An “asshole” has found itself right in the thick of media things today. And no, this has nothing to do with George Will‘s prostate exams.

Yesterday evening CQ Roll Call‘s Jonathan Strong and Daniel Newhauser double bylined a story headlined “‘Obstinate’ Factor Continues to Roil GOP.” The article looks at the decision of Republican leadership in the House to recently strip four GOP congressmen from coveted committee assignments. It contains the following (emphasis ours):

“‘What I tried to explain to them was, it didn’t have anything to do with your voting record, a scorecard, your work across the street or anything else. It had to do with your ability to work within the system and to try to work. And to be, I guess, constructive in things. And I said, “I guess you could say it was an asshole factor,”‘ Westmoreland said. ‘Now I wasn’t calling any member in particular an asshole, I was just trying to describe an environment where some people that you’re trying to work with, they just don’t want to work within the system.’

“Westmoreland later expressed regret for using that language, saying, ‘Maybe I should have used ‘obstinate factor.’”

Today, 15 hours later, Politico‘s Jonathan Allen published a very similar story with very similar language… Read more

Quotes of the Day

IMMATURE, NUTS: “Bison bacon burger, two cheeses, salad of kale, olive, roasted peppers, Shiraz, walnut #ketchup. …I didn’t follow the recipe. Used walnut pieces mostly not unshelled immature nuts. Still great; cant wait for next year’s crop.” — Editor of Cato Unbound‘s Jason Kuznicki.

Monkey business in Church

Reuters’ Sam Youngman: “I don’t mean to speak out of school, but @jonward11 was talking during church.” WaPo‘s Jennifer Rubin:  “tattle tale.” National Journal Editor-in-Chief Ron Fournier: “To God perhaps?”

Incest Desk

“I’m no killjoy, but traveling press playing football w/Romney staff? Unseemly.” — WaPo‘s Dan Zak. WSJ‘s Elizabeth Williamson agreed, saying, “So wrong.”

Uh Oh.

“Just took 9 aspirin. If that doesn’t work there’s a loaded 9MM under the bed.” — Breitbart.com‘s John Nolte.

Traveling journo

“Today in euphemisms: Just got a call from Southwest Airlines telling me my 4:15 p.m. flight has been ‘updated’ to 5:05 p.m.” — WaPo‘s Felicia Sonmez.

And Dana’s just glad they didn’t inspect her vagina…

“Thanks, Indy TSA for allowing my oldest and I to use the metal detector, not scanner, and for not grabbing my ladybits!” — CNN Contributor and Breitbart.com’s Dana Loesch. For a refresher on what happened to her at the airport last week, read here.

Eavesdropping at the barber shop

“TAKE NO PRISONERS: Having a blast listening to the back and forth on the election this morning at the barber shop.” — Jamie Dupree, Cox Radio.

 Shocking: Righty journo down on Obama

“Obama campaign is acting like it was back in June when it had a very bad month — snark, hyperbole, and light on big ideas.” — CNN Contributor and RedState.com‘s Erick Erickson.

Find out which journos had a case of pumpkin fever this weekend and who drank seriously expired Nyquil? Also….find out which one of us was blocked by conservative journo John Podhoretz.

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report.

Read more

POLITICO is promising “special coverage” of this Thursday’s vice presidential debate, including a “special” edition of “POLITICO LIVE” and a full stream of the debate.

A Look Ahead…On Thursday morning blogging duo Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman, will host Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and the Commission on Presidential Debates’ Frank Fahrenkopf and Mike McCurry for an in-depth conversation on what’s expected from Joe Biden and Paul Ryan that evening and how it will affect Election Day.

Doors will open at 8 a.m. ET at 401 West Main St. in Danville, Ky.

Politico Live begins at 8 p.m. with the dynamic Jim VandeHei and rarely blinking Mike Allen. They’ll be joined by reporters in Danville, plus Jonathan Allen, Editor-in-Chief John Harris and Lois Romano and “other POLITICOs joining from the POLITICO newsroom.”

They’re promising  it all — stories showcased on Politico, live blogging with Haberman and Burns, and video features from Danville. A release states the debate will be covered by VandeHei, Allen, Burns, Jennifer Epstein, Reid Epstein, Haberman, Jonathan Martin, Juana Summers, and Glenn Thrush on the ground in Danville.

NewsChannel8 will carry Politico Live starting at 8:30 p.m. C-SPAN will air Politico Live starting at 10:30 p.m.

No. of times the word “POLITICO” was used in all caps in the release: 15.

Quotes of the Day

“I gotta say, between Mitt Romney’s gaffes and Kate Middleton’s tits, I’m afraid to leave the house!” — Bill Maher, host of HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher.”

Congratulations. (A little…)

“Happy anniversary to my 2nd favorite morning show.” — Chris Licht, former executive producer for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” Licht now produces CBS This Morning.

Speaking of “Morning Joe” shout-outs…

“So people watch Morning Joe just so they don’t miss it when Mika finally snaps and stabs him, right?” — host of NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell me…” Peter Sagal.

Twitter growing pains

“I’d like to go back to school and do my PhD thesis on how bad Twitter sucks.” — Politico‘s Ben White, who has been getting some push back on Twitter this week from the likes of Guardian‘s super serious Glenn Greenwald among other “whores.”

Convo Between Two Journos

This morning’s conversation is between WaPo national political reporter Philip Rucker and Monocle and Slate’s Sasha Issenberg. Sasha is referring to WaPo’s Jennifer Rubin, who has been accused of being in the tank for Mitt Romney.

Philip Rucker: Romney aides Rhoades, Gitcho, Beeson & Chen got Aug bonuses from $25,000-$37,500

Sasha Issenberg: How much did @JRubinBlogger get?

Question to Ponder: “Do political reporters do serious journalism in election season or just report gaffes?” — InTheseTimes.com labor journo Mike Elk.

Did someone say serious journalism?

“Happy Daze: Remember when Paris Hilton and Charlie Sheen dominated the news cycle? Sigh.” — Baron’s D.C. Editor James McTague.

Muckraking at its finest. Aren’t smartphones great?

“Reception for Paul Ryan on House floor a lot more tempered down since last week’s visit. Mob to talk to him not as large.” — NBC’s Luke Russert.

“Hoyer crosses House floor to shake hands with #Paulryan. Nice moment.” — Politico’s Jonathan Allen.

“Steny Hoyer just crossed house floor to shake Paul Ryan’s hand.” — Politico‘s Shermanator Jake Sherman.

Skirmish.

“What will I ever do now? Dave Weigel blocked me so I’ll never see him crying about people being mean to Obama again!! OH NOES!!” — RBPundit. To which Slate‘s Dave Weigel replied, “You’re not entitled to waste my time and Twitter feed. That’s all.”

Journo gets hives

“Ew I just got hives for the first time. And on my arm. What in the world, this is so not cool.” — Elizabeth Lauten, a.k.a. “DCGOPGirl,” who video blogged for  CNN during the summer conventions.

FishbowlDC Fan Club

1. President: WaPo‘s Gene Weingarten

2. VP of internal shady clubhouse activities: The Daily Caller‘s Executive Director David Martosko

3. Head cheerleader: WaPo‘s Ezra Klein

4. Treasure and national fundraiser: The Daily Caller‘s Matthew Boyle

5. Enthusiastic new member: HuffPost‘s Andrea Stone

Politico will feature newsmakers at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte in the form of policy lunches. They will discuss the economy, energy and healthcare and hopefully this will be less boring than it sounds.

Lunch begins at noon. They will be showcased the “Politico Hub” (222 S. Church Street) and streamed on Politico.com. The fare doesn’t sound half bad. “No boxed lunches!” remarked a member of Politico‘s Event’s team. “Fresh sandwiches like herb encrusted pesto chicken sandwich with spiced aioli on fresh ciabatta bread.”

Want to attend? Sign up to attend Politico events here.

See the lineup…

Read more

On Thursday, we began rolling out the results of our Summer Superlatives and today, you get to meet the rest of the winners. Thanks for voting.

Today’s results kicks off with the Best Dressed category. This cage match was between Politico’s Ken Vogel and Kate Nocerra, WaPo’s Jonathan Capehart, RCP’s Erin McPike, and CNN’s Kate Balduan. This contest wasn’t even close. While we had a feeling Capehart would be the clear winner, he was a very distant second to Kate Balduan! Congrats, Kate. Your prize is a $1 gift card to Fashion Bug!

Moving right along, we asked you to name Washington’s Best Writer. Your choices were The Weekly Standard’s Matt Labash, The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, NJ’s Major Garrett, NYT’s Mark Leibovich, Ashley Parker and Maureen Dowd, WaPo‘s Karen Tumulty, HuffPost’s Eliot Nelson, and Washingtonian’s Luke Mullins. This one was a close one to call. It was a two-man race between Garrett and Labash, but in the end, Major Garrett came through and was voted the winner. It should be noted that today is Garrett’s birthday.

Which Washington journo is Most In Need of a Salad? We asked you to choose between Politico’s Jonathan Allen and Jonathan Martin, Slate‘s Dave Weigel, HuffPost’s Peter Cherukuri and Jason Linkins, FNC’s Bob Beckel and Bret Baier, and author and former TWTer Rich Miniter. This was another category where it wasn’t even close. The FNC team of Bob Beckel and Bret Baier were the heavy favorites and waddled walked their way to an easy victory.

Next up, we had the category that saw more votes than any other, Sexiest. Your sultry selections were AP‘s Steve Peoples, Atlantic Publisher Justin Smith, Washingtonian‘s Kate Bennett, Real Housewives of D.C.’s sassy stylist Paul Wharton, CNN’s Brianna Keilar, NBC4′s Doug Kammerer and Maynard Institute’s Richard Prince. The winner by a slim, sexy (and consenting) majority was Brianna Keilar.

On the other side of the coin, we have Who is Most In Need of a Makeover? Your choices were CQ Roll Call (the entire publication), The Daily Caller’s Matthew Boyle, TWT’s Stephen Dinan, Publicist Wendy Gordon, DCRTV’s Dave Hughes and Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher. Once again, this was a two-man race between Christopher and Boyle. While Christopher just looks generally disheveled, the overall train wreck that is Matthew Boyle was voted the winner. Congrats, Matt. We hear that Paul Wharton may be available to help turn you into a beautiful swan.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Best On-Air Personality. The heavy-hitters on this list were ABC’s Jake Tapper, The Daily Caller’s Tucker Carlson, MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, CBS’s Bob Schieffer and Nancy Cordes, HuffPost‘s Sam Stein, and WaPo’s Nia-Malika Henderson. At the end of the day, the experience of Schieffer couldn’t keep up with your winner, Jake Tapper!

Congratulations to all of our winners.

Bastille Day isn’t just for French Americans. It’s for everyone, including Politico‘s  Senior Washington Correspondent Jonathan Allen, who gives the holiday a special personal touch. We asked Allen if he had French roots. So far, he’s remaining quiet on the matter. UPDATE: Ooh la la, Allen speaks: “Not really. I am told I have some ancestry from Alsace-Lorraine, but it would be a small percentage. Was just having a memory of being in Paris on Bastille Day — randomly — in 1992.”

20 years ago I was in Paris on Bastille Day. Fireworks over Seine are beautiful, but not nearly as powerful as National Mall display on 7/4.

— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) July 14, 2012

 

Quotes of the Day

Father’s Day Treats: “Cleaning the pot after making rice krispy treats.” — Mr. Norah O’Donnell (i.e. Chef Geoff, husband to CBS Chief White House Correspondent Norah O’Donnell.)

Painting the town brown

“Hi. You mind if I talk to you for just a minute? I just want to say a few words about diarrhea.” — WaPo feature writer Dan Zak.

Important question to ponder: “When did this whole meme thing start?” — NYT‘s Mark Leibovich.

Herman Who?

“I love how @morningmika forgot @THEHermanCain’s name on @MorningJoe today. #999 #thepizzadude.” — HuffPost‘s Sara Kenigsberg. MSNBC “Morning Joe” Host Mika Brzezinski reamarked, “I can’t even remember 999′s name” and called him a “clown show.”

Congrats on Challenging Your Guest Howie

“Cenk Uygur and Matt Lewis (who I challenged) on the Daily Caller reporter who heckled Obama during immigration speech.” — CNN’s Howard Kurtz. No kidding, Howie! Good job on doing your job.

And in a twist of irony there’s this…“Ironically, Howard Kurtz interrupts @mattklewis to ask Q’s about ‘decorum’ of asking Q’s” — The Daily Caller‘s Matthew Boyle. And another thing goddamn you Howie, “Hey @HowardKurtz – Why’d you axe segment on #FastandFurious, Eric Holder contempt/resignation calls?   Rescheduling?”

Speaking of otherworldly…

“Today is 69th birthday of @newtgingrich, famous media critic and lunar realtor.” — pourmecoffee.

Nose Out of Joint

• “They weren’t kidding about massive rate hike. My @dcwater bill more than doubled since last month.” – Washingtonian‘s Carol Joynt.

• “Hello, motherfucker who took my computer and just went on an iTunes shopping spree. We’re hunting you.” — Wonkette and Salon Contributor Jim Newell.

• “Dear @Expedia…in 3 minutes i will have been on the phone for an hour with your customer service people trying to change a flight. WEAK.” — ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper. Tapper spent the weekend at his Dartmouth college reunion in Hanover, N.H.

• “Rained-on electronics in Brunswick; overheated electronics in Newark. Tough day to type on the trail.” — RealClearPolitics‘ Erin McPike.

Mediaite WH scribe smooches TV host

“Oh, yeah, a Happy Rookie Father’s Day to you, @chrislhayes. Next week, you’ll have a necktie to wear. #uppers” — Mediaite White House Correspondent Tommy Christopher, who moonlights as the Chairman of the I Love Hazy Foundation. Chris Hayes is an overcaffeinated host on MSNBC. Wait, don’t we already have one of those? (cough, cough, Chris Matthews.)

Female journo spots flasher

“Tonight’s PSA by Nikki – there was definitely a flasher outside @thehamiltondc. ‘Ladies be careful,’ he said before showing his youknowwhat.” — The Washington Examiner‘s Nikki Schwab.

Convo Between Two Journos

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “This #Nats #Yankees game is very good but could be better. #Natitude.” InTheseTimes Magazine writer Mike Elk: “Fuck u wolf go nats.”

“It’s hard work, but that’s what we’re here to do.” – NBC Washington cameraman Jim Long with accompanying photograph from Los Cabos, Mexico, where President Obama is traveling today.

Convo Between Two Journos II

Politico‘s Ben White: “We just met and this is crazy, but if you play that song again I’ll shoot you in the face for sure.”

Politico‘s Jonathan Allen: “Ben, things that aren’t crazy include giving phone # to someone you just met. Been happening since phones invented #dumblyrics”

Self-Appointed Media Critic

“Truly stupid NYT article on Anna Wintour by Jeremy Peters, makes you want to kill yourself. Why do we bother, if this is what can be written.” — Vanity Fair Contributor Michael Wolff. Read the story here.

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report.

Yesterday morning we asked readers to figure out which Washington journo is the sibling to this man, who also happens to be a sports anchor for News 14 in Charlotte, N.C. Watch him here.

Most of you guessed right — his brother is FNC’s Bret Baier. This is Tim Baier.

But some of you threw out some pretty wild but intelligent guesses including Politico‘s Jonathan Allen and SNL’s now deceased comedian Chris Farley.

One reader wrote in, “If it’s not Bret Baier, it’s Ryan Reilly.” Reilly is a reporter/blogger for TPMMuckraker. Another added, “That’s clearly Bret Baier’s brother, but it looks like Jonathan Martin in real life.”

Hearty congratulations to those readers who guessed correctly. We know some of the more greedy among you (we’re looking at you, Henriot) are demanding FishbowlDC mugs and T-shirts — they don’t exist yet, but who knows, maybe we can make it happen.

Quotes of the Day

Journo distracted by noise

“That thing when the protest outside your office gets so loud you can’t concentrate. They even have a lute player?” — The Atlantic‘s Sommer Mathis.

Male editor perplexed by Girl Scout cookies

“Same Girl Scout cookies my whole life known here in MidAtlantic/Northeast as Samoas are called Caramel deLites elsewhere? Very confusing.” — Kiplinger Assoc. Editor Ken Bazinet.

Fake Jim V has an announcement

“Giving up Drudge for lent” — Fake Jim VandeHei.

TWT writer baits Politico scribe

“@jonallendc I bet @jakesherman has never shot a gun. Other than water.” — TWT Senior Editorial writer Emily Miller to Politico‘s Jake Sherman. Ouch, Fast Break Sherm, are you just going to take that? Sherman was covering a political fundraiser at the Scottsdale Arizona Gun Club yesterday. He explained on Twitter, “Rep. David Schweikert got his wife a gun for Christmas.” He wrote to Miller and colleague Jonathan Allen, “No comment.”

Whitney-itis

“We’re drinking a bottle of $200 wine. Why? Because it’s a Tuesday night and it’s been a bad, bad day.” — DCGOPGirl, who was struggling last week when her Ambien wasn’t working.

Quote taken wildly out of context

A follower to Big Journalism Editor and CNN Contributor Dana Loesch writes: “This is true. I’m a lefty Canadian and I agree, transvaginal ultrasounds aren’t a punishment. It’s a safety thing.”