Pretty much every reporter in Washington spent the day scouring through Sarah Palin's email records, causing the Pentagon Papers to roll over in their, uh, wherever it is documents go to rest. We haven't confirmed this, but we're pretty sure Newt Gingrich's strategy for winning New Hampshire involves courting that state's transgendered Swedish immigrant population. And Eric Cantor informed Hill staffers that they'll be doing something other than studying for the LSATs and drunkenly giving out their business cards at Pour House this summer. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, June 10th, 2011, and we'll get back to reading those Palin's emails just as soon as the ghost of Studs Terkel stops staring at us all disappointed-like:
SARAH PALIN EMAILS RELEASED, REPORTERS STRUGGLE TO LOOK AT THEMSELVES IN THE MIRROR - If a tree falls in the forest and no journos are around to hear it because they're all scouring through Palin's emails, does it make a sound? Seriously, you know how in Little Italy, the streets are lined with restaurants serving the exact same dishes made with the exact same ingredients, but nevertheless each one has some dude outside trying to lure you into his joint? Twitter was kind of like that Little Italy street today, with reporters SWEARING that their outlet was serving up authentic Sarah Palin email correspondence. Thus far, there's no sign that Governor Palin leaked Journolist or that the contents of Al Capone's vault were hiding in her inbox the whole time. However ::deep breath:: here are some choice findings...
Palin on climate change: "On Sept. 15, 2008, Palin reached out to the heads of the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to prep for questions she expected during the campaign. 'I anticipate folks will be inquiring about our polar bear issue,' Palin wrote. She added, 'Climate change is a top issue of course. Just a head's up.' In response, DEC chief Hartig wrote, 'We are prepared to respond to questions from the media on the work your administration is doing relating to Climate Change.'" [HuffPost Liveblog]
Camp Palin isn't crazy about Rep. Don Young: "On Sept. 16, 2008, Palin's chief of staff Mike Nizich wrote to Palin that Young wanted to 'have a word with you' but wouldn't specify the issue. Palin replied to Nizich, 'Pls find out what it's about. I don't want to get chewed out by him yet again. I'm not up for that.'" [HuffPost Liveblog]
Todd Palin, the First Maverick, went fishing for Mavs tickets, courtesy of the RGA: "Christi, any chance we can hook up with Dallas Mavericks' bball tickets for their game here tomorrow night? Just checking... Thanks! Todd Palin, Alaska" [HuffPost Liveblog]
Something about dinosaurs: "On Sept. 15, 2008, Palin communications director Bill McAllister sent the governor a list of queries he'd been fielding from reporters covering the campaign. Though the top priority was Palin's use of personal emails for public business, one of the questions he'd received apparently dealt with Palin's beliefs regarding evolution and creationism: 'Is it your belief that dinosaurs and humans co-existed at one time?' McAllister told the governor, 'I said I have never spoken to you about this,' but then he added, parenthetically, 'There is an interesting reference to 'Behemoth' in the Old Testament.' In response, Palin wrote, 'Arghhhh! I am so sorry that the office is swamped like this! Dinosaurs even?!'" [HuffPost Liveblog]
@brainpicker: GENIUS! The @Guardian has a "Palin-free version" on the homepage (top right) – on-demand journalism win http://j.mp/l6Elfs (HT @blprnt)
Alright gang: Same bat time, same bat place next week for the Lloyd Bentsen and Jack Kemp email dumps?
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - Have a big fat California-sized sad: "Of the more than 2.1 million jobless Californians, one out of three has been unemployed for a year or more, according to the latest figures from the state Employment Development Department," reports California Watch. "And as joblessness drags on, unemployment checks run out. About 1.1 million people in the state currently receive jobless benefits, which averaged $291 a week in April. But as of this week, more than 439,000 Californians had exhausted all their benefits -- up to 99 weeks." [California Watch]
Harry Reid's Communications Director Jon Summers is leaving the majority leader's office, we're told. Adam Jentleson is taking over. Godspeed, Jon.
Don't be bashful: Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill
NEWT TRIES TO BRUSH OFF MASS RESIGNATION - Hey, remember that time when Newt Gingrich's senior staff quit all at once? Of course you do! It was yesterday! It was totally embarrassing! Now Newt is all by himself in his campaign office, throwing pencils against the ceiling, trying to beat his own time at office chair racing and flicking away spores from the proverbial tumbleweeds that have brushed up against his pant legs. "We had a strategic disagreement about how to run a campaign," he said outside his Northern Virginia home today, evidently forgetting to mention that his staffers also had a "strategic disagreements" about being in the same room with him. "There have been very few campaigns that have been solutions oriented and that are oriented to every single American." He continued: "There is a fundamental strategic difference between the traditional consulting community and the kind of campaign I want to run. Now we'll find out over the next year who's right." Is "the traditional consulting community" the right's version of the "professional left"? [ABC News]
"Gingrich became convinced that one of the keys to his winning in Iowa was in targeting the Chinese community living in the state. Apparently, he had been told by a Chinese man at a campaign event that as many as 10,000 Chinese Americans lives in the state, one source explained." [WaPo]
The Senate Armed Services Committee might take up the confirmation of Leon Panetta's DoD confirmation as early as next Tuesday, Chairman Carl Levin told reporters today. Levin added that he doesn't anticipate there being any major roadblocks to the current CIA director's ascent to the top spot in the Pentagon. That being said, Panetta would be the first registered Democrat to hold the spot in, oh, let's say 800 years, so don't be surprised if his hearings are held up by interruptions from flying pigs. (And even Panetta was a Republican way, way back. [The Hill]
CANTOR RELEASES SUMMER FLOOR SCHEDULE - Summer in D.C.: It's not just a time for Hill staffers to cut out early at 4:30 so they can get a choice spot for them and @DCSkintern at Tortilla Coast, there's also some legislating that gets done. In a memo sent to the House GOP conference today, Majority Leader Eric Cantor outlined a tentative schedule. According to Fast Break, there will be, "votes on three stalled trade agreements, action on an intelligence bill, and movement throughout the summer on the debt ceiling...House Republicans are taking aim at what they consider burdensome regulation with a series of bills in July and August - one is called the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis Impacts on the Nation. The GOP is also set to take up a series of bills to attempt to increase domestic production of oil - a bill which attempts to remove 'the tangle of red tape for permits in Alaska' is expected in June and another to move forward with construction on the Keystone pipeline is set for July." [Politico]
TEAM CLINTON PUSHES BACK ON WORLD BANK RUMORS - So after a flurry of tweets, articles and -- gulp -- Huffington Post splashes and HuffPost Hill mentions, it turns out that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she IS NOT seeking the World Bank presidency. Whoopsie! "I have had no discussions with anyone, I have evidenced no interest to anyone and I am not pursuing that position," Clinton told reporters today. Reurters -- who broke the story -- reports that its sources stand by their original claim that Clinton was interested in the position. We hear Dick Gephardt wants he job. [Reuters]
SURPRISE: REPLACING WEINER WOULD BE MARRED BY SKETCHY POLITICS - We wouldn't be speculating about a sex scandal-mired New York politician potentially resigning unless there was discussion of some other New York politician announcing his successor in an ethically dubious manner. Steve Peoples: "New York's quirky election laws give local county chairmen unique power to select each party's nominees in the event of a special election. And [Rep. Joseph] Crowley, as the Queens County Democratic chairman, will have the ultimate say over which Democrat would run in the Empire State's 9th district should Rep. Anthony Weiner (D) resign...The operatives said Crowley is likely to appoint someone who is merely a placeholder, with the understanding that the nominee would not seek re-election in 2012. And his motivation has everything to do with redistricting. Crowley wants to expand his strong minority 7th district, which currently borders Weiner's 9th, to include a segment of white Catholic voters who currently reside in Weiner's district." [Roll Call]
AT&T AND T-MOBILE PAYING A HELLATON OF LEFTY ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT THEIR MERGER - As the FCC weighs the proposed merger of AT&T and T Mobile, a suspicious number of progressive organizations have voiced their support for the deal, despite their scant involvement in the communications field. We've already mentioned the Sierra Club's odd support for the merger and now Politico has run a piece, from Eliza Krigman, documenting other organizations, such as the NAACP, GLAAD and the National Education Association, that have voiced their support. Go figure: all have received substantial contributions from AT&T. "For decades, AT&T has proudly supported numerous diverse groups and organizations," a spokesperson for AT&T told Politico. Why stop there? Why not straight up sponsor some of these suckers? "The Human Rights Campaign 'Say No To Bullying NOW' Initiative, Brought To You By X-Men: First Class, In Theaters Everywhere June 1st," has a nice ring to it. Or why not this press release from the NAACP: "Doritos Tacos At Midnight: Tastes Like Good Times With Friends ... And Civil Justice" [Politico]
While we're on the topic of activist organizations wading into unfamiliar waters, GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios now admits that he wrote a letter to the FCC opposing net neutrality, after he denied drafting it. "Barrios now admits that the letter to the FCC opposing net neutrality on behalf of GLAAD was sent by his office and he did approve it. He is blaming his administrative assistant for sending the trojan horse letter -- in which GLAAD sponsor AT&T sent a form letter to GLAAD for the group to sign onto, and which opposes net neutrality even though the wording is very vague and to those outside the industry it might seem like it is anti-net neutrality when it is not -- but he admits that he did sign off on it, even though he didn't really know what it was or read it." [The Gist]
LONE STAR STATE SENATOR: OBAMA IGNORES TEXAS - Pace Kinky Friedman, "The Presidency: How Hard Could It Be?" During a hit on MSNBC this morning. Kay Bailey Hutchison Texas attacked President Obama for what she claimed is his disregard for the Texas Republic. "I see a bias in this administration against Texas...yes, I do see it in this administration, absolutely. We didn't get the help in the wildfires that I think any other state would have gotten," she said. "I think if you look at the things that have not happened in Texas, I think it is pretty clear that there is a bias against Texas. Even in the border issues we are not getting the help we should have from the federal government to secure the 1,200-mile border we have with Mexico. So I do think that a lot of the rhetoric has rubbed the administration wrong, and we have had to fight hard for our fair share." Considering Michelle Obama's unrelenting attacks on obesity and President Obama's inability to articulate an administration position on whether it's OK to zone a 30-story office building in the middle of a residential neighborhood, we can see how Texans might take umbrage. [HuffPost's Sam Stein]
It also might not be the craziest idea to link this to Hutchison's previous gubernatorial campaign and Rick Perry's possible White House bid. But Texas needs to make up its damn mind: Does it like the federal government or not?
A movie about the Wikileaks affair is in the works over at HBO. The made-for-it's-not-TV-it's-HBO film will be based on Raffi Khatchadourian's 2010 article for The New Yorker about the massive leak of classified intelligence documents. We look forward to Dakota Fanning's stirring turn as Julian Assange. [Vanity Fair]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - INCREDIBLY adorable video of a rehabilitated young penguin being released into the wild.
JEREMY'S WEATHER REPORT - Tonight: 50/50 chance of some thundershowers this evening. You can see a bit building up. Tomorrow Late afternoon thunderstorms heading into the evening. During the day, it could reach 90, max. Sunday: Same as Saturday. Though tonight is the best night for that amazing email digging expedition you've got going on there. Thanks, JB!
COMFORT FOOD
- "Onion-Like" is a clearinghouse of headlines that seem fake but aren't. [http://bit.ly/iWheXN]
- Back before he did "The Simpsons" Matt Groening drafted some comics on behalf of Apple. [http://bit.ly/j6z5jf]
- So it begins: "Weiner Without You" [http://bit.ly/j7d0n4]
- For a measly $40,000 this hover bike can be yours. [http://bit.ly/jHorip]
- Precious photographs of children playing in the street in 1950s New York City. [http://bit.ly/aHTvjF]
- Old people are adorable, not tech savvy. [http://bit.ly/kO327Y]
- A how-to video on being a twee botanist [http://bit.ly/m1zVoL]
[PUBLICATION]
TWITTERAMA
@daveweigel: Found the Palin email that says where Tupac is living now, but forgot which page it was on. Sorry
@StephenAtHome: Leonard Stern, one of the creators of Mad Libs, has died. He will be verb (past tense).
@libcasey: Do any other ALASKAN journalists or ALASKANS find the Lower 48 media interest in the #PalinEmails entirely surreal?
ON TAP
Tonight, 7:00 pm: Renown D.C.-based chef Jose Andreas, who's nine types of crazy (in a good way), delivers a talk about Spanish cooking. He will also discuss the new exhibition, "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam" which he is advising [National Archives, 700 Pennsylvania Ave NW].
Today - Sunday: Much like Anthony Weiner, Joseph Crowley spends the weekend in New York wooing his constituents and donors. Joe's coming at it from a slightly different bargaining position, however [The London Hotel, 151 West 54th Street , New York].
Tomorrow, 9:00 pm: A couple of throwback dance parties that sound like a real ball. The first is a Depeche Mode dance party at Black Cat. Expect just as many people on the dance floor as there are outside smoking cigarettes, which will be a lot [Black Cat, 1811 14th Street NW].
Tomorrow, 10:00 pm: The second dance party, marking Pride Week, is Peach Pit - 90's Dance Party at DC 9. The rooftop should be open, which is always a rockin' good time. [DC 9, 1940 9th Street NW].
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