* Soledad O’Brien: Wednesday’s “Hump Day Hussy.” [Evil Discussor] MORE »

Tell it to the copy eds, Howard. MORE »

They did that while fisking him. Then they blogrolled him onto his stomach, and pinged him so hard, he couldn’t walk right for a week… MORE »

Howard Kurtz, today: MORE »

* Have a listen to Lincoln Ross’ “Come To Washington,” the song that’s angling to become the official DC anthem. After which, life will be totally perfect. [Lincoln Ross]
* And then, participate in DCist’s DC Anthem Poll.
* And then, hear the shocking story of the invasion of the Dancing Flight Attendants of Heineken. [DCist]
* David Gregory gets the puff and fluff from Howie Kurtz. Gregs totally owes us for saving his job. [Washington Post]
* Finally, there’s never been a better time to give a shout-out to Art Buchwald. [Washington Post]

We like the crew over at FishBowlDC and admire their work, which we link to frequently. But given our weakness for irony, as well as our obsession with all things media, we’d be falling down on the job if we didn’t pass along this reader email.

This may take a little concentration — so put down that plastic salad fork and focus. First, read this FishBowl DC item:

Washingtonian’s Kim Eisler is not at all happy with Howard Kurtz. Personally, we’re just amused that at the end of a column spent documenting some other reporter’s conflicts-of-interest, Kurtz profiles a correspondent on the network where Kurtz himself moonlights. Irony alert!

Second, read this “meta-irony alert!” from a Wonkette reader:

Stay with me here as I go all David Foster Wallace on your ass — Um…. the writer of said FishBowl item, Garrett Graff, is the editor at large of the Washingtonian. So — let’s say that Graff highlights how a colleague is not at all happy with Howie Kurtz (whom Graff blowjobish-ly profiled for, uh, the Washingtonian, and what a PLEASELIKEME hummer it was!).

And we are personally amused that Garrett Graff — at the end of his item on how a colleague is upset at a subject of a previous Graff profile AND how said subject has a conflict of interest by dint of his moonlighting job… neglects to so much as intimate that, in the very act of blogging about a guy who’s mad at another guy, who also has a conflict of interest… Garrett soi meme is moonlighting and creating an even more bizarre conflict of interest by reporting about a colleague and refusing to mention it.

Whoa! Didja get all that? If so, then here’s one more thing to note for the record. At the very end of his column, Kurtz at least discloses his potential conflict: “Howard Kurtz hosts CNN’s weekly media program, Reliable Sources.” As noted by our source, Graff does not.

Our musings on this tempest in a teapot — or bubbling in a fishbowl — continue after the jump.

MORE »

We’ve had a bit of fun with Washingtonian editor Kim Eisler’s friendship with Jack Abramoff, we admit (we admit also to not recognizing a fairly common expression among observant Jews — has it really been so long since we left New York?). But last night he sent us (and a couple others) a long memo discussing, in great detail, his Kurtz-described “conflict of interest,” his history with Abramoff, and so much more.

Being fans, obviously, of media infighting, we wanted to highlight a few passages:

Consider this for a second. On one hand Abramoff is accused of paying millions of dollars in contributions to, as the indictment alleged, deprive the American people of “honest government.” As if we ever had honest government.

On the other hand, Abramoff is accused of doing nothing for his clients. Could I be the only person in the entire Washington press corps who sees the conflict here? I seem to be. Why was he buying the influence of all these senators and congressmen? How is that doing nothing for his clients ? That is exactly what a lobbist does.

Which is, actually, a pretty good point. And a brilliant defense. Abramoff’s unethical behavior was proof that he wasn’t defrauding his clients! This is precisely how the system is designed to work! As we’ve mentioned numerous times, we occasionally consider ourselves the only actively pro-lobbyist media outlet in Washington. But Eisler has us beat:

I know other people who have gone to the Big House. I play poker and hang out at the race track. I don’t hobnob with the bores that inhabit 15th and L., except for my wife who is not boring and is an exception to this, I admire and like rogues and thieves. I guess that just isn’t done in this starch collar, tight ass city. Come to think of it, if Jack had the guy in Miami killed, that would just be one more feather in his black waterproof cap. Not sure I’ve actually ever known a murderer.

You hear that, Washington? You’re a bunch of tight-asses! We’re beginning to like this Eisler guy. It’s something we’ve always believed too, actually — given the choice between pious protectors of journalistic standards and reporters who drunk-dial nationally syndicated radio, we’ll party with the lush any day of the week.

Eisler’s full “memo” (it’s looong) after the jump.

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We were excited, for a time, to be the only DC Media outlet to be openly and actively pro-lobbyist (they’re nice!). Then we read Howie Kurtz’s piece on Washingtonian editor Kim Eisler, who evinces a selfless, touching affection for Jack Abramoff that we couldn’t hope to replicate. Oh, Kim. You can have Jack — you deserve him more. MORE »

Kathleen Parker shows off the chops it takes to be a star columnist at the Orlando Sentinel:

And the media wonder why newspaper circulations are dropping and why Fox News dominates television ratings over the networks and other cable programs.

For the week of November 28th through December 4th, NBC Nightly News averaged 10.5 milliion nightly viewers, ABC World News Tonight averaged 9.1 million, and CBS Evening News averaged nearly 8 million. MORE »

• Second Time magazine reporter is called to testify in leak investigation. [NYT, WSJ]
• Time table for withdrawal from Iraq seems dependent on next month’s Iraqi election and next year’s midterm election. Former administration aide: “We’ve moved from ‘if’ to ‘how fast.’” [NYT]
• Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) are injured when their vehicle overturns in Iraq. [NYT]
• Advocacy groups target swing senators in fight over Alito’s confirmation. [WP]
• Alito has convinced most senators to support him — “an unusual political feat.” [USAT]
• The Washington Post’s special relationship with Bob Woodward “has sparked some resentment among the staff,” writes Howard Kurtz; criticism of star journalist is spreading. [WP]
• Bush visits Arizona today for speech on illegal immigration that is designed to reassure his conservative base. [WT, WSJ]

MORE »

In her article on the issues raised by Howie Kurtz’s CNN gig allowing him to comment on his other gig at the Washington Post, where he also comments on CNN, Kit Seelye interviews Kurtz critics Mickey Kaus and Jack Shafer. Shafer reaches for a metaphor: “This is the duck-billed platypus of journalism, an egg-laying mammal with fur - it’s just something very bizarre.” An egg-laying mammal with fur and perhaps a meth problem, as these critics of Kurtz writing about his employer both work at Slate, which is owned by the Washington Post. As a Corner reader has pointed out, this is something Seelye doesn’t mention. MORE »