Wonkette

Yes, absolutely, no doubt, because that is precisely what Time’s Joe Klein says and that makes it true. You see, back in the old days, the national nominating conventions were very important. Since humans had no means of communicating long-distance until 1994 or so, each party’s leaders would gather in some fancy saloon in, say, Ohio, and smash whiskey bottles over each other’s heads until they decided on a good presidential nominee. And this is why Al Gore will finally win the presidency at this year’s Democratic National Convention. MORE »

Time’s Joe Klein on CNN late this afternoon: “Maybe the operative metaphor here isn’t drowning but a giant stingray landing in Obama’s boat.” Today’s top story on CNN.com: “Woman on boat dies after ray strikes her.” Let’s give a big round of applause to Joe Klein of Time magazine; he’ll be here every night this week, matinee on Saturday. [via Eschaton]

by Joe Klein
TIME

I posted something a politician said on Swampland, the political blog at Time.com, along with my opinion about presidential politics.

The next day, I was blasted by a number of left-wing bloggers: Klein screwed up! On Eschaton, a blog that specializes in media bashing, I was given the coveted “Wanker of the Day” award. I got hammered by bloggers and Swampland commenters for “stalking” a politician into an apology and for being a “water boy for the right wing” and many other riffs unfit to print.

MORE »

The point at which we really, really should’ve stopped reading Joe Klein’s Time piece on Rudy Giuliani: MORE »

• On the Senate Dems’ proposal to phase withdrawal of troops from Iraq, Pandagon says: “A glass eye in a duck’s ass can see that there’s no real substance to this.” [Pandagon]

• Saudis Offered Scholarships for Aviation Courses in US. [Michelle Malkin]
• Atrios body slams Joe Klein’s claim that he opposed the war. [Eschaton]
• Imprisoned Egyptian blogger Alaa freed, but paperwork snags prevent him from cutting and running just yet. [Sand Monkey]
• TPM’s Justin Rood rode the elevator with freshly convicted David Safavian. [TPM Muckraker]

* Reliable Source: Laura Bush dropped two sizes after a year of private fitness classes; she works out three times a week at 8 a.m. [WP]
* Rush & Molloy: Bloomberg, David Remnick, Bob Schieffer, Lesley Stahl, Kurt Andersen, Richard Holbrooke, and Ron Silver attended Joe Klein’s New York book party. . . Actor Dennis Hopper defends Bush. [NYDN]
* Page Six: Cheney was accidentally shot on a hunting trip in the late ’90s. . . Emails from Aaron Sorkin to call girl are revealed in her new book. [NYP]

* Washington Whispers: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy complains about making six figures: “We are patronized when we meet judges from England, the European Union, or Malaysia, whose salaries double that of ours. They say, ‘We’re so sorry about your salaries.’”. . . Kerry’s PAC has raised $1.1m in the past three months. . . Ted Kennedy is “pretty close” to Margaret Spellings. . . George Allen claims he cuts his own grass. [USN&WR]
* Inside Politics: Kerry says his biggest mistake was using federal financing after the convention: “I think the most important thing would have been to spend more money, if we could have, on the advertising and responding to some of the attacks.”. . . Boehner is optimistic for GOP chances in ‘06. [WT]
* Inside the Beltway: Joe Klein is re-releasing his book, “Politics Lost: How American Democracy was Trivialized by People Who Think You’re Stupid.” [WT]
* Liz Smith: Sandra Bernhard on the Bush twins: “You think those girls abstain?” [NYP]

Editors’ note: Don’t miss Ana Marie Cox’s Washington Post live chat, starting today at 11:30 AM. You can access it here, where you can also find a link for submitting questions to the Original Wonkette about BlackBerry disaster averted. Happy chatting!

Chatology this week slightly enlivened by the appearance of Stephen Colbert, though it was offset by Chairman of Joint Chiefs Peter Pace doing a half-Ginsburg; he has the kind of whispery monotone that made us fall asleep during filmstrips in health class. Most notable segment: Bill Kristol channeling Arianna Huffington in his disappointment in the administration, causing massive freakout on the Fox set and Chris Wallace to utter the Quote of the Week: “My whole universe has been rocked.”

Top topics: Potential (or ongoing?) civil war in Iraq; Katrina tapes; Dubai port deal.

One hit wonders: Two hits for the criminal investigation into Pat Tillman’s death (MTP and FNS); Oscar talk on “This Week”

Quotes to live by:
• Stephen Colbert on his Oscar expectation: “a lot of jokes [about] abortion… it’s a funny word, like guacamole.”
• Peter Pace moderates his view on Iraq: “I wouldn’t put a great big smiley face on it.”
• Juan Williams on DHS/FEMA infighting: “I’m going to put that off to two big boys having something in the back yard.” Well, someone saw “Brokeback Mountain.”

Full coverage continues after the jump.

MORE »