Dear MSM: What Ever Happened to Not Sucking?

Yesterday’s coverage of the WaPo "Pay to Print" saga dominated the news .  Even Mark Sanford was relieved to know that it would be highly improbable that his name would be mentioned in the same breath as this scandal.

Or would it…

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) had his mistress and the Washington Post Co. has hers. Sanford was after love. The Post was after money.  [all politics is local]

Better luck on the Sports page, Mark.

The Coolest Kids in the Room

Congress is out of town … what should we talk about?

How about we all talk about each other ?

I heart Politico

Michael Wolff: Beltway Boys

But I used to hate them

Gawker: Michael Wolff Used to Hate Politico

I don’t heart Politico

Alex Pareene: Politico is Revolutionary Says Man Who Should Just Be Writing About His Affair

Wait, didn’t the Plank already cover this?

Gabriel Sherman: Politico’s Darkening Clouds

We need a referee for all of this Politico talk

Michael Calderone: Media Food Chain

So … let’s get this straight: Politico is the future of journalism and all other newspapers are dead.

Right?

What do you think Gawker?

Hamilton Nolan: Let’s Screw Up the Entire Internet to Save Newspapers

Whew.

That was stressful.

We’re actually looking forward to Congress coming back.

UPDATE : Alex Pareene has issued a fatwah against Michael Wolff

Gawker: Michael Wolff: He Used to Have a Mustache, And Credibility

The Republican Wives Club

Here’s your mind-blowing fact of the day:

However, Politico notes that "in the 14 years since that star-crossed class arrived in Washington espousing an agenda that placed family values at its core, no less than a dozen of its members have been caught up in affairs, sex scandals or in messy separations and divorces from their spouses that, in more than a few instances, led to their political downfalls." [Goddard]

And those were just the ones who got caught.

If only these women would get together and write a book …  Suggested title: Term Limits

Politico vs. The Washington Post

What a week.

First we learned the ex-WaPo reporters, John Harris and Jim VandeHei, registered www.postpolitics.com and then sold it back to The Washington Post AFTER they started Politico.

VF: Beltway Boys

Harris and VandeHei had begun, early on, registering domain names, including postpolitics.com, which the Post, when it began to realize it might have to do some online coverage of its own, bought back for an undisclosed sum last year

Today Politico fired another Roman Candle across the river.

Mike Allen’s Playbook :

EXCLUSIVE – For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives OFF THE RECORD, NON-CONFRONTATIONAL access to Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper’s own reporters and editors. Here’s a flier that was circulated yesterday to a health-care lobbyist, who said he feels it’s a conflict for the paper to charge for access to its “health care reporting and editorial staff.” The flier was provided to Politico last night at Rhodeside Grill (hat tip: “Nate Peters”)

Something is fishy in the Potomac.

UPDATE : Mike Allen posted an entire story and will include WaPo’s response when it arrives. Of course, this has also been Drudge bombed .

UPDATE 2 : Fark has jumped into fray .

UPDATE 3: Politico doesn’t look to be backing down. They’re pushing this story against their media brethren on their front page.

UPDATE 4: The Washington Post responds.

FishbowlDC: WaPo responds to Weymouth Salon Debacle

The flier circulated this morning came out of a business division for conferences and events, and the newsroom was unaware of such communication. It went out before it was properly vetted, and this draft does not represent what the company’s vision for these dinners which are meant to be an independent, policy-oriented events for newsmakers.

As written, the newsroom could not participate in an event like this.

We do believe there is an opportunity to have a conferences and events business, and that The Post should be leading these conversations in Washington, big or small, while maintaining journalistic integrity. The newsroom will participate where appropriate.

UPDATE 5 : Calderone: WaPo responds to flier controversy

Executive editor Marcus Brauchli addressed the flier in a staff memo obtained by POLITICO. Brauchli said the paper "will not participate in events where promises are made that in exchange for money."

UPDATE 6 : Boy, this escalated quickly.

Politico: WaPo cancels lobbyist event amid uproar

Richard Perez-Pena: Washington Post Cancels Series of ‘Salons’ Charging Lobbyists for Access to Its Staff

FishbowlDC: Brauchli Declares WaPo "Newsroom Independence"

UPDATE 7: Everyone in the pool!

Barack Obama’s Teleprompter: The O Experience

UPDATE 8 : White House responds

Politico: Gibbs tackles WaPo controversy

UPDATE 9 : WaPo Ombud Responds

Andrew Alexander: The Post’s ‘Salon’ Plan: A Public Relations Disaster

For a storied newspaper that cherishes its reputation for ethical purity, this comes pretty close to a public relations disaster.

Politico reported this morning that The Post has been soliciting lobbyists to pay from $25,000 to $250,000 to underwrite off-the-record “salons” at the home of publisher Katharine Weymouth that would provide access to administration and congressional leaders and the paper’s reporters and editors.

The story, accurately reported by Politico (and former Post) reporter Mike Allen, is based on a flier being circulated by a new marketing arm of The Post that has been created to host conferences and events.

UPDATE 10 : Weymouth sends memo to WaPo staff

Matt Dornic: Weymouth Offers Explanation to WaPo Staff

UPDATE 11: Howard Kurtz weighs in

Kurtz: Post Publisher Cancels Plans for Off-the-Record ‘Salons’

The Post Co. lost $19.5 million in the first quarter and just completed its fourth round of early-retirement buyouts in several years, prompting Weymouth to look for new sources of revenue.

UPDATE 12 : Jamison Foser uses 2,775 words to tell us he’s had enough

Media Matters: Howard Kurtz’s wasted opportunity

When Jonathan Martin Speaks - You Pay To Listen

What’s the World Coming To?

People are paying to hear JoMa.

Congratulations to our Secretary of Education.

FamousDC - July

Ashley Estill
Chanelle Hardy
Claudine Hellmuth
Dana Ayanna Greaves
Julie Kosterlitz
Ricardo Ramirez
Maria Recupero
Alejandra Owens
Christina Wilkie
Natalie Wyeth

Famous Line of the Week: Sanford Soap Opera

The Famous line of the week in a political story award goes to Jonathan Martin for this forbidden gem.

JoMa: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s affair turns political

The intra-party machinations highlight a part of the Sanford soap opera that goes past the governor’s lust for forbidden flesh.

Just Asking . . .

How pumped is Mark Sanford right now?

RIP MJ

Dear POLITICO: Why So Many Question Marks ??

We enjoy stories about ManBearPig as much as the next person, but why did Politico’s latest piece include so many question marks? [we counted at least 17]

Sanford And Sun: One Man’s Crusade For The Perfect Tan Line

We guess marriage is between a man, woman and somebody from Argentina …

From Mark Sanford’s Inaugural Speech: [click]

"In not my, but our collective hands, is held the promise of change."

From Mark Sanford’s emails to his Argentian girlfriend: [click]

"The erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night’s light."

While the Sanford story gets stranger by the minute [I love your tan lines] , we should remind you that his wife originally claimed that he was off "writing".

Working titles of his memoir include:

Foreign Affairs IS the Job of State Government

Hiking, Affairs and South Carolina - A Book About Golf

How I saved John Ensign’s Ass

I Will Not Accept Your Money, That Foreign Chick, However, Is Coming With Me

Who Says Republicans Don’t Have Fun?

If Spurier Wasn’t Going To Do Anything Exciting In SC, I was.

Sanford and Sun:  One Man’s Crusade For The Perfect Tan Line

Ana Marie Cox Explains Famous DC

This feels like having a senior thesis proven 100% right .

FisbowlDC: Tweet du Jour: Ana Marie Cox is Not Famous. Okay, Maybe Just a Little…

Yesterday on Twitter, Air America’s Ana Marie Cox defined her celebrity via "tweet" for a new follower.

@chiras56 asks:

@anamariecox are you someone famous?? no, seriously.. i dont wanna google you.. think of it as twitter experiment.. sorry btw for not knowin

And though @chiras56 found it too tedious of a task to Google her, Cox was kind enough to define her fame for the Twitter follower:

@chiras56 No, I am not someone famous. I am famous "for DC" and perhaps "on the Internet." This is very different than being "famous."

Capitol Press Credentials for Huffington Post?

Does this justify every MSM’er argument against giving Bloggers press credentials and media access on the Capitol grounds?

Huffington Post and Obama White House coordinate on Iran question

Michael Calderone: Obama calls on HuffPost for Iran question

In what appeared to be a coordinated exchange, President Obama called on the Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney near the start of his press conference and requested a question directly about Iran.

UPDATE: Good coverage on the back-and-forth can be found at FishbowlDC: WH Theater: HuffPo Q "Staged" at Presser

Books on Washington’s Famous Heroes

Everyone in Washington has written a book, is writing one or plans to. One of our favorite readers sent in a few suggestions for book titles for Washington’s Heroes.

These are all in good fun, please don’t take ‘em seriously.

Washington’s Famous Heroes:

You thought it, I said it
Joe Biden does Joe Biden

Sex, Money and Power - How I Managed to Get None of Them
By Jessica Cutler

A Goatee, Two First Names and a Dream: The Chuck Todd story

Wrestling Was Easier - My time as Speaker
By Denny Hastert

Bathroom Etiquette
By Larry Craig

Stop with all the hard questions - My time as Chair of the Intel Committee
By Silvestre Reyes

Don’t Call Me Liz!  The rise and fall of Elizabeth Becton

Why I don’t drive a Taxi : Senator Kennedy’s advice on picking a career

Bob Dole would like you to read this book about Bob Dole
By Bob Dole

I’m boring huh?  I’ll take your f****g car!  - What’s Al Gore been up to since 2000

Move over Mr. Larouche, There’s only room for one of us: The future of Ron Paul

Page Turner: A fascinating book about Mark Foley

Cold Hard Cash: William Jefferson’s savings secrets

The Idiot’s Guide to Getting Caught in a Prostitution Ring
By David Vitter

TMI
By Mark Foley

How to Buy Friends and Intimidate People
By Jack Murtha

The Sneetches are communists and other crazy things I’ve said on cable news
By Michele Bachmann

One vote, Two vote, Ok, I’m tired.
By James Clyburn

New JibJab Video: He’s Barack Obama

President Obama’s Keynote Address - 2009 RTCA Dinner

Video courtesy of C-SPAN:

President Obama was the keynote speaker at the 2009 Radio and TV Correspondents’ Dinner. Presidents traditionally poke fun at themselves, their administration and the journalists who cover Washington. This video includes President Obama’s entire remarks from the dinner.

Matt Dornic Breaks News: Does Roll Call Print Money?

FishbowlDC: ‘CQ’ to Join ‘Roll Call’ Under Economist Group

While other publications are talking about breaking even next year, Roll Call is buying up everyone in D.C.

What’s next?

Roll Call Sports Illustrated
Roll Call Playboy
Roll Call Readers Digest

Famous Friday [Round Up]

Maureen Dowd gave her eye Dr (Jay Klessman) a NY Times shout-out, Mike O’Brien got the President’s reg reform online - FAST, Sen. Dianne Feinstein canceled Heather Podesta’s "first course" lunch, Sean Donahue brought the ‘Citizen’s Briefing Book’ to the pages of Roll Call, Ensign didn’t show up to pitch and Republicans lose: more apologies coming,  Elizabeth Becton hates being called Liz, Chris Van Buren and Will DiNovi missed a few big ones, Jessica Boulanger, Roll Call’s David Drucker and  Bloomberg’s Nick Johnston all celebrated a birthday, Democrats now own: White House, Senate, House and the Dugout, Mike Allen celebrated his birthday at Tammy Haddad’s and TI is still in prison.

GW Parkway: A Sign of the Times

The only thing that could possibly make a rainy commute on the GW Parkway better — manipulated road signs.

From NBC Washington: WTOP sent us this hilariously inappropriate picture of the electronic sign on the GW Parkway’s northbound exit from Rosslyn toward the Key Bridge. The Virginia Department of Transportation says it’s not their sign (deny deny deny), but they do know how to turn it off, and someone headed over there to do just that. Bummer.  [saucy]

Apparently the creativity spread from Texas, where a recent sign in Lubbock read: "OMG THE BRITISH R COMING."

48th Annual Roll Call Congressional Baseball Game

Republicans vs. Democrats

Members of Congress playing baseball

Staffers drinking on a school night

Yep, this sounds like a great opportunity for live Twitter updates.

A few FamousDC editors are sending real time updates from the baseball game.

You can check it out here: www.twitter.com/FamousDC

Dear President Obama: We Want These Five

Why are we buying companies losing money by the minute?

We want these.

Diatribes by Joah

President Obama: 5 Companies US Taxpayers Would Like to Own

President Obama,

We wanted to write you and see if you would consider buying into some American companies that we think would be sounder investments than General Motors, AIG and some of the other companies you’ve been using our money for. Thank you, in advance, for your consideration.

Nike

Pros - They’re based in Oregon, so you and Michelle can see your brother coach basketball games at Oregon State. You could have an endless supply of shoes to play basketball in and could probably play one-on-one with MJ, Kobe and Lebron. They make the coolest commercials so you could probably figure out a way to get some awesome campaign ads made for 2012. You’d have even more leverage over the Chinese government since you’d be employing thousands of their citizens.

Cons - They have run into some labor issues and you’d have to get the unions to support it. Oregon is already a blue state so you wouldn’t pick up any votes.

Apple

Pros - You could make a deal that gives all public schools Mac computers which would help close the digital divide. You would never have to think up gift ideas for Malia and Sasha. Your campaign team could come up with a cool product called the iBama that basically kept your voters plugged into you at all times, which would certainly raise an insane amount of campaign money for you.

Cons - You’d be on Bill Gates’ bad side. AT&T doesn’t provide service on the DC Metro. Steve Jobs’ health is a concern.

Google

Pros - They could make sure only good things about you come up in searches. They could make sure only bad things come up in searches about your opponents. You could monitor the entire Internet for terrorism-related activity, legally. You could make your campaign site the official home page of Google so people would be doing a search from BarackObama.com with a picture of you and your family in the background.

Cons - Google may be evil. Google could see to the end of newspapers, which wouldn’t be good for Democratic candidates since they need the endorsements.

Tiger Woods

Pros - He isn’t a company, but he makes money like one and has high brand awareness. Lebron wants to be the first billionaire athlete, but Tiger will beat him. He’s multi-racial so you guys can connect on that. You could bring him with you for major foreign policy trips and he could give golf tips in exchange for national security tips (i.e. Tiger will show you how to save par here if you tell us exactly where Osama bin Laden is hiding?) Malia and Sasha could babysit his kids in a few years.

Cons - He’s very busy and at least four weekends of the year, you’d have zero access to him. His wife was a nanny/model and your wife is a former university administrator so they may not get along well. Augusta National, where the Masters is played in Georgia, isn’t exactly the best place for a Black family to visit.

Whole Foods

Pros - You could do even more to encourage healthy living in the US. You could raise organic food standards through legislation so that only stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s could survive. Michelle would be impressed with your cooking even though it’s really pre-cooked. They’re based in Austin, so you could visit a lot and possibly turn Texas into a blue state.

Cons - Most Americans can’t afford the food here on a regular basis. Like Nike, you probably wouldn’t pick up any votes by doing this since their customers and employees are already liberal.

I know there are some other companies that would be sound investments, but these are the five that we think a) we could get more than 50 percent of us to agree on, b) doesn’t hurt you significantly in the ‘12 election (unlike GM) and c) would actually do something to help the economy.

Respectfully,

American taxpayers

Oprah and DTV Transition Save A Man’s Life

Watching TV can be good for your health.  [dodges falling tree]

Robert Monsarrat, 86, said he might be dead if not for the switch from analog to digital TV. Because the TV in his bedroom didn’t work, he was in the kitchen when a tree fell through his bedroom.

He was watching Oprah.  [of course he was]

h/t Micheal Turk

Famously Quoteworthy: Al Roker Does More Than Weather?

Who knew Al Roker was so talented.  [via TMZ]

Heidi Pratt wants to warn any woman who comes on the "Today " show that Al Roker may have it in for them!

"Heidi, who claims Roker viciously attacked her and hubby Spencer Pratt on the air this morning, tells us Al "was incredibly rude and was verbally assaulting me… I would warn any people, especially women, who are going on the show to watch out for him."

But Spencer had the best line:

I never in my wildest dreams thought a weatherman would treat us like we just rigged the Iranian election."

Twitter = A Gigantic Ego Stroke

We’ve long said Twitter is a bullhorn for all things narcissistic . But rarely does anyone agree with us – until now.

Howie Kurtz recently penned [another] a column about Twitter.  The article was in reference to how Twitter is used to disseminate news quickly - although not everyone is a fan of the popular narcissistic network:

"For celebrities, Twitter is a gigantic ego stroke," writes CBS Sports columnist Gregg Doyel. "It’s a game of narcissist strip poker, and you’re the thong."  [WaPo]

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

FoxNews Reporters Play Hot Potato

CNN isn’t the only news station that can’t seem to get it right lately.

Fox News Fail - Watch more Funny Videos

Do We Choose Our Own News?

New York Post’s Kyle Smith: Life Inside the Media Bubbles

"In this town," Fox News’ Bill Sammon said yesterday of DC, "everything is political."

Town? Try nation.

Please Release Me: Granny Panties

Taegan Goddard reminds us of one of the funniest all time press releases:

It is dated July 19, 1994, and was issued by then-Senator Howell Heflin’s office. That morning, the Senator had been dining in the Capitol with some Alabama reporters, and suddenly felt a sniffle coming on. The reporters were aghast when the Senator reached into his pocket, pulled out a bit of fabric and began to wipe his nose with … a pair of ladies underwear."

From Sen. Howell Heflin

HANDKERCHIEF
JULY 19, 1994

I mistakenly picked up a pair of my wife’s white panties and put them in my pocket while I was rushing out the door to go to work.
…
Rather than take a chance on being embarrassed again, I’m going to start buying colored handkerchiefs.

Have you ever read a press release and thought, “was this actually approved by someone whose academic career went beyond elementary school?”

What about releases that went above and beyond the call of duty and actually grabbed your attention?

In the spirit of drawing well-deserved attention to press secretaries everywhere, we’ve begun to collect press release hits and misses.

Famous Friday [Round Up]

Abby Phillip shot down several hill flacks with her mile-high story, Kim Oates celebrated a birthday, Garrett Graff’s top 50 list hit the intertubes, Shannon Flaherty joined Teresa, Doug, Matt and Taylor, Amanda Carpenter got a Drudge bomb with her union story, John Pappas and his poker players have been dealt better hands, The Hill forgot about Jared Allen, Sasha celebrated her 8th birthday by visiting the set of freakin Harry Potter, Look out Fenty! — Owen Wilson is making the rounds in DC like he’s running for Mayor, Karen Ignagni pulled a Grover and hit the front page of National Journal, the DTV transition is upon us today, Manny Rosales is back (again), Liz Mair got one year older, Ryan Grim launched, John Hawkins keeps trying to catch wild cats, Corbin Casteel sent a Texas-sized message, Katherine Lehr is now referencing Ludacris in Hotline stories and everyone had the munchies during John McCaslin’s book party at Tackle Box.

FamousDC D-Bag of the Day

A WGN reporter [entirely unqualified] who dunks over a little kid named Tyler, laughs at him, makes him cry on air and then confesses that he feels "powerful" for doing it, is our d-bag of the day. Congratulations, assbag.

FamousDC Quote of the Week: Rep. Phil Gingrey

Remember this?

For Howard Dean, that clip [which ended is political career] is something he’d like to soon forget, but for others, it’s a classic moment that will be used against him for years to come. Take for example the latest exchange between Dean and Rep. Phil Gingrey, who are both physicians.  [The Hill]

It all started earlier this week when physician-turned-Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) said he had recently read that Dean’s wife, Dr. “Elizabeth” Steinberg, was no longer taking Medicaid patients because the government reimbursement rates are too low.

Dean fired back on Wednesday, saying, “Dr. Gingrey is just plain wrong. He’s an embarrassment. First of all, my wife is not named Elizabeth, as her name is Judith. Second of all, she does accept Medicaid patients, so this fellow simply doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It’s a good thing he’s in Congress, because I’d hate to see what he’d do to patients.”

Gingrey, who’s known for witty comebacks, struck back with one of the best quotes we’ve seen in a long time:

Under socialized medicine, patients will suffer … they’re going to suffer in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and they’re going to suffer in California and Texas and New York. And they’ll suffer in South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan … and then they’ll suffer in Washington D.C. Byah !”

Game. Set. Match.

Today’s Top Talker: 50 Top DC Journalists

Yes, we realize this has been on the magazine rack at Whole Foods for days and drove Beltway dinner conversations last weekend - but just like the rest of Washington, we love lists — and this one is now online and linkable .

Washingtonian: 50 Top Journalists 2009

Did Garrett Graff make friends or enemies with this top 50 list?

Was every candidate from the FamousDC Media Ticket also on the Washingtonian’s roll?

Our favorite section is the Dozen Rising Stars :

Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post. A dapper and familiar face to MSNBC viewers, editorial writer Capehart is a reasoned and interesting pundit.

Lindsay Czarniak, WRC-TV. Few local journalists seem destined for more exposure on the national stage than Channel 4’s sports anchor. The only question is where she’ll end up. ESPN? The Today show?

Yunji De Nies, ABC. For the last year, Good Morning America viewers have been rewarded with engaging reports from ABC’s new White House correspondent.

Shane Harris, National Journal. As cyber issues come to the fore, National Journal’s intelligence reporter is hot on the case with compelling narratives and scoops.

Neil Irwin, Washington Post. The Post’s go-to writer over the last year for financial stories had just returned from earning an MBA.

Anne Kornblut, Washington Post. The heir apparent to the Post’s legendary political beat, local girl Kornblut has seen her star rise fast.

Matt Labash, Weekly Standard. In the Washington magazine world, Labash—whose topics range from GOP politicos to a heart-wrenching story on the fall of Detroit—stands out as perhaps the best at the craft of writing.

Jonathan Martin, Politico. A whirling dervish publishing hot stories round the clock on his blog, Martin is one of Politico’s franchise reporters.

Mark Mazzetti, New York Times. The Times was smart to snap up Mazzetti from the ailing LA Times in 2006, and readers have been rewarded with compelling defense coverage.

Chad Pergram, Fox. A star on and off the air, Pergram has the respect of his Capitol Hill peers, not an easy bunch to please.

Alix Spiegel, NPR. Now an expert on science and social policy, Spiegel got her start on the public-radio show This American Life.

Sam Stein, Huffington Post. No less a figure than President Obama welcomed Stein into the club of White House reporters when he called on him during his first press conference.

FamousDC applauds Cathy Merrill Williams, Garrett Graff and all the journos included. We look forward to the next round-up in 2013.

Book Launch: This Is Your Country on Drugs

You’ve read the Ryan Grim Famous 5 interview .

You’ll (hopefully) buy the book .

Now you can attend the book launch:

When: Saturday, June 20th at 8:00 p.m.

Where: American Legion Post 8 D and 3rd Sts. SE
224 D St SE

Pre-orders start to ship around June 15th but the official pub date is June 29th.

Feel free to bring friends.

PS: Dear DC summer interns,

Thank you for stopping by — we love your work .

Note: If you cruise by the book party and grab a few free drinks, please make sure you buy at least one book. It is just a rule and we repeat: the drinks will be free.

Even Norah’s Smile Can’t Dull the Pain

of MSNBC’s massive graphics FAIL this morning.

Even the ridiculous backwards checkmark on the ballot is overshadowed by… sigh… the fact that, um, you… used the WRONG STATE.  That’s West Virginia.  Which — spoiler alert — is different than Virginia.  And we hate to pile on here, but you kinda had months to prepare for the result of the Democratic gubernatorial primary.  Just saying.

Despite the fact that the majority of West Virginia residents probably don’t know the difference , it’s safe to say that there are probably some Virginia residents who do.

MSNBC : The place for politics.  But not elementary school educations apparently.

Sarah Palin Has Fancy Toenails

The Huffington Post, known for its mind blowing investigative journalism, has done it again.

This time, toe jam:

At the Autism Speaks walk in Purchase, New York on Sunday, something about Sarah Palin’s toenails stood out.

But wait, there’s more…  According to related stories, this isn’t the first time they’ve painted such great coverage.

Read More: Palin , Palin Toenail , Palin Toenails , Palin Toes , Poll , Sarah Palin , Sarah Palin Decals , Sarah Palin Painted Toenails , Sarah Palin Pedicure , Sarah Palin Pictures , Sarah Palin Rhinestones , Sarah Palin Toenails , Sarah Palin Toes , Sarah Palin’s Toenails , Sarah Palin’s Toes , Style News

Chuck Todd And His Goatee Set To Write A “Nuanced Analytical Narrative” About Obama and Clinton

From what we gather, it’s a magical romance that started in Iowa and ended up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  [pins and needles]

“Does President Obama Know Who I Am?”

Yes, he understands you’re a 12 year-old kid with a microphone.  [and he's a tad bit busy]

h/t Wake Up Call

“Blonde Charity Mafia” Postponed Until Fall

This news will disappoint about three people:

"Blonde Charity Mafia," a new reality show about young socialites in Obama-era Washington, DC, has been delayed until fall, according to the CW network.

If this show can’t compete will the summer schedule, it has little chance of getting off the ground.

Cillizza Says Pols Shouldn’t Twitter. Update: Should Twitter.

9:00 am: the Fix says politicians should not to Twitter.

4:30pm: the Fix says he hopes politicians continue to Twitter.

What will tonight bring?

David Simon’s Salad Dressing Incident

David Simon, journalist and creator of the popular HBO drama, The Wire, spoke about the future of professional journalism. Among the topics he addressed: why he had a salad dressing stain on his shirt and the state of the newspaper industry.  [watch it here]

h/t Mortman

Famous Friday [Round-Up]

Chris Bowlin is setting up shop in the Senate, Playboy stepped in it with their hate f*** list (big time), Jennifer Crider is now part-time political director and part time hedge-clipper, Jordan Stoick is now a daddy, La Loma had a huge tree fall in front of the restaurant — and the margaritas kept flowing, JoMa took over the reins of Playbook from Mike Allen this week, Andrew Noyes posted one of Andrew Feinberg’s K Street pictures, Costa Rica crushed the US soccer team, Robert Schlesinger and his wife had a boy, Emmet, Vaughn Ververs and Danielle Jones reunited, the Dugger family, of TLC fame, visited the Hill, an intern for a NJ DEMOCRAT failed at discretion, Harry Reid ruined everyone’s July, Texan Matt Mackowiak was quoted in Politico, but forgot Senator Cornyn is a fellow Texan, Reagan’s son opted to appear with Palin instead of his dad’s statue, we wonder if David Axlerod is still enjoying his government sponsored door-to-door car service and the College Republicans stepped up security for Pawlenty’s speech.

Famous Quiz: Goverment Motors Edition

Who am I?

I made millions off of General Motors.
My kids attend private school.
Hollywood loves me.

You make the call:

Ken Lay
Dick Cheney
Hillary Clinton
Jack Abramoff
Michael Moore

Alright, we all see where this is going.

Michael Moore jump-started his career on the back of GM and now he has advice for President Obama to fix the economy and save the future.

You can read his recommendations here , but we’ll just leave you with his last gem of advice to marinate on:

Michael Moore:

9. To help pay for this, impose a two-dollar tax on every gallon of gasoline. This will get people to switch to more energy saving cars or to use the new rail lines and rail cars the former autoworkers have built for them.

A two dollar tax on every gallon of gas? Really ?

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