT, brushed with greatness today at Tammy Haddad‘s and Hilary Rosen‘s famed garden brunch. Lindsay was polite but kept things low-key, kept mostly to herself, wore dark glasses and so forth.

Amazing that Washington’s longtime journo, the unassuming Curl, managed to snag this picture with the starlet. “And a monster is created,” said our spy.

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.”

About three months ago, New York Post‘s Washington Bureau Chief Charlie Hurt quietly left his job. Few knew why he left or where he was off to next. He had been at the publication for four years.

Now he’s at the Drudge Report.

He also writes a column called “Nuclear Option” for TWT, which gives him an outlet to rant about whatever he wants.

He joins another Washington journalist, Joseph Curl, who also works for Drudge and has a side gig at TWT.

Despite repeated, relentless attempts to bribe him with beer, friendly conversation and a gynormous bottle of vodka given to us at one of the WHCD parties, Hurt declined comment.

This weekend, longtime White House correspondent for the Washington Times and editor for the Drudge Report, Joe Curl, joins Adam Belmar for an exclusive radio interview on Sirius XM P.O.T.U.S. Channel’s new program, PoliOptics.   Curl will share an insider’s view from his more than 20 years of covering the White House and discuss the most influential and mysterious news site in the world.

Click here for a preview of the program and catch the entire interview on PoliOptics, Saturday at 12pm & 6pm EST on Sirius 110 | XM.

QUOTES of the DAY

Prepping you all for CNN Ed Henry’s Hula video.

Journos are just like the rest of us: They get help from friends

“Correction from previous pool report: brown SHORTS, not shirts. Thanks to eagle-eyed pool report reader Joe Curl for picking up your pooler’s typo.” — NYT Sheryl Gay Stohlberg in Hawaii covering President Obama’s vacation. She’s referring to Joe Curl, former TWT scribe and now working for The Drudge Report.

Movie buffs: Blitzer and Tapper

“Want to see True Grit again. seldom say that about films ive just seen. Really well done.” — ABC News White House Correspondent Jake Tapper in a Tuesday tweet.

“Saw ‘True Grit.’ Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin & Hailee Steinfeld are amazing. Coen Bros do it again!” — CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in a Tuesday tweet.

Correspondent in Hawaii wonders about snorkeling security detail

“Obama snorkeling this morning in Hawaii: Wondering how the Secret Service detail works in such occasions…. #floatingflackjackets.” — Agence France-Presses’ White House Correspondent Tangi Quemener in a Tuesday tweet.

Stuck scribe

“Dead stopped on PA turnpike due to accident.” — LAT and Chicago Tribune‘s Congressional Correspondent James Oliphant in a Tuesday tweet.

WCP‘s Benjamin Freed tries to imitate FishbowlDC.

We welcome a funny satire. Sigh. But this one lags and lulls and is hard to get through and doesn’t get close to providing an amusing imitation of the site. I enjoyed the National Museum of the American Indian Soup of the Day (but only if you didn’t make it up). Yucca soup garnished with Quinoa Crusted Shrimp sounds delicious and yes, Chuck and Savannah would likely agree. But remember, Chuck is down on most soups. A few critiques: 1) Those shoes — troubling. They look like they might stink. 2) One to tweets is not “picking on you all day.” But we can arrange an official all-day tweaking if you’d like. 3) I did not tell you to “go fuck yourself.” I said the English translation to “Whatever” is “F.U.”  So technically, that is what I told you. Hope you’re having fun with your Google Reader you “uppity” scribe. And tell your mother I’m not going to pick on you (too much) today. xoxo-Betsy

Blind quote on former MSNBCer soon to be radio sub David Shuster from a female reporter…”Shu is kinda hot.”