Press sec’s new beard bristles Twitter
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jan. 6, 2014: White House press secretary Jay Carney speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington. (AP)
Must be a slow news day when Jay Carney’s new beard dominates political news on Twitter.
In his first press conference of 2014, the White House’s famous face sported (gasp) facial hair -- which, by the way, he says his wife, ABC’s Claire Shipman, “likes.”
The punditocracy – on both sides of the aisle -- couldn’t get enough of Whiskergate.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Even White House photographer Pete Souza chronicles the event for posterity.
So much for his comments about Iraq, it’s all about the fuzz.
See what I mean? It was endless. The Washington Examiner’s Rebecca Berg sent a tweet asking someone to photoshop Carney into the Duck Dynasty gang. Minutes later…
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Even a sarcastic plea from Commentary’s John Podhoretz couldn’t stem the tide.
It took all of a few minutes for a new Twitter handle to be born.
And for his friends at the White House to join in the heckling.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The only person with any real sense about this non story is Josh Barro, politics writer for Business Insider.
Apparently not.
.
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It was supposed to be a quick hop back to work from vacation to get to floor in time for a vote. Instead, Lindsey Graham had quite a scare on his way to DC – read it firsthand from his personal Twitter account:
Time’s Zeke Miller gets extra points for finding and tweeting the jet’s Live Flight Tracker map.
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Liz Cheney is hanging up her campaign spurs. She’s called off her race for Wyoming senator citing unspecified "serious health issues" in her family.
The onetime Fox News contributor has a daughter with Type 1 diabetes. No word on whether Liz’s very public spat with her gay sister, Mary, about Liz’s stance against gay marriage, played into her decision.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While her opponent, Mike Enzi, kept quiet on Twitter, he told reporters he wishes her well.
Even former Senator Alan Simpson, not exactly a fan of Cheney’s, had kind words:
Not everyone was so generous. “Wyoming’s Own” Super Pac co-founder, Bill Cubin, tells Talking Points Memo that Cheney faced an impossible task.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Oh, and in the same breath, Cubin says combine her withdrawal with the Denver Broncos winning the Super Bowl, and “You couldn’t get a better start to the year."
Man, politics is rough.
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