Quotes of the Day

“News helicopters being told to back off because HWY Patrol can’t hear people crying for help #tornado #oklahoma” — Robin Marsh, news anchor in Oklahoma City.

Fallout: Bring Up Politics at Your Own Risk 

“I’m a douche low-life scumbag jackhole ghoul for noting Coburn already wants offsets to fed aid and Inhofe is climate change denier.” – Politico‘s Glenn Thrush, who got bombarded when he wrote this: “It’s striking that OK’s sens are 1) a federal spending skeptic and 2) global warming denier.” In response to the above, Kristina Ribali, director of new media at Freedom Works remarked: “@GlennThrush I didn’t say you were slamming them, I said you were being an ass. Have some class.” Labor reporter F. Bill McMorris wrote simply, “#douche.”

Did someone speak too soon? 

“Thank God tragedies like this one in OK bring out the highest and best in everyone – politicians, first responders, government, media.” — CNBC and NYT‘s John Harwood.

More media in-fighting…

The Nation‘s Katrina vanden Heuvel: “If GOP going to use IRS ‘scandal’ to demolish government,they may wish to look at need for very same government in Oklahoma tornado disaster.”

National Review Online‘s Jonah Goldberg: “.@KatrinaNation what’s really in poor taste how your point is so pedestrian and lame. Why bother? Jeez.”

The Day After: “It is always the next day when the sun comes up that we learn the extent of the horror.” — Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren.

And a few confessionals…

“Sometimes the disaster voyeurism on Twitter makes me uncomfortable.” — Blake Hounshel, managing editor of Foreign Policy mag.

“I lost some family that meant a lot to me in the AL tornadoes. Think I’ll clock out of coverage for the evening and pick it up in the AM.” — FBDC Contributor and Bill Press‘ producer Peter Ogburn.

“The partisanship in the wake of tragedy stuns me.” — WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza.

The Preacher

“When you turn your TV off and stop tweeting tonight — stop. Sit in peace. Too many people don’t have that tonight.” — WaPo producer Jeff Simon.

Emotions on high: A Variety of Calls for Prayer

• “Terrifying photo of tornado damage nyti.ms/10R5Ly2 May the dead rest in peace. May survivors get help to heal and rebuild.” – Conor Friedersdorf, staff writer for The Atlantic.

“Worst part about Oklahoma news is you know it’s going to get worse. And that’s just heartbreaking. #PrayForOklahoma” — Rory Cooper, communications director to House Maj. Leader Eric Cantor.

• “The sad news from Oklahoma keeps rolling in. Everyone at TheDC is thinking of the folks affected, & will keep you in our thoughts & prayers.” — The Daily Caller.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Oklahoma tonight. #okc” — Newt Gingrich.

Uh oh.

“CIA source says Fox News scandal the ’4th Shoe’; says it goes much deeper; says WH also sitting on “something” that has top aides terrified.” — Drudge Report and TWT Columnist Joseph Curl.

GOP Spox Prediction: 60 Minutes to land first Obama interview

“White House/Obama scandal tsunami is growing. Odds that the White House offers Steve Kroft the first POTUS interview?” — NRSC Strategist/Spokesman Brad Dayspring in an unfortunate display of using a weather analogy on the wrong day.

Rubin Vs. Shuster

“Watching lefty media meltdown re Obama media spying is like a kid finding out Babe Ruth was a drunk. Sorry to disillusion but long overdue.” — WaPo‘s
“Right Turn” blogger Jennifer Rubin.

Shuster guts Rubin like a fish…“When it comes to RWNJ’s, including @JRubinBlogger, who are mentally ill + psychotic, best to ignore them.” — Lefty radio host David Shuster. “[Jennifer Rubin] proves again she is a habitual liar. And, asking @CNN to cut the mic of somebody responding to her lies? Psychotic.”

Bureau Chief takes firm stance on exposed pits

“Phew, getting people blind drunk in bars in order to get them to tell you things isn’t in DOJ’s list of treasonous acts that reporters do.” — BuzzFeed Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton. And this from a few days ago, but we couldn’t resist it: “I’m a firm believer that sleeves are mandatory for dudes in a restaurant situation. Nobody wants your pits exposed near their food.”

Watch out, ladies, your purses are germier than you think

“Not the dinner hour yet so if you carry a purse tune in at 4. Report shows more germs on your purse than a toilet. News4 @nbcwashington.” — Jim Handly, anchor, NBC Washington.

See more Morning Chatter…

Read more

Political Wire’s Taegan Goddard, also a contributing writer for The Week, went with the eye-popping “vagina” headline this morning.

The headline: “Lawmaker Uses Vagina as Synonym for Woman.”

The brief post concerns a state lawmaker who used the word interchangeably for “woman” in an email to colleagues.

Asked if he had any hesitation about using the word “vagina” in a headline, Goddard told FishbowlDC…nothing! He never replied to the question. However, a Washington editor, when told he or she was being asked a serious question about vagina headlines, replied, “There are no serious questions about vaginas! Unless it’s ‘Do you have cancer in the vagina?’ The editor added, “I would try to avoid it in headline.”

Longtime producer to radio host Bill Press and FBDC Contributor Peter Ogburn remarked, “How do I feel about vagina headlines? I like to feel them as often as I can.”

The issue can be discussed in a mature manner. Brad Phillips, who writes the Mr. Media Training blog, says journalists shouldn’t shy away from using the v-word. “’Vagina’ describes a body part that roughly half of the world’s population has,” he wrote to FBDC. “Journalists shouldn’t stay away from using it just because some people (let’s face it, men) grew up snickering at the word in their seventh-grade locker rooms. But like almost everything else, context matters.”

He continued, “If the word is used as an accurate descriptor, it’s fine. If it’s used as a pejorative or as gratuitous linkbait, it’s probably not. Taegan’s headline strikes me as an accurate description of the story that followed—and I would have used the same one.”

He said words are just that – words. “We have to get past this juvenile idea that medically accepted words are somehow verboten. ‘Vagina,’ ‘penis,’ and ‘scrotum,’ for example, should be used when appropriate, reader reaction be damned,” he wrote.

BuzzFeed‘s Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton also did not bristle at the word as a headline choice. Read more

We are going to go ahead and defy the laws of nature and pair up FishbowlDC’s Peter Ogburn and WaPo‘s Gene Weingarten. Ogburn has written a reoccurring critique of Gene’s column for sometime now and Weingarten has been pretty graceful in his reactions outside a few minor facts. Still, Ogburn is warming to him in ways I don’t even want to understand. “My newfound respect for Gene Weingarten has led to some awkward feelings,” Ogburn told me in a candid phone interview this afternoon. “I wouldn’t go any further, but I’m thinking about growing a mustache.”

We’re calling their little dumpling “Weinbernadette.” Mazel tov!

A sprinkling of things we think you ought to know…

Washingtonians are happy, even if they are alcoholics– A WaPo poll of workers in the D.C. metro area found that most of them (88 percent) described themselves as “very happy” or “pretty happy.” Roughly the same number of people described their jobs as “rewarding.” Another interesting bit: Most respondents (54 percent) said they “never really stop working.”

Fournier has a lot of presidential access– A story published late last night in NJ made quick rounds on Twitter through this morning. It’s a first person account by the publication’s editor-in-chief Ron Fournier on how he learned to fully accept that his son, who has Asperger’s syndrome, is different. The overall consensus is that it’s a touching story, just in time for the holidays. Politico‘s Ben White called it “especially beautiful.” FNC’s Bret Baier called it “a great story” that’s “worth the time.” On the other hand, FBDC’s Peter Ogburn had his own concerns. “Most of it left me wondering how in the hell he hooked up a meeting with his son and three presidents,” he said. In Fournier’s story, he recounts how he introduced his son to President Obama and former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

HuffPost blogger rails on NYT‘s Maureen Dowd– The name Geoffrey Dunn rings no memory bells as to who he is. But a column he posted on HuffPost yesterday is worth the read if for nothing more than to count the number of ways he can insult NYT‘s Maureen Dowd. A few choice adjectives in his post regarding Dowd: “breezy,” “cynical,” “name-dropping,” and “glib.” He calls her “The Mean One.” And despite Dunn bearing a vague resemblance to any given pewter item on the “Antique Roadshow,” Dunn notes that he’s “a few years younger than Dowd.” Ouch.

Donald Trump cancels Senate bid– Oops, we mean RedState Editor Erick Erickson cancels Senate bid. Our mistake. After suggesting on his radio program earlier this week that he might challenge Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) for his Senate seat, Erickson has pulled out faster than a high school boy on prom night. And he did so with a grand flair that would make Liberace blush. “I’m not putting my family through that,” Erickson writes, “when the best outcome would mean a sizable pay cut and being away from my kids and wife all the time huddled in a pit of vipers often surrounded by too many who viewed me as a useful instrument to their own advancement.” Shorter version: Tricked you!

Quotes of the Day

“The mismanagement of this campaign has been mindboggling.” — MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough on “Morning Joe” this morning regarding Mitt Romney‘s presidential campaign.

“First pumpkin pancakes of the season! #ilovefall” — HuffPost blog Deputy Editor Erin Ruberry.

The Baier-bot shows emotion

“Redskins fumble recovery!! Here we go!!! Field goal tie – td win. Wow. Great game.” — FNC’s Bret Baier.

The Parenting Expert

“Having a way-too-long conversation with a 4-year old about why we can’t wear pants as shirts.” — FBDC and Bill Press Show Producer Peter Ogburn.

And the thoughtful husband…

“Awakened at 6 am to find daughter #2′s Cinderalla dress so Mom could sleep in a bit. Then “Aladdin”…over and over.” — Americans for Tax Reform Prez Grover Norquist.

Journo spots aspiring Honey Boo Boo

“Just saw a 2-year-old with earrings. I should be horrified, right?#AspiringHoneyBooBoo” — The Times of London‘s Matt Spence. More importantly, Spence is down on Prince Harry. “I respect what Prince Harry is trying to do in Helmand, but he’s a gigantic target and endangering the lives of others. Get him out.”

Weekend plan…“Oh it’s time to start drinking whiskey now.#fighton” — NBC News White House Producer Shawna Thomas.

Roland cracks on Fox Sports

“Did the Fox announcer just say the Ford F-150 has a Hemi? Dude, Chrysler makes that engine! Get your car companies straight. LOL” — CNN Contributor, TV One and Tom Joyner’s Roland Martin. Correction: Martin wasn’t making fun of Fox News, as we stated earlier. We assumed he meant Fox News. He meant Fox Sports.

Peter Ogburn contributed to this report (and no, not his own quote).

About a year ago, Naomi Bulochnikov, a publicist for Current TV’s Bill Press Show, started a website called ThatsNotOkayNY.com with two close friends. The site is legally trademarked and in the process of being formally registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The writers have day jobs. Much to their surprise, it was a passion side gig that took off — they have a scripted project in the works with Grammnet, Kelsey Grammer‘s production company. They registered the name for the TV show and will do the same for the website. That’sNotOkayNY.com launched on Dec. 8, 2010. See the Thrillist writeup.

But about two months ago, Bulochnikov noticed that the behemoth snark site Gawker started an advice column called “Thatz Not Okay.” Gee how original. Swap a “z” for an “s” and there you have possibly avoided a lawsuit and come up with something ingenious: In other words, someone else’s idea.

“Blatant theft bothers me,” Bulochnikov told FishbowlDC, adding that she had spoken with an attorney who explained that if it “creates confusion” and they can prove so, then it infringes on their trademark and they can legally sue. “If they liked the idea so much they should’ve come to us. Just because they’re Gawker doesn’t mean they can run renegade on someone else’s idea.”

Gawker could face legal ramifications… Read more

The Department of Health in Washington, D.C., boosted its anti-AIDS initiative this summer by giving out more free condoms and expanding its Rubber Revolution campaign. As if thinking about, talking about and looking at condoms in public isn’t awkward enough, Rubber Revolution is adding to its media blitz with the poster pictured at right. This is posted in Dupont Circle.

Featured on the poster are two African American males holding hands under the slogan “Big Enuf 4 U.” The poster says suggestively, “Pick up a condom and put one on.”

We emailed the D.C. Department of Health to see what “Big Enuf 4 U” means, exactly, and to find out if the slogan may have been inspired by a 14-year-old boy’s online chat room user name. That was at 8:30 a.m. No answer. We called again just after 10 a.m. and reached Department spokesman Michael Kharfen who told us he was in a meeting but would get back to us by 11:30 a.m.

Kharfen emailed at noon to let us know he was still in a meeting but would call shortly. By 1:45 p.m. we still hadn’t heard anything. Worried he may have fallen down a Metro sidewalk vent, we called Kharfen back. No answer. We stalked him twice more over the next 15 minutes. He finally answered and sounded okay but said he would need to call us back in five minutes. Shockingly, no more excuses. He called us back.

The Department conducted focus groups, Kharfen said, with a “cross section” of the District’s population to discuss concerns people have about using condoms. “Several themes emerged,” he said, “one of those is they’re not comfortable. Another is ‘I’m too big for them’ or ‘my partner is too big for them.’”

Kharfen said “too big” is a reference to penis size but that despite the poster featuring two African American men, the campaign is not intended to specifically target D.C.’s black population, despite the fact that African American men are known for having large ding dongs.

As for the incorrect grammar and spelling on the poster, Kharfen said the Health Department chose the style because many people connect on the Internet and through text messaging. “That’s the way that those kinds of words are spelled [there],” he said.

The Department has not received complaints about the posters, Kharfen said. Nor have they received a lot of press — amazingly FBDC is first to question Kharfen on the poster.

The fun continues on Rubber Revolution’s website where visitors can attend “Condom University.” Some fun facts listed on the site:

• There’s a town in France called Condom.
• “Condoms can hold up to 3 bags of potatoes” (and yet the site cautions against using two condoms at a time “because the friction will cause them to tear”).
• The body heat and pressure put on condom that’s been stuck inside a wallet “decrease the condom’s effectiveness.”

As an aside, FBDC’s Peter Ogburn says he’s making plans to have “Big Enuf 4 U” tattooed to his body. He didn’t say where.

Today is The Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson‘s birthday. So we figured we’d take this opportunity to get others around town and beyond to help us wish him a happy birthday. At left is a photograph of what is apparently a red Daily Caller thong on the door to Carlson’s former office. We have no idea what it is doing there or why Carlson would leave it hanging on the doorknob. Photo credit: Anonymous.

Daily Caller Publisher Neil Patel: “Tucker, in honor of your birthday I have decided to refrain from telling Betsy Rothstein about the time in college that you wore a euro style banana hammock speedo on the beach in Nicaragua. Your secret is safe with me.  Happy birthday, Neil”

Raptor Strategies’ David Bass offers a poem:

From motorcycle to moped
From bow-tie to lengthy Foulard
As Tucker slouches toward middle age
His latest change is not hard

Mediaite White House Correspondent Tommy Christopher: “I was going to get him a black velvet painting of Barack Obama Greco-Roman wrestling with The New Black Panthers, but I thought, ‘Does he really need another one?’”

Former Daily Caller online editor and writer Jeff Winkler, a D.C. refugee who is living and writing in Arkansas: “Since my former boss looks to be between the ages of 14 and 40, I don’t know whether to offer him a gentlemenly handshake or a ribbon-adorned pony. But considering that he once slashed me across the face with his fly rod, my B-day gift — sent courteous of the USPS — is a collection of photos from my recent nude escapade involving archery, yoga and bobbing for apples. And I’d like to promise him that we’ll meet up again in the near future, but that always seems to be taken as a threat. Regardless, I wish Tucker the best in the coming years. If Washington D.C. had any sense, it would follow North Korea’s example and build ‘towers to his immortality.’”

MSNBC “Morning Joe” Co-host Willie Geist: “Happy Birthday to my all-time favorite ‘bow-tyin’ white boy’!”

FBDC’s Peter Ogburn: “My wish is that he gets ANYTHING but a gun.” (Peter was once mildly threatened by Carlson. He’s slowly getting over the PTSD from that experience.)

Politico‘s Patrick Gavin: “Tucker, my wish for you on your birthday is that, if you ever turn me into a puppet, just make it a skinny, buff puppet.” (See relevant link here in which The Daily Caller turns a Capitol Hill press secretary into a puppet.)

The Weekly Standard‘s Matt Labash: “Back in the early 90s, when all things were possible and there was still dew on the world, I remember a young, reckless Tucker peering out of his cloud of smoke (he used to rip through two packs a day on the principle that ‘clear lungs are for pussies’)  while pronouncing, ‘I hope I die before I get old.’  He often spoke in song lyrics back then. It was part of his whole rock’n'roll lifestyle.  Now that he is old, however, I trust he’ll choose life, as his Wham! sweatshirt implored  (again with the rock’n'roll – but Andrew Ridgely was his hero).  If not, and he follows through on his original threat, I’ll be here for his family, his dogs,  and his bamboo fly rod, the last of which he should really think about willing me.  Now that you’re a senior citizen, Tucker, time to get serious about estate planning. Remember that in our increasingly accelerated world, 43 is the new 80. Happy birthday, old friend.”

Anyone watching Fox News’s Neil Cavuto Wednesday afternoon was in for a real treat of exposed breasts. Free of charge. The star of the soft porn film, er show, was The Daily Caller‘s Michelle Fields, who decided to go on national TV with a large portion of her breasts jiggling out of her shirt.

This isn’t the first time Cavuto’s program and others have been criticized for having on scantily clad female guests. Media Matters wrote about the rash of sexism emanating from the network’s programming in January 2011. They pounded that point home again in March 2009. And as far back as 2007 Conservative Radio Commentator Laura Ingraham voiced strong complaints to FNC’s Bill O’Reilly. To which O’Reilly said, “I don’t have anything to do with Cavuto. He’s a demented guy.” Ingraham complained of the male newscasters playing loops and loops of racy images of females. “I don’t know if there’s a rampant midlife crisis going on on this network among the male anchors, but I can tell you that my female listeners are saying … what is the purpose?”

Reaction to Michelle’s appearance was widespread. Readers and viewers from Washington and New York bombarded us over email about the inappropriateness of the video reporter’s attire during her performance on Cavuto. We’re shocked our computers survived it.

We sought comment from The Daily Caller, asking if management supported their reporter exposing a large chunk of her breasts on national TV.

Apparently the Fox News producer handling her never bothered to mention that her breasts had swallowed her attire. Fields is often plucked over male guests who may have more knowledge on a topic. We can only imagine they want her for her brain and not her breasts. In recent weeks this has been a growing sore spot for guests who get bumped and then see her in their spot. In fact, Fox News, as it is wont to do when women appear on their programs, dropped the banner for maximum viewing pleasure. Dropping the banner when a guest is wearing something revealing is apparently one of Fox’s favorite tactics. Who could have guessed that?

I checked in with a few members of Michelle’s fan club, FBDC’s Piranhamous and Senior Michelle Fields Rack Correspondent Peter Ogburn for their thoughts on the matter.

Piranhamous remarked, “I can’t believe anyone would go on news program dressed like this! Now could you please send me a hi-rez copy of this screen capture so I can have a poster made of it for my bathroom? Thanks.”

Ogburn was beside himself. “Women who use sexuality on Fox is nothing new.  But NO ONE shows off their rack like that. Fucking titty city.” But he wasn’t done. “For all the people who talked shit and said that she wasn’t showing cleavage in the videos we reported on before, they can shove their heads up their asses. Who shows THAT much cleavage on cable news?  Seriously.  Who?? Being sexual is one thing. Showing that much of your tits on TV is just over the top.  It doesn’t matter if she makes the most valid points on Earth, she has zero credibility.”

Some of the commentary and emails we received well into the night:

• “Michelle Fields was on Fox News this afternoon around 4:50 wearing an absolutely unbelievably egregiously revealing shirt (and talking about Occupy Wall Street? Who even knows.)”

• “As one who has thought you’ve been too touch on Michelle Fields….her Cavuto appearance right now is about one thing, her chest.” — Senior Capitol Hill aide.

• “I don’t know how a bill becomes a law, but look at my breasts!”

• “I didn’t have the sound on and might be better off for that.”

• “I had it muted.  Boobs everywhere.”

• “Floppy Funbags!”

• “I can’t imagine many viewers are consciously listening, which is supposed to be the goal of contributing.”

Read the headlines we left on the cutting room floor….

Read more

As some loyal readers know, FBDC’s Peter Ogburn has been full-on obsessed with doggedly covering Paul Wharton Style each week, intently watching the show with the veracity of a toddler with a new SpongeBob video or a hungry lion with a new piece of meat.

“I just made a giant pink martini to watch @PaulWharton Style. I’m 30 seconds in and I can tell this will be great,” Ogburn gushed on Twitter as he settled in to watch Sunday’s show. Wharton, a future AA member who makes a hobby out of drinking, took a liking to this, replying, “Peter- What’s in your cocktail recipe? I wanna put the recipe up on paulwhartonstyle.com! The Big Pink Peter !”

Just what is in that disconcertingly-named Big Pink Peter? Peter writes, “Paul Wharton, recipe for Big Pink Peter. I like mine EXTRA stiff: 3 oz gin 1 oz vodka 1/2 oz of Lillet Blanc 1/2 oz fresh raspberry puree.”

Stay tuned…we hear Wharton has scheduled drinks with Peter tomorrow night. We can’t even imagine what that means.