TheDC Morning: The sweet and sour of covering the grasshopper

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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1.) The sweet and sour of covering the grasshopper — Congratulations are in order for the Asian American Journalists Association, which issued the funniest press release in history (unintentionally, of course) laying out guidance for what news outlets should avoid when covering Asian basketball sensation Jeremy Lin (he’s actually Taiwanese-American). TheDC’s Caroline May reports:

“The ‘Danger Zones’ journalists should avoid is a list of puns, analogies, and jokes about Asian Americans and includes many that have not yet been used in basketball coverage. Still, journalists should take note that the AAJA would prefer if reporters never use the pun ‘ME LOVE YOU LIN TIME.'”

Also verboten according to the AAJA is referring to Lin as “grasshopper” or drawing a “connection between Lin and fortune cookies.”

If ESPN’s “SportsCenter” follows this, their anchors will have to be silent during Lin highlights.

2.) Moving on from Hope and Change — President Obama has a fantastic new slogan that would be phenomenally successful if he were running to lead any number of European social democracies. TheDC’s Neil Munro reports:

“President Barack Obama has an emerging slogan — ‘greater together’ — that he’s using to spur support among younger voters worried about jobs, education and debt. The collectivist slogan is appearing in more places, including fundraisers and in the title of the ‘Greater Together Student Summit Tour,’ which is sending Obama’s deputies to colleges to galvanize students and youth.”

The Daily Caller has learned that young Americans have developed their own slogan: “Together, separate, I just need a f’ing job.”

3.) President Obama’s dream team not so dreamy — Maybe Deval Patrick isn’t the wisest choice to serve in a major capacity in President Obama’s re-election campaign. TheDC’s Will Rahn and Steven Nelson report:

“Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the Democrat who was named a national co-chair of President Obama’s re-election campaign on Wednesday, served on the board of a company that is widely blamed for helping start the subprime mortgage crisis in 2007. Beginning in 2004, Patrick served two years on the five-member board of ACC Capital Holdings, the parent company of Ameriquest Mortgage. He was paid a $360,000 annual salary for his efforts, according to ‘All The Devils Are Here,’ a history of the financial crisis by Bethany McClean and Joe Nocera.”

4.) Man you didn’t know was running for president drops out of GOP race  — Say goodbye to Buddy. TheDC’s Alexis Levinson reports:

“Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer ended his quixotic bid for the Republican presidential nomination Thursday, announcing that he would run as an independent and attempt to secure the nominations of Americans Elect and the Reform Party.”

Well, maybe not goodbye. Old politicians never die. They just find another election to run in.

5.) Bringing out the big guns — Ron Paul received a major endorsement from Jonathan Johnson. What? You know, the head of Overstock.com. What? It’s an Internet site. What? Oh, forget it. TheDC’s Steven Nelson reports:

“Johnson, a Mormon who lives in Salt Lake City, gave TheDC a long list of reasons why he supports the libertarian-minded congressman. ‘I like that he wants the federal government smaller, pushing more decisions back to the states and communities where they properly reside,’ he said. ‘I like that there are federal agencies that he would disband altogether. And most of all, I like that he fights for liberty and the individual, rather than trying to grow the power of the federal government.’”

On a related note, we may now have some insight into where Ron Paul buys his suits (hint: Overstock.com)

6.) Poll of the day — AP/GFK poll asking, “In order to balance the federal budget, which should be the main focus of lawmakers?”:  “Cutting Government Services” 56%, “Increasing Taxes” 31%, “Both Equally” 5%, “Neither” 5%, “Don’t Know” 2%, “Refused” 1%.

VIDEO: Activists pray for Obama to be more like Rick Perry (or something like that)

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