Watch the Dylan Ratigan Show today at 4 pm for a special preview for tonight’s book party for Arianna Huffington’s Third World America.
And don’t forget to come back to WHC Insider at 6:30 pm est to catch the party live as it happens.
Howard Kurtz Joins The Daily Beast
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Howard Kurtz sheds the print skin at the Washington Post and joins up with Tina Brown’s The Daily Beast.
According to TV Newser, the long-time media columnist for the Post will become the Washingotn bureau chief for the online magazine built by the house of Brown and Barry Diller’s IAC. Kurtz will keep his show on CNN.
Kurtz has been the media reporter for the Post since 1990. He also famously updates on Facebook.
Arianna Huffington's Book Party Tonight
W:WIE hosts Donna Karan, Sarah Brown, and Arianna Huffington
WHC Insider exclusive coverage of the Arianna Huffington book party to celebrate her new book Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning The Middle Class and Betraying The American Dream, co-presented by Greta Van Susteren and John Coale; Anita Dunn, Sally Susman, Alex Slater, Franco Nuschese, and Tammy Haddad. MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan will MC the program, which will include special guest Seth Reams, founder of WeveGotTimeToHelp.org.
Don’t wait for the C-SPAN book party coverage when you can watch it live with us tonight starting at 6:30 pm.
HuffPo Bus to Restore Sanity Details Announced
The mystery behind the free Huffington Post bus from New York to DC for the Rally to Restore Sanity is a question no longer.
Announced yesterday on HuffPo and through an email blast for those that signed up, the round trip bus is first-come, first-served and the deadline is sign-up by Friday, October 8th. The bus will depart from the Huffington Post’s headquarters in Soho “early Saturday” and return to New York “later Saturday night.”
George Clooney Courts Ryan Gosling for Farragut North
In the midst of a mid-term election, George Clooney may have Ryan Gosling go back to the ghost of 2004’s election. Gosling, whose garnered praise earlier this year at Sundance with Blue Valentine, is being courted to frontline Farragut North according to Deadline New York.
The Rally To Restore Fear in DC Celebrity
Republicans in Congress are more upset that a comedian cracked jokes at a hearing than the fact they invited a comedian to crack jokes at a hearing. Just making sure that’s clear before we get into the oddity that is celebrity endorsements.
The AP takes a crack at explaining the true nature of these press ops as those “famous-for-DC” meet with bold face names that grace the supermarket check-out lines.
Colbert’s celebrity is a commodity that California Democrat Zoe Lofgren, who chaired the subcommittee hearing, and the other witnesses that day sought to leverage. Lofgren joked at one point that the last time the hearing room was so crammed with audience members and cameras was for President Bill Clinton’s impeachment hearings a dozen years ago.
Of course, Colbert’s appearance was a joke. He appeared the night prior on The Colbert Report explaining why he was qualified to speak, based on his time as a migrant worker. But the explanation that Congress is now against Colbert is so simple it’s been used in Hollywood for years: ratings and relevance.
At the kicker of the AP article, Carol Swain, a law professor who testified before Colbert, remarked “I have testified before” and credited that because of the high profile star following her, “people heard my testimony.” This is directly what Colbert and Jon Stewart bring to the political world that is mired in otherwise mundane events that just so happen to dictate our government.
Celebrity is intoxicating, but when you have informed satire hiding behind celebrity it becomes a problem for most glad-handing politicos. Even with the upcoming Rally To Restore Sanity now getting a free bus service from New York to DC thanks to Arianna Huffington (complete with Twitter) and even President Obama plugging the rally, according to MSNBC First Read, due to the event’s focus on not foaming at the mouth due to punditry.
Even if Congress bristles at being made fun of, it still secretly swoons over the fact it can say the Dr. Stephen T. Colbert made fun of them for a five-minute viral clip they can show their staffers.
Haus of Gaga Fails To Beat Senate
In a tale as old as time, beauty can’t beat the beast with 100 backs–especially when it comes to legislation.
That’s exactly what the Internet learned upon today’s 56-43 vote to not pass $726 billion in defense spending, according to the AP, which also included language to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, or DADT as the official Twitter hashtag.
Lady Gaga gained a bit more steam last week after tweeting a Senate vote should be scheduled against “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” which picked up further press when Harry Reid re-tweeted her to explain there was an upcoming vote according to Politico; Gaga was referencing her recent appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards where her dates were all gay servicemen and women.
Since Gaga has adopted DADT as her rallying point–quite literally yesterday in Maine, as MTV reports. Her rallying speech (video above) called for an end to the practice. But today’s block doesn’t bode well for the repeal anytime soon, as the Times claims:
Congress has approved the annual Pentagon authorization bill for 48 consecutive years, and it seems likely that the measure will be brought up again after the election in the relatively calmer — if somewhat unpredictable — atmosphere of a lame-duck session. The House has already approved legislation allowing the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and the provision will likely be easier to pass in the Senate after Dec. 1 when a Pentagon study on the effects of ending the policy is due.
Still, the House has already passed legislation to repeal the act and December 1st is another day. Perhaps the Senate hasn’t heard the last from the Haus or Gaga.
Campaign 2010 Prep Storms D.C.
It may feel like a balmy day in the District, but vacation is about to drop out for a storm the likes of which the Beltway has rarely seen–at least every two or so years.
The big news comes from the New York Times with Politico’s unveiling of two weekly opinion columns from Joe Scarborough and Michael Kinsley; the buried lede, however, is Kinsley will depart The Atlantic to do this. As Jeremy Peters notes, “[Kinsley’s] departure will be a blow to the Atlantic Media Company, which has been establishing a stable of journalistic talent in an effort to broaden its reach in Washington.”
Piers Morgan Takes King's Throne
[picappgallerysingle id=”4991269″]Long live the king of CNN’s prime-time block: Piers Morgan.
The rumored hopeful was confirmed as headed to the cable news network according to The Wrap. Jeff Gaspin, president of NBC Universal TV, confirmed the former host of America’s Got Talent joining the network during a press tour earlier today.
The rest of the details aren’t publicly available yet; Gaspin gave a brief answer to Morgan having dual duty at NBC and CNN (“Yes,” Gaspin said.)
The Kerrey Stays Out Of The Picture
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Like the ending for any Inglourious Basterd, Bob Kerrey’s bid for Motion Picture Association of America Chairman is up in celluloid smoke. The former senator and president of New School rejected the MPAA’s offer as the organization’s head lobbyist.
The Wrap reached Kerrey for comment, We couldn’t reach agreement and I called to suggest we break off talks. They agreed…[t]he decision was mutual. I like them a lot and wish them well.”
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