Quotes of the Day

GREAT EXPECTATIONS: “It’s just too easy for the NY Post headline writers.” — HuffPost‘s Sam Stein.

Speaking of Weiner…

“We really need to get moving on a conservative PAC to support Anthony Weiner getting back into politics. Who’s with me?” — Jazz Shaw, weekend editor at Hot Air.

Publisher wants beach body

“My current body-type is ‘zeppelin.’ So not ready for summer.” — Metro Weekly Co-Publisher Sean Bugg.

A publicist says no to pantyhose 

“If you’re wearing pantyhose with sandals you and I have a serious problem.” — Courtney Cohen, a publicist and former producer for ABC’s “This Week.”

Politico scribe to Hollywood

“I’m in Hollywood to cover the RNC Spring mtg. Invocation ahead of possibly-contentious, 5-hr Rules mtg asks God to give everyone patience.” Politico‘s James Hohmann. What he won’t be attending: “Dick Cheney will address the RNC at a closed-press lunch tomorrow afternoon here in Hollywood.” Roll Call‘s Jonathan Strong had a suggestion for Hohmann, saying, “You should go to Voyeur with some RNC people.”  Hohmann replied, “I would NOT get reimbursed for that.”

Halperin’s Words of Wisdom

“Dear colleagues: sometimes elected officials try to pass laws b/c they think those laws are right, not to gain electoral or political edge.” — TIME‘s Mark Halperin.

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 6:43 a.m.

When lateness pays off

“Got off jury duty by showing up late. Weird incentive there.” — BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith.

From the Dept. of Bragiculture…

“Getting so many emails the little transparent Outlook notice in the corner of my computer just isn’t turning off anymore.” — Politico‘s Alex Guillen, who deserves a hearty congratulations for getting a lot of emails.

MSNBC journo has fun facts on cicadas and a style writer braces herself for a lot of face time at the salon… Read more

On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today viewers were treated to what we’ll call a happy ending by TIME‘s Senior Political Analyst Mark Halperin.

While his colleague Mike Barnicle wrapped the show and tossed it to Chuck Todd, Halperin sent a diva-like kiss off to the camera, turned and ripped out his ear piece a la Beyoncé, then proceeded to sashay away.

A visual for the ages.

Quotes of the Day

Startling Monday headline

“Woman killed by Orange Line train” — story by the Washington Examiner‘s transportation reporter  Kytja Weir.  Read here. Weir reported that a woman jumped in front of an Orange Line train at 11:29 a.m. Monday at the Ballston Metro stop and died.

Speaking of orange…GOP Consultant Roger Stone had a few choice words for CNN’s Roland Martin for rooting for Texas AM aggies: “Roland Martin Dumbfuck–your avi photos shows you wearing ORANGE.”

NYT‘s Leibovich’s book release on the horizon

“Leibo book on DC, This Town, is avail for pre-order (ships 4/23)” — GOP Conulstant Matt Mackowiack. Purchase NYT‘s Mark Leibovich‘s much anticipated Washington culture book here. The book can also be purchased at Amazon for $17.71 for the hardcover or the kindle version for $14.99.  At the Barnes & Noble website, the book also costs $17.71, marked down $from $27.95. At Penguin.com, the hardcover costs $27.95.

Important Q to Ponder: “Is Downtown Abbey the thing with Honey Boo Boo?” — Reuters‘ Sam Youngman. And this: “How I feel about Twitter during Downton Abbey = how my non-sports fan friends must feel about Twitter during playoffs.” — Politico‘s Juana Summers.

Anonymous wisdom to FishbowlDC: “Come on, Twitter fights with [Breitbart.com's] Matthew Boyle are like drunkenly walking into a light pole, and then getting pissed off at it for being in your way. Totally fun, but do you really want to give the light pole any relevance?”

Convo Between Two Journos

This morning’s conversation is between The Atlantic‘s Molly Ball and The Atlantic Associate Editor covering business and politics Matt O’Brien.

Molly Ball: “The American people are a bunch of lily-livered wusses who can’t handle a little bit of legislative hardball.” She links to this story on GallupPolitics which says that 77 percent of Americans believe that Washington politics is harmful to the U.S.

Matt O’Brien: “That’s underplaying how destructive it is to hold the debt ceiling hostage.”

Molly Ball: “Aww, so worried about your pwecious widdle economy. Adorable.”

A beloved journalist dies and an insult for TIME‘s Mark Halperin unfolds… Read more

Quotes of the Day

“He’ll be insufferable now.” — MSNBC “Morning Joe” Contributor Mike Barnicle reacting to TIME‘s Mark Halperin role in “Game Change” winning four Emmys last night. Halperin wrote the 2010 book that later became a movie with New York magazine’s John Heilemann.

Luke says Dad is among the ghosts

“.@brainsalsa Great shot. He’s there with the ghosts Bruce mentions.” — NBC’s Luke Russert, in reference to a picture from a Bruce Springsteen concert. After Salsa wrote and told him he’s in the front row of a Springsteen concert and misses Luke’s dad “a ton,” Luke tells his new acquaintance that Tim Russert is among the ghosts. Um, creepy?

Arianna says buon giorno to HuffPost Italy 

“Arrived in Rome for the launch of L’Huffington Post Italia.” — AOL-HuffPost Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington.

Important Q’s to Ponder: “Why am I sitting in traffic in LA at 7:30 on a Saturday? Don’t people have somewhere to be already?” — Politico‘s Ginger Gibson.

Scribe notices peculiar blend of hotel guests

“Interesting vibe in my hotel. 3 conventions going on: funeral directors, financial planners, Rwandans” — WaPo‘s Karen Tumulty.

Dowd dismisses Stuart Stevens

“You get the sense that the strategist considers himself cooler than the candidate, that he’s too hip to walk through fire for Mitt and that he lacks confidence that Romney could be a better campaigner. He treats Mitt like a cardboard cutout, never asking him to risk anything or pushing him to be big, bold and inspirational.” — NYT Columnist Maureen Dowd in reference to Mitt Romney‘s Campaign Strategist Stuart Stevens in her Sunday column.

Reporters get shaft on Romney plane

“In the 2 hours the press was off Romney plane in SD, a new curtain has been installed to separate the reporters from the staff section.” — NBC News’ Garrett Haake.

Ana Marie unveils her weekend plans

“Boyfriend has mysterious journey planned for bday: ‘wear comfortable clothes, bring toiletries, and something nice for later.’” — The Guardian‘s Ana Marie Cox.

Speaking of the weekend…

“Rihanna, thanks for being the song in my head. Cheers to the freakin’ weekend… I drink to that, yeahh yeahhh.” — Politico Publicist Olivia Petersen.

Preacher Sophia gets prayed up  

“Boy do I have a whole LOT to say-God is doing some stuff in and for me. It’s kinda scary, crazy, wonderful. When I get back 2 VA will share!” — Essence and theGrio.com columnist Sophia Nelson.

Self-appointed media critic

“This MTP roundtable is really good. @JoeNBC vs.Bay Buchanan is exquisite.” — Politico Capitol Hill reporter Jake Sherman temporarily parts with his Phish obsession to watch MTP.

Noteworthy: AP‘s Kasie Hunt appeared on the Fox News Sunday panel for the first time this weekend.

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).

Journalists were as invested as anyone in Mitt Romney‘s VP pick. After all, they’re the ones stuck covering these two for the next three-plus months. Pawlenty and Portman: Boring with two capital P’s.

But Paul Ryan? He puts a spring in their step.

This morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” TIME‘s Mark Halperin spoke of what he suspects will be a shift in coverage with the Ryan choice. Granted, his remarks might cause his colleagues to avoid him on the bus and not because he forgot mouthwash. “Another constituency he has, almost every national political reporter knows Paul Ryan and likes Paul Ryan more than they do Mitt Romney and that gives Romney a little bit of an edge he was missing, which was pro-Obama in the press corps,” he said.

Sirius XM P.O.T.U.S. Channel’s Julie Mason bristled at the idea that Ryan would bring positive coverage or that journos are in the tank for Obama. “Hill reporters respect Ryan, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into more positive coverage — especially if the campaign’s posture is still limited access, few press conferences and only friendly, safe interviews,” she said this morning by email. “And the idea that the press corps is pro-Obama is frankly laughable. So 2007!”

Breitbart.com editor John Nolte, not one to go easy on the “mainstream media”, calls bullshit on Halperin’s assessment. “I’m on vacation – headed to Ryan Country for a week – my home state of Wisconsin, so I didn’t see Morning Joe (part of my vacation is from insufferable smug),” he wrote in an email. “While I’m glad Halperin was able to openly admit what I like to call The Glaringly Obvious — that the media is in the tank for Obama — I know a hustle when I hear one. Halperin is hoping that by telling us the media likes and respects Ryan and will therefore treat him with anything approaching objectivity, that the Romney-Ryan ticket and those of us in their camp will think that makes sense. Except…it’s a trap.”

Still, Bloomberg‘s Al Hunt sounded pretty chipper about the Ryan pick. “Well Joe, they say in politics that all politics is local,” he said on “Morning Joe.” “I think it’s true in journalism too. It makes it a better race. It makes it more fun to cover. Other than Chris Christie I can’t think of a more interesting choice.”

And neither can Reuter‘s political scribe Sam Youngman, who sees the pick as an illicit drug. “Yeah, this is gonna be fun. The pick just added layers of meaning and consequence to a race that was starting to feel like a horrible movie,” he said. “Ya know, like Ides of March. Now we’re standing at a train station, watching a train that’s going one of two ways – to the White House or off a cliff into a fireworks factory. Put another way, for political junkies, this is the kind of heroin that’s so good it might kill you.”

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell sounded less hooked, but nonetheless enthused. “I think it is the most exciting choice he could have made,” she said on “Morning Joe.”

And indeed, that comfort level with Ryan is there. “Paul Ryan is known to make himself generally available to reporters on Capitol Hill,” Yahoo! News’ Chris Moody said when asked for his reaction. “He doesn’t pretend to take cell phone calls when he spots journos waiting for him on his way to the House floor, so I think there is some optimism about having him on the campaign trail. (Of course, he’s never far from his iPod ear buds.)  That’s not to say journalists go easy on Paul Ryan, but the back-and-forth isn’t unsavory.”

But not all political journalists are so fired up about the Ryan choice. “Everyone loves Rob Portman,” said a longtime journalist on condition of anonymity. “He is a total leaking sieve. No one in D.C. really knows Pawlenty. Honestly, I don’t get the sense that anyone really cares about this pick. It’s neither exciting nor anti-climactic. It just sort of….sits there. Like, ‘Oh. Him. OK.’ I mean, now — Rick Perry. That would have been bold!”

Often what appeals to reporters most is the element of surprise. And for Real Clear Politics‘ political reporter Erin McPike, the Ryan pick has at least some of the elements Halperin spoke of this morning — the Press Corps’ ease with Ryan and the unexpected way the story broke. She’s hoping Ryan’s presence means media access will improve.

“It wasn’t what most reporters were expecting, so of course that makes it more exciting,” she told FishbowlDC. “Add to that how it broke – late on a Friday night, and you definitely get the press corps fired up. Paul Ryan is someone that the DC press corps has gotten to know well. We know what he listens to on his iPod when he’s walking through the Cannon tunnel, for one thing, because he talks to us. We know answers about the Ryan budget because he talks to us. And for a GOP campaign that has been inaccessible and has avoided answering specific policy questions, in some way it certainly changes the game.”

But Breitbart.com‘s Nolte is beyond skeptical.

“The media heckles and taunts Mitt Romney on sacred ground in Poland, the media reads Romney’s mind from 50 years ago so they can call him a prep school gay basher — the DAY AFTER Obama stops lying about his position on same-sex marriage,” he said. “So if Halperin thinks we’re going to in any way let our guard down now that our VP candidate is an attractive, unapologetic conservative threat to Their Precious One — I say nice try.”

Correction: The copy above initially had Hunt with WSJ. Clearly he’s Bloomberg.

MSNBC’s Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough fell into some hot water earlier this month when he made a sweeping (and inaccurate) generalization about the NYT‘s election coverage. His assertion, that the NYT had not reported on former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry‘s wealth to the extent that the paper has on current Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was backed up by TIME‘s Mark Halperin. Halperin said he didn’t “recall” extensive reporting by the NYT on Kerry’s wealth.

This morning, Scarborough’s co-host Mika Brzezinski read an excerpt from a NYT Sunday editorial specifically criticizing Sheldon Adelson, a multi-billionaire who has said he may donate $100 million to defeat President Barack Obama‘s reelection bid.

“I think it’s unfortunate that you only get one side of the story on the editorial page. Where are all the [liberal billionaire and Democratic donor] George Soros editorials?” Scarborough said indignantly, apparently not having learned anything from the last time he went down this road. But Halperin, unwilling to be a fool for the second time, was more cautious. “There might have been some. I’m sure our friends at the Times will send them to us,” he said.

To be sure, we weren’t able to find any NYT editorials calling out the influence of Soros’ donations in elections. Kudos to Halperin for not blindly backing the host.

Watch the segment here.

Ahh… memories. This morning MSNBC host Joe Scarborough brought up the glories of the month of June. MSNBC Contributor and TIME‘s Mark Halperin abruptly said he prefers January. “Richard Nixon’s birthday. Elvis’s birthday. My birthday. …Super Bowl,” he said, citing reasons for his preference.

“June though man…was driving around with the family last night…it was 8 o’clock. The light’s still beautiful,” Scarborough went on. Halperin asked, “You paid your quarterly taxes yet? It’s one reason why June’s not high on my list.”

Scarborough looked at him like death. “I was going to say what you were. You’re a blanked up man, but I don’t want to have to figure out whether the 7-second delay works or not.” As it happens, in June of 2011, MSNBC suspended Halperin after he called President Obama “kind of a dick” on national TV. At the time, the 7-second delay did not work as they assumed it would.

This morning Halperin ultimately conceded one good thing about the light at this time of year. “It is nice to do this program with it light outside,” he said. “That’s nice.”

If you were watching MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this morning, you were bound to feel minor bouts of anxiety as things grew more than a little awkward when National Journal‘s Major Garrett came on the set. Major isn’t an incessant regular on the morning program, so what could have been an intriguing exchange instead of the typical Mark Halperin-John Heilemann Game Change punditry turned into Mika Brzezinksi leading the pack against Major.

All over the word “forward” he wrote about in a Tuesday column.

Mika bristled over the column in which Major dismissed President Obama‘s “forward” campaign slogan. According to the reporter’s sources, Democrats aren’t necessarily thrilled about the one-word slogan. Major found it lacking to say the least. He’s the President, he can say whatever he wants, he argued. Outsiders can have one-word slogans. But the President? He should have more. “Does the Obama campaign feel trapped in the branding of the 2008 campaign?” Major asked on “Morning Joe.”

Though it seemed to be an odd thing to get so incensed over, Mika stood her ground (we’re not sure what planet the ground was on, but nonetheless, her ground) and flat out disagreed with Major, who thought using the word “forward” was pretty pointless if not “vacuous” when what he said Obama needs to do is reassure voters in the present tense. “What are Republicans supposed to do, clap?” asked Mika with a bite in her voice. “No,” replied Major. Mika soon replied, “I’m not trying to be mean, but I don’t get it.”

Could it be that Major hit too close to the nerve center of MSNBC’s pollyanna “Lean Forward” campaign? Whatever he said, she disagreed with it. So did HalperHeile, who said it saves printing costs for the add campaign. HalperHeile dismissed Major’s point, saying all slogans are one to three words.

Watch the awkward exchange here. See the pictures above and notice the growing non-smile spread across Major’s face.

Major declined to comment on this morning’s “Morning Joe” appearance.

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.”