Quotes of the Day

The Keen Observer

“Did Ari Fleischer come directly from a crack house? I’ve got Samsonites smaller than those bags under his eyes.” — Reason Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Nick Gillespie. Gillespie was on quite the roll. He also wrote, CNN’s “John King = generic human Ambien.” And this: “Gergen thinks in full fragments,” referring to CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen. And this: “Listening to most dull pundits is like drinking from a broken water fountain; listening to Gergen like drinking from broken fire hydrant!”

More on Ari…

“I think I speak for everyone still awake when I say we need a closer shot of Ari’s face.” — The New Yorker‘s Washington Correspondent Ryan Lizza.

Newt’s split personality

“Thing about Newt Gingrich is you never know who is going to show up. Right? It could be the good Newt, the smart Newt, the full of good ideas Newt, or it could be the negative, nasty, anti-media Newt Gingrich. I think we saw the first Newt Gingrich.” — CNN’s Gloria Borger.

Uh oh.

“Troubling metaphor? While frantically filing for second edition, cleaning staff turns out the lights in the bureau.” — USA Today’s Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page. About two hours earlier there were also difficulties. She wrote, “Our CNN feed keeps flickering on and off. This could make covering the debate more, um, difficult.”

What does a male sports anchor know about lipstick?

“Wow, Bachman went extra heavy on the lipstick .. #toomuchmakeup” — NBC4 sports anchor Dan Hellie on GOP Presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann.

A reader writes in…

“Betsy, sweetheart, you need therapy. Please don’t try to work out your issues on your blog. It’s sad to watch, honestly. Take care.” –Sent to us by am anonymous reader shortly after we published “Why Washington D.C. Gossip Sucks” regarding the self-analysis of The UnReliable Source in a TBD story. Hmmm…fishy. Wonder who could have written that, someone with the initials A.A.? Read the item that incited this here.

Debate Bloopers by FishbowlMatt

“Herman Cain just called @wolfblitzercnn ‘Blitz’ instead of ‘Wolf’ Oops.”

“Oh Santorum! Africa’s not a country. #samedifference?”

“Call me whatever you want.” — CNN’s Wolf Blitzer to CNN’s John King post debate.

Idiot Watch

“Proof many Ron Paul fans are stupid? I tweet one thing about Ron Paul tonight, it’s positive, and Paul fans complain.” — Editor-in-Chief of RedState.com and CNN Contributor Erick Erickson.

Pick one: The Debate or Dancing With the Stars?

“Wonder what % of #CNNdebate viewers flip to #DWTS. Afterall, very similar: voting system bureaucracy, dancing around issues, fake hair/smiles.” — WJLA-TV reporter Mike Conneen.

National Press Club Exec. Dir. strikes back against suspended member

“It’s not like Sam Husseini can go to the White House, Congress or the State Department and ask a question. We’re about the only place in town he can go and ask a question. We are his meal ticket. For him to say we’re censoring is ridiculous.” — National Press Club Executive Director William McCarren on club member Sam Husseini‘s suspension and charge that the club is censoring him. Husseini was suspended after he allegedly behaved in a disruptive manner at a recent press conference with a Saudi prince. Missed the report published late Tuesday? Read here.

Quotes of the Day

Is this Ezzy’s “panic face” as a Washington journo put it?

Newt debate prep

“Do you think Newt fasts on debate days? So he can feed on the moderators?” — John Berman, ABC News Correspondent.

Dylan Ratigan picks on Luke Russert

MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan gave Capitol Hill Correspondent Luke Russert a hard time on his program Monday afternoon. Ratigan reflected on his Monday morning. While lounging in his bathrobe drinking his French press coffee, he began watching what he thought would be his network’s “The Daily Rundown” with Chuck Todd. But no, — whoa! — it was Luke filling in. “The kid stole the keys to the car, what can you say?” Luke reasoned. Dylan said he’d now get major grooming perks, saying, “We want to make sure you retain anchor-level hair and makeup for the rest of your career.”

Super humor…

“It wasn’t exactly a super-surprise, but talking about the collapse of the #supercommittee on @WTOP at 5:50.” — USA Today‘s Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page.

Late-night rumors with BigGov’s Andrew Breitbart

Dogging rumors, Andrew Brietbart decides to face them head on in a late-night tweet: “If I am gay – and/or cheating on wife – as leftists intentionally erroneously report, doncha think they could come up with 1 dude – ever?!”

Hairy journo

“I’m so bearded right now, I’m pretty sure my sideburns have their own mustaches.” — The Atlantic‘s Senior Editor Alexis Madrigal.

Scarborough strips Norquist of presumed power

“Grover Norquist has absolutely no real power in Washington, D.C. other than the idea that he carries.” — MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough in a phone interview on the program this morning. Norquist is President of the Americans for Tax Reform.

Strange, convenient or strangely convenient?

“At D.C. DMV you can get a Driver’s license, tag renewal and HIV test.” — ABC7 News. Read here. Even weirder: Those who get tested get a $5 grocery store gift card.

Newark’s tweeting mayor Cory Booker has landed the coveted Democratic slot to keynote the Winter Gridiron Dinner in December. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will be the Republican speaker. The news is being dispatched to members today.

From USA Today Washington Bureau Chief and Gridiron President Susan Page:

We’re ready to announce that the Democratic speaker at the Winter Gridiron Dinner in December will be: Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Who is not only a grad of Stanford and Yale Law School, and a Rhodes Scholar, but also a member of the USA TODAY All-American football team when he was in high school in New Jersey. He’s a rising star in the Democratic Party, which is a traditional sort of speaker for our Winter Dinner. (Unlike the Spring Dinner, which has 600 guests, the Winter Dinner is limited to Gridiron members and their Significant Others.) John F. Kennedy spoke at a Gridiron Winter Dinner when he was a senator, and Barack Obama spoke at one when he was a senator-elect. Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was the Democratic speaker at last year’s Winter Dinner, which was before she became Democratic national chairman.

Our Republican speaker, which we announced a few weeks ago, is former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, late of the GOP presidential campaign trail. We hope he’ll bring us tales from behind the scenes at those early debates.

I’m writing, of course, in my role as Gridiron president this year. The Gridiron boilerplate: We’re the oldest association of journalists in Washington, D.C., founded in 1885, and now comprised of 65 active DC reporters and columnists – including, recently, TV and radio journalists. We perform satiric songs and skits at the Winter Dinner, as in the Spring.

Ben Leubsdorf is quite the budding reporter.

We know this for a variety of reasons. One of which is that USA Today‘s Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page gave young Leubsdorf (hmmm…could there be a familial relation here?) praise on national TV for an award he received last week from the New Hampshire Press Association. He won for “Best General News Story” among daily newspapers. Leubsdorf covers City Hall for the Concord Monitor.

And just who is Ben Leubsdorf? “He could be a relation,” Page said wryly with a giant smile during the “Shameless Plugs” feature of MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown” this week.

We called Leubsdorf, 26, in New Hampshire. He was initially sheepish about talking to us. “I can confirm she is my mother,” Ben told FishbowlDC this afternoon. “I’m not sure I want to say anything.” His father is Carl Leubsdorf — his son explained he was Washington Bureau Chief for the Dallas Morning News for “an insane number of years.”

We began with a softball question to calm his nerves and asked about his award-winning piece. The story was about a stretch of road called Death Alley that runs through the three towns of Hopkinton, Henniker and Hillsboro. The story ran on Aug. 1, 201o and involved analyzing accidents and statistics. “I didn’t really think about it,” he said on whether the story would earn him an accolade.

This is Leubsdorf’s second job out of college. The Brown graduate went to work as an editorial assisstant for the AP in Detroit right out of school and moved to Concord in early 2010.

What’s it like having two journalists for parents? “It was a pretty good argument against becoming a journalist,” he deadpanned. “They were pretty neutral on it.” Young Leubsdorf clearly got the gene passed down. “It’s more fun than working,” he said, sounding like a true journalist.

Just before hanging up he had dread in his voice: “Now I have to go tell my editor I’ve done this and make sure I’m not going to get fired.” Asked if we could expect him in Washington one of these days, he said, “I doubt it.”

Mark McKinnon, political communications strategist and columnist for The Daily Beast, chatted with Politico‘s Executive Editor Jim VandeHei over the weekend at the Shorenstein Center’s 25th celebration at Harvard Kennedy School. What emerged might surprise you.

Among the topics: Twitter. Watch out Politico scribes. “I don’t like reporters tweeting when they should be reporting,” said VandeHei. “If they are doing it right, they are reporting.”

His own Twitter habits are anorexic. VandeHei has never written a single tweet, but has 716 followers and follows 144. In the mix of those he follows are USA Today‘s Susan Page, HuffPost‘s Michael Calderone, CBS’s Norah O’Donnell, GMA’s George Stephanopoulos, MSNBC “Morning Joe” Hosts Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist, NJ‘s Marc Ambinder and Susan Davis, CNN’s Candy Crowley, Dana Bash and John King, ABC’s Jake Tapper, NYT Jeff Zeleny, Mark Leibovich and Carl Hulse, WaPo‘s Ezra Klein, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, and WSJ‘s Jonathan Weisman to name a few. He doesn’t follow every Politico reporter, but he follows usual suspects like Mike Allen, Jonathan Martin, Jonathan Allen, James Hohmann, Ben Smith and Jake Sherman. He’s also still following Kendra Marr, who was recently forced to resign for plagiarism.

In the Harvard interview, VandeHei noted that the problem with young recent grads he interviews today is they’re brilliant, but incapable of shifting through large quantities of information. He described many  as very smart but “incapable of coherence.” He went on to talk about the importance of oversight, saying, “editors are essential.” The Politico co-founder also  introduced uncommon journalism lingo into the conversation as he discussed “deeper dive” pieces. He calls them key to the future of journalism. He said Mike Allen has the most “readers” and “feeders.” He showered Allen with praise, saying he has a “special gift of getting people to talk. He’s nice, trusted.”

For those waiting fitfully for the day when VandeHei utters his first tweet he’s at @JimVandeHei. But don’t hold your breath.

In the past week MSNBC “Hardball” Host Chris Matthews has significantly upped his Twitter following by doing one simple act: Tweeting.

For months now, he had one measly message on his feed. In one night — the evening of the GOP Presidential Debate in Simi Valley, Calif, — he increased his following by approximately five thousand. All because he announced on his “Hardball” program that he was going to be tweeting that evening.

Though Matthews’ tweets have so far been boring and bland, he caught flack for it, with FNC’s Ed Henry baiting him with ALL CAPS imitations of how he presumed Matthews, a shouting interrupter in real life, would be. And there were others who couldn’t quite imagine an online world infused with Matthews.

At the moment he’s broaching 20,000 followers (to be exact: 19, 957). He follows 65. So which lucky Washington journalists top Matthews’ list? Being at NBC certainly helps, but it’s not the only deciding factor. Politico‘s Mike Allen is on there as is HuffPost‘s Howard Fineman, C-SPAN’s Steve Scully, ABC’s Christiane Amanpour, USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page, NYT’s Jeff Zeleny, WaPo’s Dan Balz and Anne Kornblut, former CNNer Larry King and White House Spokesman Jay Carney. NBC colleagues include everyone from Joe Scarborough, Savannah Guthrie and Andrea Mitchell to Domenico Montanaro and Luke Russert.

Naturally Twitter is an opportunity for Matthews to offer a more controlled version of himself — a man who reveals himself slowly and thinks before he speaks. But here’s to hoping he unleashes his true self and gives fans what they want.

Several Washington journalists are sending love and well wishes to NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell. Mitchell announced Wednesday on her program that she has breast cancer.

Typically the shameless plugs on MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown” involve guests showing off their own work. Today their thoughts were with Mitchell.

“Shameless plug for one of the hardest working journalists in Washington,” said USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page. “That’s Andrea Mitchell. We learned yesterday she’s battling breast cancer. We’re all pulling for her. She’s tougher than any disease.”

MSNBC Policy Analyst Karen Finney concurred. “You know I’m going to leave it there with Susan. Andrea is just an incredible person.”

Host Chuck Todd added simply, “Andrea, I love you.”

Others…

PBS’s Gwen Ifill: “Andrea Mitchell once again shares her gifts of toughness and tenacity. Add to that courage. Love and prayers to my friend.”

The Daily Beast‘s Howard Kurtz: “I missed this news that Andrea Mitchell has breast cancer. Caught early, good prognosis. Wishing her all the best.”

HuffPost blogger Keli Goff: “Sending good vibes 2 Andrea Mitchell of @msnbc @mitchellreports Wishing her health, happiness & a speedy recovery.”

For some of us, a Washington Fourth of July is about as desirable as a hot sparkler in the eye.  It’s not that I’m unpatriotic but bridge and tunnel crowds depress me and fireworks don’t impress me (note: the rhyming was unintentional).  Still, in honor of Independence Day FBDC caught up with some Fishbowl faves to find out how they plan to celebrate this year. Fortunately, not everyone in the Fishbowl is jaded like me:

Washington Times’ Stephen Dinan: “I usually go watch the fireworks from the base of Memorial Bridge (and try to take poorly done photos of the reflections in the Potomac) but I’m in the market for a better spot this year.”

Washington Post’s Amy Argetsinger:  “Seneca Lake, N.Y., with amateur pyrotechnics, a bonfire, and Finger Lakes wine.”

Politico’s Julie Mason:  “I keep waiting for my invite to the South Lawn, but so far the inbox is forsaken.  I am going to a roofdeck party in Columbia Heights (unless I hear from someone with a pool, Sam Youngman).  I plan to celebrate the 4th by disregarding all the people on Facebook, Twitter and cable piously reminding everyone else ‘what this day is really about.’  We know what it’s about. It’s about friends with pools.”

New York Times’ Mark Leibovich: “I’m just gonna talk/tweet/blog endlessly about how fascinating Aspen is, even though I’m not there…”

USA Today’s Susan Page:  “Carl and I will be watching the fireworks, as usual, from the pedestrian walkway on Key Bridge. Fabulous view, nice crowd – and you only have to arrive a half-hour before they begin to get a good spot.  And I’ll be celebrating the 4^th of July by doing my part to address the soaring deficit: I have reluctantly decided to renounce my rights to all corporate plane tax breaks.”

Daily Caller’s Tucker Carlson: “I’m spending the Fourth in Maine with my kids, as usual. We stage a highly-dorky but mildly amusing reenactment in which I play King George and my wife George Washington. I lose every year.”

At approximately 6 p.m. on Thursday USA Today ran a story about Delta hooking up with Saudi Arabian Airlines. The headline: “U.S. Jews not able to fly on Delta flights to Saudi Arabia.” The lede expanded that to say that Jews, Israelis and people of non-Islamic faith would not be able to fly Delta to Saudi Arabia.  The story quickly got picked up by Drudge and, as in known to happen when a story gets Drudged, readership rocketed to the top of their site.

30 to 40 minutes later, USA Today pulled the story. But they didn’t entirely scrap it. They moved another version of the story to their Faith & Religion blog and left a brief notice of the switch at the top, saying, “CLARIFICATION: An early version of this story contained incomplete information and has been removed.” Why they moved it and what exactly they were clarifying is not clear. The link to the blog read, “Airline on Jewish rumor: ‘Delta does not discriminate.’” The blog version of the story dominated with an explanation and statement from a Delta spokesman, even though the original contained some of that same explanation, albeit far lower in the story. The religion blog’s headline also blared, “Airline to Jewish Rumor: Delta Does not Discriminate.” Drudge, meanwhile, linked to another story on the controversy, since by this point there was no shortage from which to choose.

See the original text of the first USA Today story after the jump…

We’ve requested a comment from USA Today. We’re told they are checking into the matter.  Stay tuned.

Read more

We so adore soon-to-be Current TV’s David Shuster here in the Fishbowl because he never fails to give us something funky to work with. Funky is not a word we use lightly. Whether the ex-MSNBCer is allegedly crashing a late-night MSNBC party (he insists he was invited), insulting USA Today’s Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page over the old-school ways of Washington’s Gridiron Dinner, playing air guitar or getting his car booted, he’s a ball of priceless intrigue.

Late last night he declared his flirtatious intentions for a certain liberal radio host.

He wrote on Twitter: “I’ll be talking (and flirting) with my friend Stephanie Miller on her @smshow tomorrow 10:30am eastern. Lots of political news…”

D. Shuster is phoning into Miller’s radio program this morning at 10:30 a.m. ET. We hope he won’t be “flirting” over the Weiner matter, but you never know what will happen when Shuster shows up. The show can be heard live on both XM and Sirius on America Left 127 from 10 a.m. to 12noon ET.