Howard Kurtz‘s apology, delivered on live national television Sunday, has been received as any dramatic apology would be. Some people are buying it. Some aren’t.

On his CNN media news program “Reliable Sources,” Kurtz offered his side of the story on what led to the mea culpa in the first place: Deadline pressure and his own lack of due diligence were to blame for his erroneous report last week that NBA player Jason Collins, who had just come out as gay, didn’t disclose that Collins his prior engagement to a woman. Collins had, in fact, been open about the engagement, mentioning it in a column for Sports Illustrated.

On Friday we questioned whether Kurtz would cover his own ass by covering his own ass on the show. He did. And for the occasion, CNN brought in NPR’s David Folkenflik and Politico‘s Dylan Byers to probe him.

There was plenty of in-house love for Kurtz. In a separate segment on the show, attorney Lisa Bloom was on to discuss coverage of the Jodi Arias case. Before offering her legal analysis, she said she would take a second to “go off script.” She praised Kurtz for “raising the bar” for journalistic accountability (while rattling off her own media resume).

“Kudos to Howard Kurtz,” tweeted Kurtz’s CNN colleague Piers Morgan. “He took his Jason Collins-clanger on the chin today like a Mike Tyson right hook.”

The compliments also poured in from elsewhere. FNC anchor Greta Van Susteren wrote on her Gretawire blog that everyone should “stop slapping Howie Kurtz.”

“Not one of us is perfect.  We all make mistakes,” Van Susteren wrote. At the start of the year, Kurtz had to offer a separate apology for wrongly attributing a quote to Van Susteren about then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

At TVNewser, our sister site, Gail Shister wrote after the apology that she hopes CNN head Jeff Zucker will continue to support Kurtz.

On the other side of the fence… Read more

Danielle Vogel, wife of Politico’s Ken Vogel gets a big writeup in Wednesday’s WaPo Food section. She’s opening “Glen’s Garden Market” just north of Dupont Circle. According to the profile, by WaPo’s Tim Carman, every “1,100-plus items on the shelves will come from regional producers, each personally selected by Vogel.” Sounds like a grueling process, but compared to working for Jim VandeHei, it should be a cakewalk.

Sure, everyone likes “local” and “farm to table” these days, but Vogel takes this work very seriously. Carman tells the story of her tenacity over a peanut order:

“When a Virginia peanut producer told her the company was going to shift its warehouse operations to New Jersey, Vogel was ready to cancel her orders. She couldn’t stomach the thought of all that fossil fuel burned to truck Virginia peanuts to New Jersey, only to have the goods shipped right back to the District. Her stance led to a surprising result: The company agreed to package and send Vogel her orders straight from Virginia.”

It is particularly interesting that WaPo published such a high profile piece on the spouse of a Politico reporter considering the bad blood that has existed between the organizations. Have the wounds healed? Are we seeing a blossoming friendship? (Probably not. Still, good of WaPo to be above competitive squabbling and print a worthy story.)

Quotes of the Day

Oh boy! POTUS might have worn a windbreaker?

“Your pooler only caught the slightest glimpse, but it looked like POTUS was wearing a windbreaker,” wrote Matt Viser of The Boston Globe in a strangely thorough weekend Pool Report full of mindless facts it appears he went to great lengths to obtain. “Pennsylvania Ave was shut down, with yellow tape holding back scores of onlookers in Lafayette Park. Some of those onlookers smiled and took photos. Others were protesters, shouting something your pooler couldn’t decipher (but thanks to the long lens of a pool photographer, it was possible to make out an anti-drone banner that depicted a drone striking a little family).”

In a later report… Viser went on (and on) about the various things he could do while holding at the Food Court in the Base Exchange. “Pool never spotted POTUS during the golf outing. For the duration, the pool held in the food court at the Base Exchange, which has a GameStop, GMC, as well as a busy barber shop and beauty salon. The BX also features a mall-like kiosk selling a range of different framed pictures, including many of POTUS and FLOTUS, starting at $55. They’re all $10 off, but that doesn’t seem an indication of demand; almost all the pictures for sale were $10 off.”

Finally by dinner time… a slice of news seemed to be of slight importance (or at least interesting) in his final report from Saturday: “The 30-minute motorcade ride was relatively uneventful. But as the motorcade worked its way by the Washington Monument, a police car abruptly cut off a bicyclist who apparently got too close to the motorcade (she seemed unharmed; her nerves did not).”

Lazy take on spring flowers

“I know that I will enjoy the flowers once they are in, but don’t feel like going to buy them and plant them. Want to do it for me?” — GOProud co-founder Jimmy LaSalvia.

Journo wants Bieber out of USA

“I think we can all agree on the need to deport Justin Bieber.” — David Frum blog Editor Justin Green.

OTR

“‘This all off the record’ how friends turn on you when you become a reporter.” — National Review‘s Katrina Trinko. To which Politico‘s Ken Vogel remarked, “& it’s usually super lame stuff you’d never cover.”

A nod to print journalism

“As he was leaving WH this morning, he had a print newspaper under his arm, unclear which one. (Yay print)” — CSM’s Linda Feldman in a Sunday morning Pool Report who was of course writing about POTUS.

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 7:43 a.m.

Ouch!

“Drilled my finger yesterday. Got it wrapped in duct tape. Smell funny. That’s a good sign, tho, right?” –Breitbart News Editor John Nolte.

Self-appointed media critic 

“From the level of coverage, the press has apparently mistaken Tiger Woods’ dropped ball for a Martian invasion.” — TV political analyst, Yahoo! News columnist Jeff Greenfield.

Convo between Leibovich, Weingarten and an ex-congressman is speaking where? Read more

Quotes of the Day – Election Banter

“Holy. Cow. The magic wall… Is ON THE FLOOR” — The Atlantic Associate Editor Brian Fung.

Green Eggs and Ham — why not?

“Mic check guy just read ‘Green Eggs & Ham,’ in its entirety, at Obama election night HQ. Now reading the Constitution.” — HuffPost‘s Jennifer Bendery.

All in a day’s work

“2 stories & 2,600 words already written today, the last 1,000 drunk will be tougher.” — InTheseTimes labor journo Mike Elk.

5:51 p.m. Famous Last Words

“CONFIDENCE: Romney tells the traveling press he FEELS like a win is coming. He’s written only one speech so far: a victory speech.” — NBC News’ Garrett Haake.

Foreshadowing….5:51 p.m.

“Some rare, non spin on twitter –> RT @jmartpolitico: A senior GOPer w close ties to Romneyland emails a single word: ‘worried.’” — HuffPost‘s Sam Stein.

In response to that… “So people in Romney camp sending out nervous messages to liberal reporters? Really? Wonder how big the camp is.” — Commentary‘s PodWhore (a.k.a. John Podhoretz.)

Reporters and Romney staff clap: the end is near

“Applause on Romney plane — from reporters and staff — as we land in Boston. Final flight of Romney 2012 campaign is over.” — AP‘s Steve Peoples.

Oops! Flack gets ahead of herself: 6:03 p.m.

“I’m not saying this to get ahead of myself, but is Obama capable of giving a graceful concession speech? I’m not sure.” — Amanda Carpenter, speechwriter for Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

Channeling Carville

“Carville (paraphrase): If Romney loses Virginia he’s in more trouble than a three-legged, cross-eyed gator on a freeway. #election2012″ — National Journal mag Deputy Editor James Oliphant on Democratic pundit James Carville.

And another thing on Carville…“For god’s sake someone either tighten Carville’s tie or unbutton his top button.” — TPM‘s Evan McMorris-Santoro. And this…“On CNN, James Carville is so excited he seems to have removed his exoskeleton.” — Vanity Fair.

Unraveling…7:17 p.m.

“It’s 7:20 and my nerves are already shot. #ElectionDay2012 #TeamRomney” — MSNBC and The Daily Beast‘s Meghan McCain.

Watch your words around the kiddies, journo warns

“Careful y’all: Your kids are learning a lot about how to win and lose graciously by how you act today.” — Politico‘s Patrick Gavin.

Attack on Trump minus his name

“Is there anyone who punches further below their weight than rich guys who dabble in politics?” — BuzzFeed Political Editor Ben Smith.

From the Road…“AT THIS POINT: crowd at Dem HQ is ready to cheer for nearly anything. Just screamed like Obama being up in Minnesota is 1980 gold. #openbar” — CNN’s Lisa Desjardins.

 ’Saucy’ Meghan Kelly

“Meghan Kelly is serving #curlytopsaucy tonight on Fox.” — Bravo’s Andy Cohen.

Politico reporters: Relax? Forget it!

“To all the road-weary reporters who just want a break: Congrats! You’ll be sitting in the Senate press gallery for the next 9 months.” — Fake Jim VandeHei, faux Twitter account to Politico Executive Editor Jim VandeHei.

Important, Embarrassing Question to Ponder: “So Megyn Kelly had to get white men in suits to confirm that Obama would go to Ohio. (Because her audience wouldn’t believe her?)” — Reuter‘s Megan McCarthy.

 In praise of Nate Silver’s ass

“I think Nate Silver deserves a ‘tell me how my ass tastes’ moment, right?” — HuffPost‘s Jason Linkins.

Journos react to FNC Karl Rove’s TV breakdown

• “Karl Rove looks like a kid who just learned there’s no Santa Claus.” — TPM‘s Sahil Kapur.

• “Fox is gone full bananaspants.” — The Guardian‘s Ana Marie Cox.

• “Barone explaining to Rove why Obama gonna win OH like watching someone explain to little kid that his dog died.” — Bloomberg‘s Joshua Green, referencing The Washington Examiner‘s Michael Barone.

•  ”Email from big GOP donor: ‘Karl looks like a fool.’” — Politico‘s Ken Vogel.

• “Bret Baier is now trying to figure out how to balance Karl Rove’s petulance and the FNC ‘decision desk.’ Train wreck.” — ClearChannel’s Colby Hall.

• “Rove has basically bullied the Fox hosts into backing off from their call of the election. Amazing TV.” — The New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza.

• “Fox thinks it’s up to them who wins. It’s not up to them. It’s over guys. (But please keep this up, this is amazing TV.” — HuffPost‘s Ryan Grim.

And Greta tries to inject a dollop of sanity…

“Fox News says President Obama re-elected.” — FNC anchor Greta Van Susteren at 11:34 p.m.

Speaking of delusional…“I’m neither naive nor optimistic. Just saying I refuse to give up. R some of u telling me ur going to throw in the towel? I don’t think so.” — David Limbaugh, author and brother to conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, after Obama won Ohio.

Depression is…

“Gay marriage, pot, an elated media, and Obama… Yeah, I’ve had better nights.” — Breitbart.com editor John Nolte.

Plouffe Daddy!

“Congrats on a ground game well-played, Plouffe Daddy.” — Freelance video journo for Wonkette and other outlets Liz Glover, referencing Obama campaign advisor David Plouffe.

Uh oh…where’s Romney? 12:11 a.m. 

“Danger for Romney is that if he delays concession too long he’ll look like a sore loser.12:11 still no concession.” — The Daily Mail‘s Toby Harnden, nearly one hour after NBC called the race for Obama.

Outside the White House: 12:33 a.m.

“People are climbing the trees outside of the White House. Total mayhem.” — BuzzFeed’s Rebecca Berg.

Find some inspiration with ex-Love Connection host Chuck Woolery and take notice of a few R’s who handled the loss with maturity…. 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.

Not exactly known to be wallflowers, Editors at Breitbart.com and The Daily Caller fought back today against comments made by Politico‘s suspended White House Correspondent Joseph Williams this morning on Current TV’s “Full Court Press.”

Williams repeatedly blamed the publications for the hype surrounding his suspension and said publications like The Daily Caller and Breitbart.com were “in the business of gathering scalps.”

FBDC reached out to brass at Breitbart.com and The Daily Caller to see how they’re reacting to his accusations.

John Nolte, an editor at Breitbart.com, a site that regularly lays into Politico for being what they claim is left wing and MSM, said Williams has their intentions all wrong and says he hopes Politico higher ups go easy on him.

“Breitbart news isn’t after ‘scalps,’” he wrote. “This is about exposing to the general public who the media is and what the media does. Our so-called media watchdogs won’t hold the media accountable, so it’s up to New Media and the general public to do so. Like Keith Olbermann, Soledad O’Brien, Ben Smith or Ken Vogel — that job is only made easier when a Joe Williams is employed as a “reporter” at a Politico or any other left-wing news outlet disguising itself as objective. We not only hope Politico keeps Mr. Williams on, we hope they promote him from White House Correspondent to Senior White House Correspondent.”

Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson, who has sparred with reporters at Politico for years and repeatedly tied Politico to MSNBC to brand the publication as left wing, remarked, “Supposedly objective White House correspondent accuses GOP candidate of racism on the basic of no evidence? Seemed like a pretty obvious story to us,” he wrote by email. “By the way, Williams made those comments in public, on Twitter, so I’d hate to think it took our piece to get his bosses to notice he’s a nut, though that’s what he claims.”

Quotes of the Day

Editor has tummy issue

“WHY did I eat lunch before going to Fancy Foods Show? Clearly a rookie mistake! Had to pass up choc and gelato samples due to bursting tummy.” — Kathy Jentz, Editor of Washington Gardener Magazine.

Daily Caller‘s Boyle scolds the entire media

“All of you idiots in mainstream and RW media – stop printing false info – @SpeakerBoehner FULLY SUPPORTS @DarrellIssa.” — The Daily Caller‘s Matthew Boyle.

And a Breitbart editor scolds a Politico scribe…

“Wow. @politico’s Ken Vogel totally on board with White House talking points. Romney must take standon illegals. Oh shut up.” — Breitbart.com‘s John Nolte on Politico‘s Ken Vogel. We reached out to Vogel for comment.

SHOCKER Du Jour: No Politico mention of Politico‘s in-house engagement from yesterday afternoon.

Sen. Harry Reid Charms the Media

“Developing: Harry Reid answers follow-up question with ‘Don’t have a cow, man.” — TPM‘s Evan McMorris-Santoro.

Are John Edwards and Reille Hunter back together? According to E! last night: “So true.”

Email Better Left Unopened

Subject line: “If the video and comments on this blog post don’t inspire you, you’re already dead. HIGHLY Recommend you view it!” (And we highly suggest you don’t tell us we’re dead as a way to convince us to read something.)

This morning we see amazing similarities between Current TV’s latest star and ex-hooker aficionado Eliot Spitzer and Politico‘s Ken Vogel. Sorry, Vogel, but it’s true! He doesn’t have your ears, morals or party chatter, but otherwise you could probably play him in a movie.

Quotes of the Day

Colin Drummond photographs Cody Simpson, the new teen heart throb, on his way to the Easter Egg Roll at the White House Monday. Drummond says Simpson is now being managed by Justin Bieber‘s manager, Scooter Braun.  Translation: Expect big things from Cody in the coming year.

Journos discuss “taxpayer-payed balls”

CNBC’s Eamon Javers: “WH says b-balls w/Obama’s face were from Globetrotters, not taxpayer-payed balls.” Politico‘s Ken Vogel: “‘Taxpayer-payed balls’ – is that a TV term?” Javers’ response to Vogel: “Argh. I kant spell today.”

Only from TMZ’s Harvey Levin…“We got a pic of a guy claiming to be Hitler‘s grandson. Would you refuse to associate with him because of his relative? Call us 855 869 5483.”

On MSNBC’s “Hardball” last night, host Chris Matthews wondered about the titles of his guests and what they meant. For instance, he wanted to know why TIME‘s Mark Halperin has the title of “Senior Political Analyst for TIME” as opposed to the apparently lesser “MSNBC Political Contributor” and New York Mag’s “National Political Editor” titles for John Heilemann. Heilemann laughed. Halperin had an answer.

Matthews: “How did you get the senior title Mark?”

Halperin: “Tip the doorman.”

Letter to the Editor

A regular reader from a Washington publication that will remain anonymous wrote in to offer a contrary opinion about President Obama‘s pastor, Rev. Luis León of St. John’s Church, who said during his Easter Sunday sermon that sometimes he wishes he didn’t read the newspapers or watch television news.” He also said he felt the global economy, much like Easter and the resurrection, is ruined when you try to explain it. The reader writes, “I am a regular parishioner of St. John’s and can promise you the rector was not taking a shot at the media. What he was saying is that the news about what is happening to people all around the world is so painful and upsetting, it’s hard to read about it every day.  He was talking about how much the misery there is in the world, not blaming the media for reporting it.”

The Daily Caller‘s very own Matt Boyle made his debut on Gawker yesterday.

After an email exchange between him and a DNC spokesman was leaked to HuffPost and Ben Smith at BuzzFeed, Gawker picked up one of the emails Boyle wrote to DNC Spokesman Brad Woodhouse and called it “The Most Pathetic Email Ever Sent by a Journalist.” The email in question read:

“And, btw, [Slate's] Dave Weigel and tons and tons of other reporters (including many who work for Buzzfeed) say my style of reporting is brilliant. ‘Genius’ says one of Smith’s reporters to me. So cut the crap, grow up and answer the questions—if you’re capable of doing so.”

The drama was also picked by up Weigel here and WaPo‘s Erik Wemple here.

In addition to calling Boyle’s email “pathetic,” Gawker called it “pissy.” The comments on the post weren’t much better. “That’s funny he doesn’t look like a genius,” one commenter wrote. Another made an odd comparison to Marilyn Hagerty, the journalist who wrote the infamous Olive Garden review. Someone else said he looks like Cher’s transgender son Chaz Bono. And still, another commenter said he looks like “an overfed chipmunk who learned to shave.”

Boyle retweeted positive response he received on the matter. He retweeted Politico‘s Ken Vogel who said it was “Disturbing to see flacks leak journo emails-no matter what they say.” Boyle also retweeted this from Alex Schriver, who identifies himself as the Chairman of the College Republican National Committee: “So [Boyle] asked the DNC’s Communications Director to directly communicate [DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's] position on an issue? The audacity!”

We emailed Daily Caller spokeswoman Nicole Roeberg to see if Boyle had anything to say about getting the Gawker treatment. “We’re not worried about it,” she said. “We’re proud of the work Matthew is doing, and we look forward to his next pieces on Operation Fast and Furious.”