Two Names That I Can Hardly Stand to Hear

Did you hear? It is my last day as your Wonkette editor! On Monday, I'll sit down at the same goddamn computer and log into the same goddamn screwy blogging engine to continue to write for the same goddamn English billionaire Tory, but it will be for a site called "Gawker.com" instead. So to celebrate, I'm just gonna tell two brief stories of nutty DC types who helped make this gig miserable, in a "funny" way. Join me in saluting Karen Feld and Tucker Carlson!

Do you remember who Karen Feld is? No? You're not alone! She was once a "gossip columnist," and she was known for carrying tiny dogs around and being a bit nutty. Now she has a website or something, because no print or internet publications actually want to hire her anymore. She got mad at me once for telling the story of the day she got into a party by claiming she was with thePost, which she decidedly isn't.

She sent me a weird email and then I proved that she was at the party in question and it was all forgotten until the day I called her a "dog-abusing dementia sufferer" or something and then she started talking aboutlawyers!

Nothing really came of it and we all had a laugh about it and then she sent me a Christmas card. (Maybe I'm inventing that last part? Who can remember!)

There are a couple Karen Feld stories I never got around to telling, though she's so far gone from the scene at this point that who cares? Suffice it to say, one involves the immortal line, "I can't sit next to him, he's in a wheelchair!"

Tucker Carlson though? They still allow him on TV apparently! Even though since leaving Crossfire his own television experiments have been nothing but abject ratings failures, even though he's smarmy and unlikable, even though he admitted to beating a gay dude senseless on the air, he will remain on MSNBC in some form or another until the end of days. And if I ever find out who the fuck gave him my phone number, I'll sign him or her up for John Kerry's press email list.

Tucker first contacted us to complain about a year-old Wonk'd sighting -- this should've been my warning!

The firstcallcame the day we ran the story of Tucker Carlson getting a video store clerk fired. Tucker was concerned that we took the video clerk's side! Didn't I realize that this clerk wascreepyandweirdand not as important or famous at Tucker Carlson!? "I just wanted to rent a fucking Woody Allen movie," Tucker shouted (Tucker usually shouts). I agreed that a grave injustice had occurred, to shut him up, and that was the end of it until like a couple minutes later when Ilinked toa story fromWashingtonianthat showed a picture of his house. This, friends, was too far. He called again, and I patiently listened again, and he shouted some more, and then it was finally over and I did nothing and he felt much better about shouting at some blogger.

And everything was fine again for like a month until I posted a made-up Wonk'd sighting (look, I barely read them before I post -- I make sure the name is spelled right sometimes) claiming he pulled a Larry Craig (before Larry Craig had even pulled a Larry Craig!) at a McDonald's.

Two things Tuckerhatesare claims that he's less than 100% straight and insinuations that he's ever been to a McDonald's.

And while we've never made any bones about the fact that all Wonk'd sightings are the products of our oft-delusional (and oft-accurate, yes) readers, this incensed the diminutive pundit, and he promptly called me to demand I take it down. Like five times. And he shouted and threatened and cursed and I didn't really say much of anything, because I basically hate talking on the phone even to people Ilike.I did tell him I wouldn't take it down (and I didn't! mostly because he was being such a dick about it! catch more flies with honey, Tuck!). And he said, more than once, "I'll destroy you." No foolin! It was hard not to laugh. So I think I laughed. He also claimed, numerous times, that he "didn't give a shit" about me, which really didn't help explain why the hell he kept calling.

Another fun fact: he called me February 23 at 6:14 p.m..While his show was on, live."Maybe he wants to interview you about the top headline that was just on msnbc, 'is american idol voting fair'," a friend suggested.

He continued calling me, threatening to sue and to destroy me for a while, until I stopped answering and he eventually gave up and I wrote an insulting editor's note and then I never heard from him again. Eventually I drunkenly gave his number out to some friends! As far as I know, no one used it. And he hasn't fucking destroyed me yet!

Chris Matthews has never pulled this shit. All I'm saying.