Lede of the Week: Publication: The Atlantic: Author: Caitlin Flanagan. “One warm spring night in 2011, a young man named Travis Hughes stood on the back deck of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house at Marshall University, in West Virginia, and was struck by what seemed to him—under the influence of powerful inebriants, not least among them the clear ether of youth itself—to be an excellent idea: he would shove a bottle rocket up his ass and blast it into the sweet night air. And perhaps it was an excellent idea. What was not an excellent idea, however, was to misjudge the relative tightness of a 20-year-old sphincter and the propulsive reliability of a 20-cent bottle rocket. What followed ignition was not the bright report of a successful blastoff, but the muffled thud of fire in the hole.” Read the full story here.
Overheard in the newsroom
“This is a crock of shit.” — Anonymous reporter.
BuzzFeed‘s McCoppins on feminism
“I tend to agree that Claire Underwood seems more like a right-wing caricature of a feminist than an actual feminist.” — BuzzFeed‘s McKay Coppins, who, according to Breitbart News’ fake news story, oogled a woman down at Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. Coppins is Morman and married with a 1-year-old daughter?
Hey Breitbart News! WTH?
“Hey, @BreitbartNews: It’s “TheBlaze.” No space.” — TheBlaze‘ clearly not to be f–ked with T. Becket Adams.
Travel Bitches
“Now I know why I love @Amtrak! CS just got back to me for some issue I don’t remember, but at least they got back to me! Pat on back!” — ThinkProgress immigration reporter Esther Lee.
Sarcasm is…
“‘I really enjoyed reading that politician’s book that could also double as a campaign manifesto,’ said non-existent human.” — NYT‘s Mark Leibovich.
Looking into his crystal ball…
“Something tells me Rob Ford’s about to go on a bender.” — Washington Examiner‘s David Drucker.
The Washington Observer
“DC gridlock is at defcon 1 with Obama at the St. Regis for DGA Funder” — TIME‘s Zeke Miller.
The Daily Caller Telenovela
Not to turn things into a Spanish soap opera, but The Mirror couldn’t help itself yesterday. A brief but memorable saga broke out amid talk of House of Cards star Robin Wright declaring in WaPo‘s “The Reliable Source” that Washington reporters sleep with their sources — just like in the hit Netflix series. Inside The Daily Caller, a reporter remarked, “Time for Daily Caller confessions.” To which the reporter was told, “You first.” To protect the innocent (and the guilty, for that matter), the following was shared: “Once, in early 2012, a married woman who I had 1 or 2 encounters with tipped me off to a story that garnered me my first positive mention in the Washington Post. Lovely, very sad lady. That’s, unfortunately, the only time. I was introduced to her through a younger female friend at the time who was her infdelity emissary, and we were together in that way like twice in the Holiday Inn in Georgetown. She gave me a tip about something her husband was involved in. Wonderful lady. Late forties. Brunette. Was difficult having to go back to young, un-sensual little D.C. girls after that experience, though I mostly just laid low and did nothing throughout 2012 because I figured I had already gotten something that I just want to skip back to when I’m older. The experience obliterated my interest in young women for a while. I basically just sensed this tremendous pent-up energy and longing in her and it translated into unbelievable passion.” There’s more, but we’ll stop there. And this concludes today’s episode of The Daily Caller Telenovela.