Hey look, John McCain had an acid flashback to his days in the Mexican Hanoi Hilton and yelled at poor human condition-chronicler Elisabeth Bumiller of the NYT. Why? Because she asked about his conversation with John Kerry in 2004 to become his running mate. About halfway through the video, you can hear Cindy McCain throw a gin tumbler at the plane’s wall, just before McCain’s aides were able to feed her her Xanax/Oxycontin cocktail coated in strawberry cream cheese. [via The Caucus]

It appears that our beloved Frances Townsend has some competition for the title of top White House hottie. This morning’s Times brings us Elisabeth Bumiller’s profile of 36-year-old Meghan O’Sullivan, deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan. This follows on the heels of Washingtonian naming O’Sullivan a “Woman to Watch,” in their feature on the 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington.

More discussion of this high-octane hottie appears after the jump.

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The narcissism of the Note knows no bounds. From this morning’s edition: MORE »

Reading Elisabeth Bumiller’s gossipy, speculative, color-over-facts White House reporting typically feels like eating Cap’n Crunch for dinner. She’s a White House correspondent in the MoDo mold.

But Bumiller’s latest piece for the Times can be read without guilt. First, it’s her farewell to the White House beat — she’s going on book leave, to work on her Condi bio. Second, as an essay in the Week in Review section, it’s not trying to masquerade as hard news.

It’s full of juicy little tidbits — like this one:

Karl Rove, the president’s top political adviser, got so mad about an article that he told me he was putting my e-mail address in his spam filter.

A few more excerpts, after the jump.

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This Times piece provides the absolute best in bullshit speculative “reporting” that the Press Corps has to offer. From the desperate attempt to claim to that the President’s dismissive answer to Ms. Bumiller’s “gray-beard” question on Tuesday (”Look, [Congress] have got some ideas that I like and some I don’t like”) could be construed as a vague affirmative, to the classic “there is no news in this news story” disclaimer that comes in graf 6: MORE »

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In this edition of Chatology, Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff pulls a half-Ginsburg, spinning through both Meet the Press and This Week. On various issues, Chertoff blames Michael Brown, Mary Matalin blames the media, Joe Lieberman blames Chertoff, Evan Bayh blames the Democrats, and David Gregory blames himself. Random wisdom from Ari Fleischer: “You can be right and still be bonkers.” Speaking of which: Cheney is “almost like the wizard dealing with the muggles” — Howard Fineman.

Full rundown and highlights after the jump.

[Ed. note: Don't miss Ana Marie Cox's appearance at the National Press Club, this Wednesday, February 22, at 6:30 PM. For more details, as well as information about how to obtain tickets to this free event, click here.]

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By ANA MARIE COX

This Week’s Sunday spew lacks a taste of Greece: The Brylcreemed smoothness of Washington’s Hellenic homeboy, George Stephanopoulus, was pre-empted locally for emergency snow coverage. Because people in Washington are pussies.

We are thus unable to verify Condoleezza Rice’s landing of a Half-Ginsburg, but she was scheduled to go on both “This Week” and “Face the Nation.” She told “This Week” that the Danish cartoon protests “could spin out of control,” which we would never have guessed. Also, apparently Joe Biden was on, which is like missing Haley’s comet. If Haley’s comet came every weekend. We regret the loss.

Full rundown and highlights after the jump.

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Hoity-toit Gallery Place bowling alley Lucky Strike has issued a challenge — “What media outlet rules DC?” — and they’re opening up on December 15 to settle the issue on their lanes. The competition begins at 11:00am that Thursday morning, which is perfect for Elisabeth Bumiller, who’s usually drunk by 10:15. MORE »

The heh-heh files. Elisabeth Bumiller’s Washington Notebook entry today is, uhm, damp:

Built like the tight end he was in high school, with a gleaming shaved head that sets off his pinstriped suits, Steve Schmidt looks like someone you would not want to bump into in a dark corner of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, his current lair.

Somewhere in D.C., Jeff Gannon sighs, “Speak for yourself, Liz.” Oh, and like this isn’t a turn-on: Last year, he “stalked through campaign headquarters declaring, ‘Kill, kill, kill.’” MORE »