Letter From the Editors: Politics Makes Strange Blogfellows
Quick! Guess which one used to be lawyer! (Photo ? Nikola Tamindzic/AMBREL.net )
You know what we're sick of? Bylines. That's why as of today there won't be any more little gray words at the ends of posts on Wonkette. We're marking the occasion with a fancy redesign and with the hiring of some new guys (that's right, guys) to run things around here.
I'm Alex Pareene. That's me on the right (though please note -- I'm on David's left). It is in my contract that all mentions of me in the press be preceded by the words "20-year-old NYU dropout." I used to be the Gawker Temp, and I cut my teeth writing a blog no one ever read called Buck Hill . I'm originally from Minnesota, home of some of the 20th century's greatest failed presidential candidates and rock bands, I have the Gawker Media-mandated unhealthy obsession with media, and I think I may be the only person in DC who doesn't own a suit or business cards (though the bosses promise me they'll hook me up with the latter).
David Lat , the Cathy to my Patty, is on the left, holding the pink umbrella (not the cigarette). He's a former federal prosecutor who penned Underneath Their Robes , the cheeky, irreverent, occasionally salacious gossip blog devoted, improbably enough, to federal judges. Hisnom de blogwas "Article III Groupie," a sexy, fashion-obsessed female associate at a big law firm.
Back in November, after David revealed himself as UTR's author in an interview with theNew Yorker, things got a little weird for him at his day job. David's supervisors at the U.S. Attorney's Office were less than pleased to learn of his alter ego as the drag queen of the legal blogosphere ("for the record," sez David, "I was not fired or asked to resign"). At this point, David realized that he was meant for something more scandalous and tawdry (if a bit less well-compensated) than the practice of law. And since he already had experience blogging as a catty woman with an intense interest in topics that most people find soporific, what better place for him to wind up than at Wonkette?
We're both fresh in from New York, so it could be some time before we remember which one is the Capitol and which one is the capital, stop asking people what happened to all the letters and numbers on the subway map, and learn to suppress our slack-jawed amazement when we actually see someone reading theWashington Times(in public!), but we're quick studies. By the way, DC, we need to sit down some time and have a serious talk about how the hell taxis are supposed to work. Also, we just checked, anddudes, wetotallydon't have any congressmen! What the hell?
Though things will be a bit different around here, don't fret too much. WonketteEmeritusEmerita (who knew?) Ana Marie Cox will be popping in regularly to deliver your fix, and Henry the Intern is still secretly running the entire show from his remote, impenetrable fortress.
All we ask is that you keep sending in tips, links, sightings, libelous rumors, self-published op-eds, and general vitriol. We look forward to getting you or someone you know indicted.