Ted Stevens, Internet Expert, Goes National

Senator Ted “Series of Tubes” Stevens got the Daily Show treatment last night — the stock illustrations may be the highlight of the clip, as despite Jon Stewart’s best efforts, it is hard to improve on the nonsensical ramblings of a crazy, grizzled old prospector.

READ MORE: clips, ted stevens, the daily show, the internet

Gossip Roundup: Your Mother Doesn’t Work Here

• Page Six: Laura Bush seems to have enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada. [NYP]
• Ben Widdicombe: Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund,, being sued for allegedly beating an ex-girlfriend, began his civil case yesterday. [NYDN]
• Heard on the Hill: Ted “the Internet is not a truck” Stevens is enjoying a bit of notoriety on said internet. “Series of Tubes” t-shirts are available… Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) lists her occupation as “mother.” Her children are 21 and 24. [Roll Call]
• Reliable Source: Popular dive Sign of the Whale is closing… An unnamed high-profile DC lobbyist is a very bad boss. [WP]

READ MORE: bars, congress, gossip, john fund, lobbyists, ted stevens, the internet, wall street journal

Decoding the Note: The Internet Industry is Not a Truck

From yesterday’s Note:

“Thus: We finally figured out why superscribe Ron Fournier left the Associated Press. We can’t say as much as we know, but we can say this: Fournier… has teamed up with political strategists from both sides of the fence and leaders from the Internet industry to create the next big thing in communications and community.

Leaders from “the Internet industry”: Joe Lockhart, Mark McKinnon.
The Next Big Thing in Communications and Community: a bipartisan blog. About “soup kitchen volunteers and little league coaches. With “interactive message boards.” And “discussions of books and perhaps movies.” And unpaid contributors.

Should be as Earth-shattering as Swords Crossed (NOTE: LINK DOES NOT GO TO GAY PORN).

What’s Fournier’s Next Move? [FishbowlDC]
Online Venture Seeks to Elevate the Debate [WP]

READ MORE: bloggers, blogs, decoding the note, joe lockhart, journalism, mark mckinnon, ron fournier, the internet, the note

Thanks For the Memories, Tom

Oh, we do so love the internet. In addition to (barely) paying our bills, it provides us with upwards of 20 minutes of amusement a day. Today’s bit of fun comes in the form of a seemingly brand-new email harvesting scam that’ll send your best wishes directly to The Hammer. The only thing that makes it seem not quite on-the-level to us is the lack of a call for donations to Mr. DeLay’s legal defense fund (a must-have for this year’s hot political websites). Still, though — we signed it, and we suggest you do the same.
So… we’re just about bored enough to ask — the site is registered by proxy, meaning it’s the Fire David Gregory kid again, right?

Update: The Fire David Gregory kid wrote in to say that it’s not him, as he doesn’t even like Tom DeLay. We regret the error. Also, he was upset that we called him “kid.”
Thank You, Tom DeLay

READ MORE: crime, scandal, thanks, the internet, tom delay, websites

Today In Painfully Obvious Note-Fodder

Do you want to write a must-read? Sure, we all do! Guess what? It’s not as hard as you think! Here are some tips from your buddies at Wonkette:

• Write for either the Times or the Post.
• Be friends with or write about friends of The Note.

It’s that simple! Let’s take a look at two people who did it right this weekend:

Adam Nagourney’s Sunday piece on THE INTERNET (you know, “Wireless Telegraphy Injects Sweeping Change Into U.S. Politics”) was an insightfully boffo paradigm-shifting look at how THE INTERNET makes things DIFFERENT in NEW and EXCITING ways! Bam! Note link.

And in the snake-eating-its-own-tail-while-participating-in-the-biggest-circle-jerk-ever department, Campbell Brown maid-of-honor Anne Kornblut’s piece, “I Only Have Twenty Minutes to Write the Most Obvious Column Ever, Quick, Lemme Quote Everyone Else at the Palm,” was, according to some observers, crafted in a sterile, state-of-the-art laboratory staffed by scientists working day and night to perfect the Note must-read formula. It features:

• OED Citation
• Merriam-Webster expert quotation
• Safire with the political/historical context (and a “nattering nabobs” ref!)
• Halperin with the color
• Gang of 500! Gang of 500! Gang of 500!
• Further evidence that quoting Kos = the new quoting Carville

But sometimes, even platonically ideal obviousness isn’t enough — both of these pieces got their deserved links today, but the Note decided to go “quirky” and lead with a list of Bush’s first pitches. Like, baseball-wise. Ok, this Daylight Savings Time thing has thrown us off our A-Game too, guys, but seriously? And “NC2A”? THAT ACRONYM IS NOT ANY SHORTER THAN THE UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED ONE, GUYS. YOU’RE JUST DOING IT TO BUG US NOW, AREN’T YOU.

Politics Faces Sweeping Change via the Web [NYT]
The Peculiar Power of the Chattering Class [NYT]
The Note

READ MORE: Media, Personalities, adam nagourney, anne kornblut, gang of 500, james carville, kos, new york times, newspapers, pundits, the internet, the note, william safire