“Bold quote of the day: “In fairness to [Rep. Michael Grimm], we should all wait to hear the full context of ‘I will break you in half.'” — The New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza.
“I’m going to leave it as is.” — Michael Scotto, the NY1 political reporter on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today on whether he plans to take legal action against Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) for threatening to throw him off a balcony and “break him in half like a little boy.”
SPOTTED: FNC’s Shep Smith at Union Station
“Just saw @ShepNewsTeam chillin outside the train station in DC but I was too nervous to say hi. What if he’s not a morning person?!” — BuzzFeed‘s Dorsey Shaw.
A John ‘Boner’ C-SPAN moment…“Angry C-SPAN caller goes there: ‘John Boehner — I call him John Boner'” — The Guardian‘s Jim Newell.
The Grimm Fallout
“I will break you in half” is the new ‘no comment’ I guess?” — Washington Post‘s Jackie Kucinich.
“Dream: to one day ask the sort of questions thay get me threatened by the head of the Unhinged Meathead Caucus.” — Erin Ryan, Jezebel.
“Speak for yourself, but I went into journalism to be broken in half.” — NationalReviewOnline‘s Charles Cooke.
BuzzFeed reporter takes a break from SOTU commentary: “I have never had: chittlins, a yeast infection, any illegal drug other than a half puff of weed, a passport, a car.” — BuzzFeed’s most brazen reporter, Brokey McPoverty, whose real name is Tracy Clayton.
An SOTU wish: “Really wish we could watch the entire #sotu translated by Luther, the Key & Peele Obama translator.” — “Kristina,” a self-proclaimed journalist in Washington.
The tattletale
“Center-right reporter-friends putting photos of themselves with Duck Dynasty guy on Facebook dot tumblr dot com.” — Townhall‘s Managing Editor Kevin Glass.
Ode to editors
“Don’t go to bed. My column on the #SOTU is being translated into English by my editors and will soon be up.” — Politico‘s Roger Simon.
Obama prefers ESPAN to C-SPAN pre-SOTU
“Told that in the Capitol hold room Obama wanted ESPN but said staff prefer he watch the filing in on C-SPAN ahead of #SOTU” — NBC congressional reporter Luke Russert.
An unusual clothing admission
“The State of My Pants is: off.” — Politico‘s Ben White.
And another…
“I’m going to be on CNN with @jaketapper at midnight. Suit on top, sweatpants on the bottom.” — Jon Lovett, former presidential speechwriter.
Ass kisser alert: Gossip reporter says McMorris-Rodgers’ son is ‘adorbs’ “Fact: Rep. @cathymcmorris’s son Cole is totally adorbs. Met him at a down syndrome research fundraiser.” — The Hill’s Judy Kurtz.
Other media reactions to her…
“Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers must be sad, she won’t be remembered for doing something bizarre in a SOTU response.” — CNN Political Director Mark Preston.
“Living room. Lady on a settee. Where’s the needlepoint?” — MSNBC’s Alex Wagner as Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers spoke.
“Seriously, it’s impossible to deliver a good minority party SOTU response. McMorris Rodgers is doing fine in a thankless job.” — Reason‘s Peter Suderman.
“…and here comes the long list of shit that will never happen.” — HBO’s Maher during the speech.
SOTU critics at a glance: it’s boring, ridiculous, touching etc.
“I don’t actually watch the #SOTU because it’s boring and ridiculous nonsense talk.” — Free Beacon‘s Adam Kredo.
“Enough of the standing ovations. Please. Getting ridiculous already.” — CNN’s Piers Morgan.
“I believe Ruth Bader Ginsburg is sleeping now.#SOTU” — HuffPost‘s Jennifer Bendery.
“There were a lot of good things about the Mad men era, like the three martini lunch.” — The Hill columnist and Quinn & Gillespie’s John Feehery.
“The heat in our house stopped working during the SOTU. I blame Obama.” — HuffPost‘s Jason Cherkis.
“I hope the RNC took a picture of all those Congressmen standing up and clapping for Obamacare.” — Fox News media contributor Richard Grenell.
“It is impossible not to be moved by this man’s courage. What a moment.” — former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau.
“It’s very hard not to be moved by this Sgt. Cory Remsburg moment.” — WSJ‘s David Wessel.
Fournier: ‘To be far, the Republican Party is largely to blame.’
“As he’s always done, Obama spoke eloquently on the topic. “For several years now,” he said, “this town has been consumed by a rancorous argument over the proper size of the federal government.” But he has been unable to quiet, let alone quell, the rancor. To be fair, the Republican Party is largely to blame. Its leadership is weak and the House caucus is increasingly, stridently conservative. A measure of the GOP’s divisions played out after Obama’s speech, when four separate Republican “responses” were featured.” — National Journal‘s Ron Fournier in a post SOTU story. But just in case anyone accuses Fourier of being an ass-kissing lefty who sucks up to the White House and the Democrats, he also said Obama’s presidency has fallen “far short of his promise.” He questioned whether the President has “the skill and will” to do anything to repair the economy. No doubt he and Greg Sargent of WaPo‘s Plumline blog will be arguing about all this on Twitter this morning.
Reporter is sick (or so he says)
“When Chris Cillizza came to work this morning, he was really out of it. But he took some Alka Seltzer. And now he’s tweeting.” — WaPo‘s Chris Cillizza presumably in third person.
Oh, man“Did he just say ‘menstruation?’ #SOTU” — Sydney Elaine Leathers, former phone sex partner to ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Beefwhistle).
“When I watch Chuck Schumer nod it makes me feel unsafe.” — Jonah Goldberg.
“Chuck Schumer is the creepiest looking guy.” — RedState‘s Ben Howe.
“Obama is showing some deft and graceful rhetoric tonight. Using humor, self-effacement and patriotism to put the GOP on their heels? #SOTU” — ClearChannel‘s Colby Hall.
Question to ponder: “The hidden drama of #SOTU: will Joe Biden be able to catch the 10.30 Acela?” — Reason‘s Nick Gillespie.
Um, hello
“Kids, call your moms.” Is one particular college junior listening???” — CNN Contributor Paul Begala.
Erick Erickson really hates Wendy Davis
“While everyone else is watching the President, @WendyDavisTexas is in full hysterics on twitter over people being not nice to her.” — FNC Contributor and RedState Editor Erick Erickson.
Reporter preps to be spun post SOTU
“WHO WANTS SOME SPIN, BABY” — Politico‘s Alex Byers.
D.C. intern wants to be Megyn Kelly someday
“I want to be Megyn Kelly when I grow up.” — Katie Johnson, D.C. intern.
Politico reporter tells boyfriend how he can watch SOTU online
“For my boyfriend and all you other lucky fools not in an office (or in Europe) looking for where to watch SOTU:politico.com/live” — Politico‘s Hadas Gold.
Play the game right or don’t play, goddammit
“Pet peeve. If you’re going to participate in the #SOTUinthreewords, make it three words actually. How hard is this?” — Former NJ The Hotline writer Chris Peleo-Lazar.
Duck Dynasty star watches his step with reporters
“Willie Robertson from Duck Dynasty careful not to make any news after attending State of the Union. ‘It’s just neat to be here.'” — Yahoo! News‘ Chris Moody.