Quotes of the Day

The Hill’s Editor-at-Large on the mend

“Docs told I have switch to shuffleboard and quit trying to be another Roger Federer. Sending me home today with strict instructions to quit chasing cat downstairs and wife upstairs.” — The Hill‘s Editor-at-Large Al Eisele who has been in the ICU this week with a blood clot after taking a spill on the tennis court. Eisele is still in the hospital, but is out of the ICU. He’s receiving emails on his new iPad at alesiele@thehill.com.

Whoa! Manners on Cable News? 

“You and I don’t see the world with the same set of eyes.” — California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsome quietly and politely to Brian Brown, President of the National Organization for Marriage, during an appearance on CNN’s “The Lead” Tuesday. The topic: gay marriage. Newsome was for it; loudmouthed porky Brown was opposed.

On HuffPost coming out of closet

“Once we learned that @HuffPostGay is gay, we began to look at the issue in a different light,” — HuffPost Washington Bureau Chief Ryan Grim in reaction to our post on HuffPost‘s rainbow avatar that debuted Tuesday.

Politico Playbook Publish Time: 8:49 a.m.

Reporter detects brain farts in columnist’s views

“Wow. Shithead ‘legendary’ newspaperman proposes taxing email to subsidize Post Office.” — Reason‘s Nick Gillespie on the magazine’s Matt Welch‘s story on George Skelton, a California political writer who has worked for LAT since 1974. He has done stints in both Sacramento and Washington. Skelton said he’d allow about 100 private emails a month tax free. Beyond that, taxable.

An excerpt from Welch’s story:

“How about you leave me alone, George Skelton, by not taking my money in the name of keeping open money-losing post offices?

Read the whole column for such columnar brain-fartery as “I’d allow everyone a certain number of untaxed, private emails a month — 100, maybe 200. After that, each message would cost one cent, up to a certain size.” Hat tip to Michael C. Moynihan.”

Rather Unusual Question to Ponder: “Is it wrong to secretly record an ex’s rant so you can remember what he gets like when he goes zero to sixty out of nowhere? #covertactivity.” — MetroWeekly Founder and Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman.

1. Tucker, bow-ties, page views and the NYT — On Sunday NYT media writer Brian Stelter had a story that’s likely to creep under the skin of some in Washington media. It’s an extremely favorable yarn about The Daily Caller‘s success with a news peg on last week’s 2007 video of President Obama, which some dismissed as over-hyped. The piece states that traffic-wise the outlet has surpassed The Hill and is gaining on The Washington Times. They regard WaPo as among their chief competitors. Memorable line: Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson — “It took me 20 years to realize that wearing a bow tie is like wearing a middle finger around your neck.”

2. Rich Man Poor Man — WaPo, for all its digital irritations, has a great infographic out this morning detailing members of Congress and their wealth. With the click of a mouse, we can see a lawmaker’s net worth and how, for better and worse, they handle their finances. We’re hardly nerds but we could play with this for at least an hour. See here.

3. Our Ezzy turns heads –  Columbia Journalism Review has an absolutely glowing profile out on WaPo‘s Ezra Klein. Via the Politico Playbook, we learn that author Matt Welch writes that Ez is “handsome enough to make the ladies turn their heads, and affable enough that their boyfriends compete for his attentions, too.” The headline on the story by Matt Welch is perfection: “The Boy in the Bubble.” We particularly love that Welch unleashes a Boybander explosion in the second graph and quotes one of Klein’s best buds: “He is just a good explanatory reporter and writer,” says David Weigel of Slate. But this is peculiar: There is one small graph on Klein’s JournoList, which Welch says Ez still defends though he doesn’t offer any quotes from him on it. “If anything, his professional rise has only accelerated in the wake of this kerfuffle,” writes Welch, unable to contain his unstoppable admiration for his story subject.

Good morning Washington. It’s Nancy Pelosi’s birthday!

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FishbowlDC has learned that Nick Gillespie is taking over Reason.tv and Matt Welch is the new editor of Reason magazine. Gillespie has spent seven years as editor-in-chief of Reason. Reason.tv debuted in October. Welch is a former Reason editor and currently serves as assistant editorial page editor at the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of “McCain: The Myth of a Maverick.”

Good morning Washington.