Wonkette

Being a White House correspondent sounds like a great gig. Several former WH correspondents have gone on to that Valhalla for print journalism, television. And don’t forget their glamorous gala, the White House Correspondents Association dinner, taking place on Saturday, April 29. (Speaking of which: Word on the street is that invites to the Bloomberg after-party are out now. Are you on the list?) MORE »

Some of you already noted the press presence at the Nationals game today — here’s a bit of the pool report from Cheney’s first pitch duties at RFK: MORE »

* Do not stare too closely at Torie Clark! If you must look at Torie Clark, wear protective eyewear! It’s for your own safety! [TBogg]
* An Egyptian newspaper printed those crazy Muhammed cartoons back in October. The fact that it took so long for them to decide to riot demonstrates, we think, that craigslist Cairo is killing the newspaper biz out there. [Egyptian Sand Monkey]
* Tim Russert, it has been proven by science, looks like Oliver Stone. We’d just like to note that it’s not really appropriate for anyone — least of all the man himself — to call Tim “Little Russ” anymore. [FishbowlDC]
* American Press hassled by lame, non-flying or singing nun. [Raw Story]
* Yeah, we don’t think this is an example of Bush’s plan to revoke the 22nd Amendment so much as just another example of the sort of basic logic the administration has proved to be so effective at over the last few years. [HuffPo]
* What the hell happened to DomePunks? You guys ok? [Not Dome Punks]

In this White House pool report, we discover what still available in New Orleans’s finer restaurants:

While Bush was at dinner, the pool was taken several blocks away to the Red Fish Grill, where the menu featured “Katrina Rita” drinks (herradura, triple sec, lemon and lime juice with a splash of blue curacao), “Cat 5 Hurricane drinks” (a shot of 151) and “Curfew and coke.”

Is it shaken, stirred, or beaten?
Full report after the jump
 

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• Chief Justice John Roberts gives Bush control of Congress’s executive branch.
• Bill Bennett gambles on an ad absurdum argument.
• Laura Bush, international spokesmodel.
• David Dreier not hard enough to replace the Hammer.
• Drudge’s headline writing skills decoded, demystified.
• White House staffers introduced to concept of “subways.”
• Judy Miller fucked us.

In today’s Pool Report from the First Lady detachment, the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Silva fearlessly trails the First Lady through a riot of post-Katrina product placement: She taped a special Biloxi-based edition of “Extreme Makeover,” to be aired in December, in which a New Orleans resident whose home was the subject of a pre-Katrina makeover, does some relief work for homeless evacuees. It’s part of the show’s “Pay It Forward” series–a nice cross-branding touch, that; evidently the treacly Kevin Spacey Haly Joel Osment vehicle will not be permitted a decent burial in the media marketplace. The Sears American Dream Campaign puts in an appearance, distributing “half-million dollars of needed goods,” though it’s unclear from the report whether this is the same as the Sears “Caravan of Caring,” which also gets a mention. (We confess we’re curious about the rejected protoype names for this project: Sears’ Truckloads of Tenderness? Sears’ Buttloads of Benficence?) We’ll leave you with this vignette:

Inside a producer calls into a crowd of dozens of people picking through Rubbermaid-like but this is no actual product I D, bins to be ready but not too obvious for her entry.

Evidently Rubbermaid won’t get a confirmed mention till a check to Sears is in the mail. Whole thing after the jump. –HOLLY MARTINS

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In the White House pool report, we learn that “Bianca” is “Bianca Davie of Bloomberg News.” We also learn the Prez is quite a kidder!

The Oval Office statements with Jordan’s King Abdullah were standard — leaders in chairs in front of the fireplace, etc. The Jordanian press corps was well-behaved. White House aides yapped “thank you!” immediately at the end of the two leaders’ statements, but Bush got a twinkle in his eye as the press headed out the door and quipped: “Hey, the king wants to know if Bianca is here.”

Full report after the jump.

UPDATE: Sources inform us that Bianca was at the Pentagon for the President’s remarks, but she was sitting in the back, and she’s in radio so she had headphones on. After the conference, someone said: “Who’s Bianca?” She said sheepishly: “I am.” Someone asked, “Didn’t you hear him?” She said: “I didn’t have a question.” Of course most people don’t have questions, but ask them anyway. Not everyone can be Dickerson right out of the gate.

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In this White House pool report, we learn the limits of getting your information via the airways:

The president stopped to talk to the pool outside a one story school being repaired, just after 2 pm CDT. He made no news at the 28th Street Elementary School. Asked about Mike Brown resigning, he said he hadn’t spoken to Chertoff or Brown, but will be on AF One.
“Maybe you know something I don’t know,” he said of Brown.

Can we put that on the back of the “You’re doing a heck of job” t-shirts?

Full pool report after the jump.

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In this White House pool report, notes on Sandra Day O’Connor’s eulogy for Chief Justice Rehnquist:

“He never twisted arms to get a vote on a case. He relied on the power of his arguments,’’ she said. O’Connor, who grew up on a ranch, said he ran the court like an accomplished rider handles a horse.

“The really expert riders of horses let the horse know immediately who is in control, but then they guide the horse with loose reins and very seldom use the spurs. So it was with our chief. He guided us with loose reins and used the spurs only rarely to get us up to speed with our work,” she said.

We don’t mind a little whip now and again ourselves, but, hey, we knew there was a reason we liked the guy. Also, we hope to we have enough spark to sass doctors from our deathbed, too:

“And he never lost his sense of humor. As he was being examined in the emergency room of a local hospital in the final week of his life, the examining physician asked who was his primary care doctor. `My dentist,’ he struggled to say, with a twinkle in his eye.”

Full report after the jump.

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In this White House pool report, the POTUS tries to get rumors started:

On the Supreme Court: “The list is wide open which should create some good speculation here in Washington” and [Bush] told the pool to “make sure” to note that he was looking right at Gonzales when he said it.

Cute. What he didn’t tell the pool reporter was that he was also playing footsie with Condi at the time.

Continued after the jump.

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