Quotes of the Day

WISH YOU LIVED HERE? “My view while riding the Bay Trail today.” — Markos Moulitsas, editor of Daily Kos, who lives in Berkeley, Calif. and is a weekly columnist for The Hill.

“Because I was wrong at the top of the lungs,” — GOP Pollster and Pundit Dick Morris‘s explanation for why he was canned by Fox News, as told to CNN’s Piers Morgan last night.

Journo Love

“I am always in awe of the gorgeous & talented [PBS Political Director Christina Bellantoni] @cbellantoni, looking ravishing in blue tonight as a co-host of this Congressional dinner.” — Roll Call‘s Meredith Shiner. The Washington Press Club Foundation Dinner was held last night. CBS Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett was the emcee.

“Politico girls wear color.” — Politico‘s Ginger Gibson, who appeared in the above photograph with her coworkers Rachel Bade (center) and Juana Summers (right) at the Washington Press Club Foundation Dinner.

Ouch!

“Would have been far more fun to have actual polling experts make fun of Dick Morris instead of someone who clearly knows nothing. #thisisCNN” — Media Matters’ Justin Whitehouse, reacting to Morris’ appearance last night on CNN.

And now, a little praise for Piers

“Thanks to @piersmorgan for broadcasting my tweet: ‘If Dick Morris can be fired for being wrong and dumb, that means no pundit is safe.’” — Politico‘s Roger Simon.

The roller coaster continues…

“You’re all part of the problem, people tweeting about Dick Morris. Just know that.” — Logan Dobson, research analyst, The Tarrance Group, a GOP polling firm.

“Dick Morris is still an asshole who needs a good solid ass-kicking #CNN” — GOP Consultant and HuffPost and StoneZone blogger Roger Stone.

How often does Gavin Newsom Google himself?

“Never. For me, digging into all the negative stuff out there is just too distracting.” — California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in a Politico “Answer This” questionnaire by Patrick Gavin in which he also admits that he never skimps in cost on hair gel. Hey, at least he admits it. Read the full interview here.

Politico Playbook publish time: 9:13 a.m.

Wanted: Publisher

“WWR seeks publisher to turn history tweets into a book of colorful presidential stories/facts. Big marketing platform. westwingrpt@gmail.com” — Paul Brandus, author of WestWingReports, columnist, The Week.

Cat defiance

“Cat blatantly peed outside litterbox in front of me. Dislike of emergency litter (dirt) or anger over yesterday’s vet visit?” — Anneke Green, former TWTer who now works for the White House Writers Group.

Conservative Radio Host Laura Ingraham: “Dept. of Who cares? What’s on Michelle Obama’s playlist?” Ingraham was reacting to this feature in People mag.

Speaking of FLOTUS…

“Last week, we picked Napa cabbage in the garden. Now, we’re using it to make kimchi in the kitchen. Make it at home.” — First Lady Michelle Obama.

While hardcore righties and hardcore lefties go back and forth today trying to spin how their candidate did at Wednesday night’s debate, one thing is clear. Barack Obama didn’t “WIN” the debate last night. (Assuming ANY debate is actually “winnable.”)

We found it interesting that in the hours after the debate, many of the establishment liberals that we have grown used to hearing defend the President time and time again, really owned up to the fact that…  Obama didn’t show up prepared for last night’s debate. Either that or just genuine shock that Mitt Romney really came off with a strong showing. MSNBC contributor Jonathan Capehart tweeted, “Romney did what he needed to do in the debate. POTUS was good but not at his best.” Greg Sargent, from WaPo’s Plumline blog echoed Capehart saying, “Romney accomplished what he had to do tonight, and then some.” Even Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos admitted, “Nobody likes seeing a prevent defense in action, and that’s what Dems saw tonight.”

The REAL battle between pundits seems to have turned to “How much do these debates even matter?” It won’t come as a shock that Obama supporters think that debates matter very little. Personally, my favorite is from prominent Obama supporter, Samuel L. Jackson, who tweeted, “What Really happened tonite?! NOBODY changed who they’re voting for!! NOBODY!!! ” Arianna Huffington says, “And now begins the overreaction.”

Quotes of the Day

“It’s so hard to talk these days.” — FNC’s Greta Van Susteren in reaction to V.P. Joe Biden‘s “gaffe” yesterday.

“He’s gotta recognize that he’s gonna be double teamed. Jim Lehrer is part of the cultural left so Mitt is going to have to communicate past Lehrer and past Obama to reach the American people.” — Fmr. Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich on FNC last night.

Not enough black journos on air tonight?

“@rolandsmartin we need a black room twitter debate team tonight since none of us will be on AIR–get some #WashingtonWatch peeps together.” — Preacher Sophia Nelson of theGrio.com, Essence and USA Today.

In the category of bright ideas…

“Today, I think I’ll work on a column giving Mitt Romney some advice because I want people to know how smart I am.” — DoubleThink‘s J.P. Freire.

Journo in-fighting between two guys named Alex

Salon‘s Alex Pareene: “I hope TheDC doesn’t uncover shocking video of me saying soda instead of pop on east coast.” The Daily Caller‘s Alex Pappas replied, “Don’t worry, no one cares about you.”

Speaking of that video…

• “Impressive in dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks category: Hannity calling non-news Obama ’07 Hampton video ‘a bombshell abt to be dropped’ on WH race” — CNBC and NYT‘s John Harwood.

• “If Obama haters think I’m going to expend a ton of energy on this issue, they are nuts. This amounts to nothing.” — CNN Contributor and Washington Watch host Roland Martin.

• “Oh lawd.. someone send me a link to TEH VIDEEOOHH!!” — Michelle Ray, Social Media Director at Conservative Daily News. It’s here.

• “Why are liberals so shocked that Fox News, Drudge, and Tucker Carlson practice racist demagoguery? Like being shocked sky is blue.” — David Zirin, Sports Editor at The Nation.

And Breitbart.com editor blesses Drudge, rips MSM

“Squirm, corrupt media, squirm! #GodBlessDrudge” — Breitbart.com’s John Nolte.

Mitt Romney’s Lunch: The Nasty Aftermath

“Can someone please interview the Chipotle worker? I can’t stop giggling. I want to know everything about him.” — National Journal’s Elahe Izadi.

“Romney’s Chipotle order: burrito bowl, pork, rice, black beans, guac, salsa (per pool report)” — HuffPost’s Amanda Terkel.

Important Q to Ponder: “Seriously, why the fuck are people tweeting Romney’s lunch? Who gives a shit?” — Daily Kos’ Markos Moulitsas.

“Per pool, Romney is having Chipotle for lunch. He and Sen. Portman both had pork burrito bowls with guacamole.” — The Atlantic‘s Molly Ball.

Depression is…

“Sort of depressing to drive around KC and see a liquor store named after Harry Truman.” — Slate‘s Dave Weigel.

Optimism is…“We’re ALL gonna lose in Nov no matter who wins!” — Reason mag’s Nick Gillespie.

The Observer

“Oh good. HuffPost Live will also be live-streaming debates. This brings the total number of news outlets covering the debates to everyone.” — TVNewser‘s Alex Weprin.

Pet Peeves

“People who break embargoes, that’s that shit I don’t like.” — Wired‘s Spencer Ackerman.

Necessary Tweet of the Day

“Fuck man I totally feel for a free Southwest Airline ticket voucher spambot thing on facebook fuck fuck fuck.” — InTheseTimes labor journo Mike Elk.

Convo Between Two Journos: MEOW

The Daily Caller‘s TV reporter Jeff Poor writes, “Question: Why is @BuzzFeed working so hard to get to the smoking gun in this video? You guys can’t wait until 9 pm? Go have dinner… Relax.” To which Politico‘s Shermanator (Jake Sherman) replies, “Yep, you mustve. when someone says publicly they have something that will make news, if u dont chase it, u should find a new job.”

ABC’s Walter involuntary spams followers

“Hello Tweeps. I am not DMing you about some sort of “bad stuff” written about you. It’s spam/hacking.” — ABC’s Amy Walter.

Peter Ogburn and Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

Quotes of the Day

“As a reporter I didn’t think it was appropriate. It didn’t seem part of my job. …The tide of history only moves forward when everybody is fully visible. …I didn’t want to send a message that there was anything I was ashamed about or unhappy about or uncomfortable with.“ — ABC and CNN’s Anderson Cooper on coming out as gay on his new live ABC talk show Monday.

CBS’s new donut reporter: Mark Knoller 

“Questioned about eating a donut, [Paul] Ryan, a fitness advocate, said ‘I don’t hate sweets, I just don’t love them.’” — CBS Radio White House Correspondent Mark Knoller. And then in a moment of serious analysis he analysis, he adds, “Will this draw votes. Talking donuts on his campaign plane, GOP VP Candidate Paul Ryan says ‘I loved Cap’n Crunch when I was a kid.’”

Reporter runs into The Hulkster

“No joke: Hulk Hogan just sat down next to me in the terminal at Manchester airport.” — NationalReviewOnline‘s Robert Costa.

Ouch!

“Bill Frist is getting divorced, which is very pro-marriage.” — Daily Kos‘s Markos Moulitsas.

Radio host wants Granholm alarm clock

“I need Jennifer Granholm to come to my house and bellow my children out of bed tomorrow morning” — NPR’s Michele Norris. Granholm is the former Michigan Gov. and host of “The War Room” on Current TV.

Hate mail involves elbow and Obama’s ass 

“@JakeSherman @jmartpolitico @maggiepolitico u r such a hack it should be embarrassing. But ur not bc ur elbow deep in Obamas ass.” — Joey Pender.

Important Q to Ponder: “Do we really need to waste peoples’ airwaves on convention bounce BS? How about poverty? How to create jobs? Danger of a One Percent Court?” — The Nation‘s Katrina vanden Heuvel.

Journos get food/drink obsessed

“So tempted to stockpile a ton of Punkin Ale to prepare for October…” — Politico Publicist Olivia Petersen.

“I finally found fish tacos in my neighborhood that I liked. You have no idea how much this helps a bad month so far.” — NJ “The Hotline’s Chris Peleo-Lazar.

“Food gods be praised! Just feasted on some muurland blue crabs and corn!” — BuzzFeed’s D.C. Bureau Chief John Stanton.

“Can someone back me up on the fact that apples and honey are totally a thing for Rosh Hashanah?” — NPR’s Brenna Williams.

Convo Between Two Journos

FNC’s Peter Doocy: “Whoa. Dinner just got deep #fortunecookie”

FNC’s Shannon Bream: Beans and bacon it is!

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report.

Charles P. Pierce, Esquire magazine’s politics blogger, has been running a recurring feature lately called “Things in Politico That Make Me Want to Guzzle Antifreeze.” In the feature Pierce takes a story from Politico and criticizes the reporting for essentially not being bitchy and liberal enough.

For example, Politico‘s Jake Sherman wrote a story in late July about the support Rep. Michele Bachmann‘s (R-Minn.) still has in her home district despite facing national criticism. In the piece, Sherman cites a Bachmann supporter who said “he believes President Obama vacations on Martha’s Vineyard [are] to observe the Islamic holiday of Ramadan.” Pierce wrote sarcastically, “I don’t live all that far from the Vineyard, and I’ve never noticed the annual hajj that apparently takes place there. I am glad that the reporter cleared that last part up, though.”

After citing the Bachmann supporter, Sherman included the line, “Obama is a Christian.” But Pierce is apparently upset Sherman didn’t opt to punch the man in the face for incorrectly believing Obama is a Muslim.

In his latest threat to poison himself with antifreeze… Read more

It isn’t hard to rile Mediaite White House Correspondent Tommy Christopher where his family is concerned. Just mention that his name isn’t the one he was born with and it sends him reeling into a wrathful state. Back in April he engaged in a bitter battle with The Daily Caller TV writer Jeff Poor when Poor lashed back and revealed Christopher’s alleged real name in a tweet. At the time, Christopher became incensed by what he called Poor’s “media campaign” against his brother and two children.

The irony is thick. Any chance Christopher gets, he mentions his children in stories that he often feels a need to personalize. And he feels justified. He believes it goes against journalistic principles to not mention them in the contexts that he does. He believes journalistic and parental responsibilities can go hand in hand. And as a designated opinion writer, he may have a point, even if it is the size of a pin prick.

To be sure, Christopher’s stories often feel more like grenade-filled crusades than just the facts ma’am type of journalism. Back in October of 2009, Christopher mentioned his children in a story about then-President Obama’s Safe School Czar Kevin Jennings. After dousing Jennings with praise, it was time to recognize the impact Jennings has had on him, followed by searing, some might deem them poignant, admissions. He wrote, “As the father of 2 teenage boys, one of whom is openly bisexual, the work that Kevin Jennings has done engenders a particular gratitude in me.  Before I ever knew his name, Kevin Jennings touched the lives of my 2 oldest boys when they each joined their school’s Gay/Straight Alliance.” A few graphs later, he continued, “This is why Kevin Jennings must not be driven out of office.  His work has helped my son to feel safe enough to be open about who he is. My son tells me, however, that at back-to-school night last week, there were parents ripping GSA posters down off of the school walls.”

Then in April of 2011, he went after the “vile” work of Wonkette Editor Jack Stuef for making fun of Trig Palin, the Down Syndrome afflicted son of former Veep hopeful Sarah Palin. Upon questioning Wonkette Chief Editor Ken Layne, he wrote in a column, “I divulge to Layne that I’m the parent of two special needs children. I don’t generally include that information in my commentaries (and didn’t intend to here) because I don’t wish to use that fact to gain moral authority, or to be emotionally manipulative.”

His fatherhood arose again in the summer of 2011 in the course of publishing stories on the alleged underage women he dubbed “Betty and Veronica” with whom then-Rep. Anthony Weiner had purportedly exchanged texts. Turned out, unbeknownst to Christopher, the girls didn’t exist. Someone had played a dirty hoax. But before Christopher learned it was a hoax, he brought up his own fathering anyway, in the context of wanting to protect the girls and attack Daily Kos’ Markos Moulitsas: “Dude, it is your responsibility to protect the identities of minors, sources or not,” Christopher wrote in a published email exchange. “I can’t believe you. This gesture will cost you nothing, and it will save these girls being subjected to fuck knows what. As a father, I beg you, please redact these girls’ names.” He also tried to appeal to Moulitsas personal fatherly role, saying, “You’re a father, think about it for a sec.”

A more recent case in point: Monday. Christopher went off on MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough for claiming that those on the autistic continuum could turn violent like the movie theater murderer in Aurora, Colo. Scarborough shared about his son with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Christopher felt it was his duty as a journalist to publicly correct Scarborough. In the process, he also felt he must stand up for his own two children who he revealed are autistic, a tidbit that undoubtedly brought home for readers why the issue is so charged for him.

An excerpt:

In case you were wondering what Scarborough based his assertions on, I believe it was a study that was recently published in The Journal Of Joe Scarborough’s Ass. There is absolutely no scientific data which links autism to mass murder, and what little research there is on autism and crime is flawed and inconsistent. The inherent absurdity and irresponsibility of Scarborough’s statements are aggravated by the fact that he is the father of an adult child with an autism disorder, which might lead viewers to believe that he knows what the hell he’s talking about. This is the main reason I hesitate to disclose that I am the father of two children with autism spectrum disorders, because I don’t want to derive unearned authority, moral or otherwise, from that fact. I reveal it now because it’s relevant to my initial reaction to Scarborough’s comments, which was one of hurt and revulsion. Autistic kids have enough to deal with in life without Joe Scarborough running around telling people they’re potential mass murderers, unless they’ve got an awesome dad like Joe Scarborough, or conflating autism, which is a neurodevelopmental disorder, with mental illnesses like schizophrenia.

For someone who “hesitates to disclose” his special needs children Christopher sure finds reason to do it. Repeatedly.

Christopher declined to comment on the record.

When Al Gore hired Keith Olbermann to anchor his primetime line-up, he knew he was getting a bomb-thrower more than a newsman. Just how much more, he might not have known.

On Monday, Current’s Chief News Officer created an uproar when he and guest Markos Moulitsas joked about alleged rapes at Occupy Wall Street protests. This is always a dumb move. He later doubled-down on the stupid when he tweeted “No Occupy rapes, no cover-up, no apology, no retraction…” and accused BigGov’s Andrew Breitbart of creating the whole thing in an attempt to discredit the protests.

When Big Journalism Contributor Lee Stranahan complied all the rape and sexual assault stories about Occupy in one post for the world to see, you’d think that would’ve been the end of it. But Olbermann’s ego won’t allow anyone to have the last word on anything, so he “debunked” each one, one by one.

Unfortunately for Keith, the Breitbart websites are not the silent, wallflower types even if their writing is sometimes abominable.

In his “debunking,” Olbermann changed his tune from “No Occupy rapes” to “Because almost none of the allegations are of rape and most of this list are duplicated…” to “2 stories duplicated” to “Occupy MEMBERS were victims.” That’s quite a journey in just one day, especially without ever acknowledging his position completely changed.

Even still, where he ended up, that the victims and not the perpetrators were the only Occupy people involved in these rapes and sexual assaults, isn’t the truth. After Olbermann’s “debunking, Stranahan was back a few hours later with a section by section debunking of what Olbermann said. Keith then went silent, maybe to bed, maybe to play with his baseball cards, or maybe to Stuart Smalley in the mirror to calm his nerves.

On a final note, Olbermann tweeted, “Here’s a wager: @DLoesch (Editor-in-Chief of Big Journalism) and @AndrewBreitbart will NOT post the video of tonight’s debunking.” They did. No terms were offered, but here’s a wager: Olbermann won’t admit they made a fool of him.

• NBC’s Meet the Press: David Axelrod, Dr. Howard Dean MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, Markos Moulitsas of the DailyKos.com, Rep. Strategist Ed Gillespie, PBS’s Tavis Smiley

• CBS’ Face the Nation: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Sen. Olympia Snowe (D-LA) and Se. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

• ABC’s This Week: David Axelrod, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and roundtable with George Will, Donna Brazile, Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts

• Fox News Sunday:

• CNN’s State of the Union: David Axelrod, Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I-NY), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

• CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz: WaPo’s Ceci Connelly, New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, The Weekly Standard’s Matt Continetti

• CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria: Nathan Myrvold, founder and CEO, Intellectual Ventures and Vali Nasr, author of “Forces of Fortune”

• NBC’s The Chris Matthews Show:

• Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal: WaPo’s Ceci Connolly, John Dickerson of SLATE Magazine and CBS, Economist’s Greg Ip and Chuck Babington of the Associated Press

• Bloomberg’s Political Capital with Al Hunt:

• Washington Watch with Roland Martin: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), American Urban Radio Networks White House Reporter April Ryan, Sirius XM Radio Host Joe Madison, Republican commentator Ron Christie, Politico White House reporter Nia-Malika Henderson and News One/Interactive One Chief Content Officer Smokey Fontaine.

• CNN’s Amanpour: Tina Brown, Founder/Editor of The Daily Beast Tina Brown and Harold Evans, former editor of the Sunday Times and The Times

We’ll update as we learn them.

Who are the top Washington insiders to follow on Twitter? The Atlantic released a list of their 30 picks today.

Mike Allen
Blogger, Politico

Marc Ambinder
Politics Editor, The Atlantic

Chris Cillizza
Blogger, Washington Post: “The Fix”

Ana Marie Cox
National Correspondent, Air America radio

John Dickerson
Chief Political Correspondent, Slate

Patrick Gavin
Writer, Politico

Newt Gingrich
Former Speaker of the House

David Gregory
Host, Meet the Press, NBC

Israeli Consulate General of New York

Mark Knoller
White House Correspondent, CBS News

Howard Kurtz
Columnist, Washington Post

Rachel Maddow
Host, The Rachel Maddow Show, NBC

John McCain
Senator from Arizona (Republican)

Meghan McCain
Daughter of Sen. John McCain

Claire McCaskill
Senator from Missouri (Democrat)

Mike Memoli
Blogger, Real Clear Politics

Markos Moulitsas
Founder, Daily Kos

Mike Mullen
Chair, The Joint Chiefs of Staff

Bill Nelson
Senator from Florida (Democrat)

Karl Rove
Former Adviser to President Bush

Patrick Ruffini
GOP strategist, political blogger

Barham Salih
Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq

George Stephanopoulos
Chief Washington Correspondent, ABC News

Jake Tapper
Senior White House Correspondent, ABC News

Fred Thompson
Former Senator, actor

Joe Trippi
Democratic campaign specialist

Dave Weigel
Politics reporter, The Washington Independent

West Wing Report
Anonymous: fast, accurate and unbiased coverage of President Obama direct from the White House press room

Solid choices in general but Washington isn’t at a loss for actual “insiders,” so why select folks who don’t actually live or work in DC?

The Atlantic and National Journal turned to the big dogs to get a read on the state of traditional journalism.

They polled 43 prominent journalists on whether journalism has been helped or hurt by the Internet- 65 percent said it has been hurt more, while 34 percent said it has been helped more.

On the coverage of President Obama- of 45 respondents, 71 percent say it has been “about right,” 22 percent say it’s been “too easy” and 7 percent say it has been “too tough.”

Those polled include: Peter Beinart, Gloria Borger, David Brooks, Carl Cannon, Tucker Carlson, Jonathan Chait, Roger Cohen, Steve Coll, Sam Donaldson, Bob Edwards, James Fallows, Howard Fineman, Frank Foer, Ron Fournier, Jeffrey Goldberg, Jeff Greenfield, Glenn Greenwald, David Gregory, Mark Halperin, Christopher Hitchens, Al Hunt, Mort Kondracke, Jim Lehrer, Ruth Marcus, Joshua Micah Marshall, Chris Matthews, Jane Mayer, Doyle McManus, John Micklethwait, Dana Milbank, Markos Moulitsas, Katherine McIntire Peters, Todd Purdum, Cokie Roberts, Eugene Robinson, Tom Shoop, Roger Simon, Scott Simon, Ray Suarez, Nina Totenberg, Linda Wertheimer, Leon Wieseltier, Juan Williams, Judy Woodruff, Fareed Zakaria.

Read the rest of The Atlantic/NJ’s findings here.