Wonkette

Necktie-free boozebag Christopher Hitchens does not like the idea of Hillary Clinton getting her grubby little paws all over America’s foreign policy. Meanwhile, Peter Beinart just shouts and shouts. Why so shouty, Peter? Be sure to watch till the end, when Hitchens’ hair wanders off his scalp and crawls away looking for a cheeseburger. [MSNBC]

Toby Keith, the terrible country music singer who has spent the last seven years laughing at Arabs for getting killed by American bombs (2002 lyric: “we lit up your world like the Fourth of July”), is inexplicably a Democrat who supports Obama. This makes no sense. Perhaps he is one of those “Peter Beinart Democrats” who saturated our magazines and newspapers in the years after 9/11 — you know, like “we want sweeping health care reform, but we also really like bombing the shit out of Arabs.” Joe Lieberman is the worst … Wait, what was the question? Oh yes: weird redneck Toby Keith is a Democrat for Obama. [AP]

Apparently someone on Earth still watches The McLaughlin Group and thank god for that, because old coot host John McLaughlin tends to say some pretty funny things about this Barack Obama character. A couple of months ago he interrupted Eleanor Clift’s Obama analysis and shouted “WARREN HARDING WAS A NEGRO,” which is true. While McLaughlin’s performance yesterday doesn’t quite match that, it’s still a fine piece of old coot theatrics: he rants that Obama is an “oreo,” meaning he wants to dip him in milk and eat him. And here’s a longer version in which you can view Peter Beinart’s slappy reaction. [YouTube, CNN]

August in DC has that ghost town feel, everyone’s gone - except the people wishing they were, and Senator Ron Wyden, who’s a little confused about where he should be on what days. Also, Dick Cheney, since he’s a robot, doesn’t need vacation and instead just continues to consume information. The Bush family, however, knows that when you take time off you really want to be able to relax - so Barbara Bush makes sure to travel with someone who’ll take care of Millie’s little messes on the beach.

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• Liberals are mean, get slapped on collective wrist. [Blogs for Bush]

• “Instead of the donkey as a party mascot, the Democrats may want to consider a more exotic animal. Peter Beinart has a suggestion — the pander bear.” [Captain's Quarters]
• Fired-for-no-apparent-reason Gawker Editor Jesse Oxfeld hired as senior editor for New York magazine’s website. [Romenesko]
• “Sen. Hillary Clinton is looking for new ways to reach out to white working and middle class voters - especially those who live in exurbs and rural areas. According to several Democratic sources and others on the periphery of Clinton’s team, an old, press-shy face is part of her the inner circle: marketing whiz Roy Spence, a Clinton family confidant since the 1970s.” [Hotline On Call]
• The cool kids have a new way to talk about “the combination of slow growth and high inflation,” and that’s Stagflation. Just rolls off the tongue. [Political Animal]

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Friday

• Baltimore native DMX at Love, 1350 Okie St. NE. $20. [Ticketmaster]

• 1958’s The Kraft Theatre. All the King’s Men [Parts I & II]. Sidney Lumet directed this adaptation of the novel by Robert Penn Warren. Free at 7PM. LOC’s Mary Pickford Theater. [LOC]

Saturday

• Comedians Ahmed Ahmed, Aron Kader and Maz Jobrani present their “Axis of Evil Comedy Show.” 7&10PM at the Warner Theatre. $27-$37. [Warner Theatre]

• Black Heart Procession at the Black Cat. 9:30PM. $12. [Black Cat]
• Free Grey Goose until 11PM at Century Club, hosted by former WPGC DJ Big Tigger. Carnegie Library. $25 in advance; Free before 10:30PM for men and before 11PM for women. [WP]
• Of Montreal at The State Theater. $12 at 7PM. [State Theatre]

Sunday

• Yes, yes you hate improv, but you also kind of love it. The Escapists at the Warehouse. $15 at 8PM. [Theater Mania]

• The Good Fight author Peter Beinart at Politics and Prose. “Liberals, he says, can oppose the totalitarianism which stalks the Islamic world today and at the same time fight for freedom from the inside out by becoming more democratic at home.” [P&P]
• Screening of Underground with new musical score for cello and piano. “Subterranean spaces of the London Tube are the setting for a thrilling rush-hour romance…with a chill a minute.” Free at 4:30 p.m. National Gallery. [National Gallery]

As we mentioned earlier, last night Team Wonkette found itself at the book party for Peter Beinart’s The Good Fight. The festivities took place at the elegant Georgetown home of Mark Penn and Nancy Jacobson, and numerous superstars attended — including Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Sen. Hillary Clinton chats it up with author Peter Beinart and his lovely wife, Diana Hartstein. Over Hillary’s shoulder: Third Way’s Matt Bennett.

A comprehensive report — plus more fabulous Liz Gorman photos — appears after the jump.

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Last night, Team Wonkette attended the book party for The Good Fight, the new book by Peter Beinart. On a perfect June evening, in the garden of Mark Penn and Nancy Jacobson’s Georgetown mansion, we rubbed shoulders with numerous luminaries — including Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Don’t believe us? Well, we have eyewitnesses: Marc Ambinder and Patrick Gavin. And photos:

Yes, of course she wore a pantsuit. This one was pea green.

Attention Patrick Healy: A tuxedo-clad Bill arrived separately from Hillary. Hillary left the premises at least 20 minutes prior to Bill’s arrival.

More great photos, by Intrepid Girl Reporter Liz Gorman, appear after the jump. A more detailed write-up of the party, with even more pictures, will follow shortly.

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• It’s the 62nd Anniversary of D-Day. And bloggers are being compared to Eisenhower. [Blackfive]

• Dan Schorr is still on the air and still frustrating. [Eschaton]
• Ann Coulter on 9/11 widows: “These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by griefparrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much.” Franz Lehár would like a word with her. [Think Progress]
• In a debate with Harry Truman, George W sounds like SmarterChild. [Daily Kos]
• Afghan kids have it really good. [Hit and Run]
• The Good Fight author Peter Beinart loses “deathlike grip on the obvious.” [TPM BookClub ]
  

Last night, Team Wonkette rubbed elbows with the D.C. media elite, at the third annual presentation of the Michael Kelly Award:

The $25,000 award is given annually to a journalist whose work exemplifies a quality that animated Michael Kelly’s own career: the fearless pursuit and expression of truth. Kelly, who was the editor of two Atlantic Media publications, The Atlantic Monthly and National Journal, was killed while covering the war in Iraq in 2003.

It was a delightful evening, definitely one of the better parties that we’ve crashed attended lately. As media junkies, our heads were left spinning from all the star-spotting: Peggy Noonan! Adam Nagourney! Howard Fineman! Gwen Ifill! Matt Cooper! (But where was FROOMKIN???)

After the jump, additional commentary on the evening — plus fabulous photos, by Liz Gorman. Enjoy!

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