It is the political news of the century, and the New York Observer has WON THE AFTERNOON: “Meghan McCain’s Book Sold to Hyperion For High Six Figures.” Yup! Somehow her insanely terrible Daily Beast/cable news media sojourn has worked, and now she is rich as the dickens, all over again. So what’s the book about? Will it be like her columns? “Umm Hey Government Guys? This Ahmad Chalabi Dude Is Totes Lying To You?” MORE »

*NOW THE NEW YORKERS ARE ENDORSING TOO:* Super Duper Mondo Fab Tuesday comes February 5, so it’s time for the big states to start ushering out those endorsements. The New York Observer, a lovely “other option” for New Yorkers, has endorsed Barack Obama. Even though Hillary was born and raised in Yankee Stadium! They say “Barack Obama of Illinois is the future,” which kind of makes me feel pathetic. [NY Observer]

Charles Krauthammer and Bill Kristol, wild-eyed advocates of an Iraq invasion from way back in the day who have written in Time for who knows how long, won’t be returning after the end of the month. So who’s going to defend America from Democrats, liberals and homosexuals now? Some other asshole! MORE »

The New York Observer’s Steve Kornacki wrote maybe the best op-ed evarr yesterday slamming CNN’s entire promotion, pre-show, post-show and coverage of the last week’s Democratic debate. Wonkette liveblogged this debate and agrees wholeheartedly with Kornacki’s sentiment: “Once the gold standard for all-news television, the Cable News Network used the night to make a convincing argument that it should never again be entrusted with a presidential debate.” MORE »

Just an hour from Manhattan, this charming lumber yard offers a conciliatory “You done good” to Al Qaeda — and, apparently, incoming House Dem John Hall, who has a lot to answer for already. MORE »

How you like that? We show a bunch of smarmy New Yorkers nothing but hospitality, and how do they repay us? By running three smarmy pieces about how lame our big party was on Saturday in their smarmiest and most financially unstable paper. Sure, we love the attention, but the Observer seems to be acting all superior to us just because they’re skinnier and dress better.

First off, Chris Lehmann’s review of the Prom reception, dinner, and afterparty. We remember him skulking around Bloomberg — seemed like a shifty and untrustworthy sort. But this anecdote rings true to us:

The day’s festivities stretched all the way back to noon, with the kickoff brunch hosted by MSNBC producer Tammy Haddad. The defining moment of that event was the arrival of former Niger Ambassador Joe Wilson, husband of C.I.A. officer Valerie Plame. He walked up Ms. Haddad’s slate sidewalk in D.C.’s swank Palisades neighborhood; he sported a Palm Beach-style untucked Hawaiian shirt and brandished a cigar. He approached the tent where D.C.’s various media personages, pols and celebrity-esque hangers-on congregated.

Mr. Wilson took a quick, disenchanted look at his lit stogie and tossed it into Ms. Haddad’s flowerbed.

It wasn’t a gesture of confrontation so much as simple ambient sourness. But it served as another signature moment, six years into a flailing Bush Presidency, where the Washington zeitgeist might best be summed up in two words: “Fuck it.”

Hell, we’ll agree with that. We’re pretty sure the only person in Washington who still likes their job is Patrick Fitzgerald.

After the jump, the assault continues with a knock on our style and a trip to an Adams-Morgan Young Republican party.

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It’s basically just a day of record breaking here in the District. First, there was the Cuteaggedon. Now: The Most Ground-Breaking D.C. Gossip Item Ever In the History of the World. According to the New York Observer, Juleanna Glover-Weiss is currently introducing Ahmad Chalabi’s daughter (a recent doctoral student and just-published author) around to local editors. Yes, it’s true: A networked social powerbroker is helping out a well-connected newcomer (a Harvard grad, no less) with similar political sympathies. Washington may never be the same. MORE »

More telling than cruel “Hot or Not” snap judgments is the slow pull of a reluctant fashion trend. To wit: Harriet Miers bursts onto the scene as a monumentally powerful woman in Washington and the first thing scorned is her wardrobe. But if the outfits feel like they’ve grown on you since, it’s because they only fell off you in ‘87. MORE »

Christopher Hitchens talked to the New York Observer about the lonely life of a “liberal hawk.” Sure, his arguments fall on deaf ears, his dinner invites have dwindled, and he can pay his phone bill with pocket change. But he has no regrets. After all, he writes for Slate:

“What would I have to complain about?” said Mr. Hitchens. “I have a platform from which I can write and speak. The fact that it makes no difference, and the majority of my friends and colleagues think that I must have taken leave of my senses, doesn’t make a difference at all. I’m not someone shouting back at the TV in some bar.”

Well, let’s see: Ignored? Thought to be insane? Probably drunk? That’s pretty much exactly like some guy shouting back at the TV in some bar. Could be worse, though: That also describes most bloggers. MORE »

• Fox News Corp. psychodrama: mother bears, tattoos, and “iron-clad” things. Like Thursday at the Manhole, we’re telling you. [Fishgirl] MORE »