Quote of the Day:
“PARIS (AP) — Paris police chief: Structure of Notre Dame cathedral has been saved; fire stopped from spreading to northern belfry.”
— Jonathan Lemire, White House reporter for AP.
Mood: “Will we rebuild? Yes. Notre Dame? Our country? Our world? Yes. It won’t be easy. It won’t mitigate the damage or the pain. But we have no other choice. To think otherwise is to succumb to the darkness.” — Dan Rather, longtime TV journalist.
Mood II: “God bless the people of France!” — President Trump.
Question for the masses: “Why are the bathrooms in Starbucks worse than a barn?” — Pardes Seleh, writer, Mediaite, former scriptwriter, FNC. (In other Seleh news… “My neighbor’s girlfriend is back… gonna be a long night.”)
REUTERS/Carlos Barria.
Ex-Prez Bill Clinton accuser Juanita Broaddrick, 76, on Sen. Bernie Sanders, 77: “Bernie is a worthless old fart!” (RELATED: Bernie Sanders Has Combative Moments During Fox News Town Hall)
FNC’s Brit Hume on Sanders: “Say this for Bernie Sanders. Most politicians, whatever else they do, try to be charming, or at least pleasant. Sanders makes no effort. I guess that’s his form of authenticity.”
The TV Observer
“Shep Smith is such an arrogant pompous douche. Fox News is so horrid other than Tucker and Hannity.” — Cassandra Fairbanks, reporter, The Gateway Pundit. On Monday, in the wake of the Notre Dame fire, FNC’s Smith refused to indulge a French public official who claimed, without evidence, that the fire was the result of arson.
CNN PR exec calls out Twitter for fake CNN account spreading disinformation
“Get this: @Twitter says they won’t take action against this account bc it’s bio says ‘parody’ so the account has 48 hours to comply with the parody policy. Can someone please explain to Twitter how their platform works?!” — Matt Dornic, CNN.
The account has since been suspended.
Bill Kristol is still #NeverTrump
“It will be a happy moment when President Flying Water Tankers is a private citizen once again, a mere occasional annoyance rather than a national embarrassment.” — Bill Kristol, editor-at-large, The Bulwark.
NewsBusters editor questions Kristol’s mental stability
Curtis Houk: “Thinking about mocking Trump during the gutting of a place symbolic to the glory and love of Christ is a really sad place to be in and Bill is there. And that’s not a stable place to be mentally.”
TV host compares Notre Dame burning to Easter
“I think this Holy Week about how the very earliest believers were left devastated by loss, but there was incredible hope to follow. That is the central message of #Easter. I pray that same spirit will comfort those grieving the shattering loss at #NotreDame.” — Shannon Bream, host, Fox News.
In case you forgot, MSNBC’s Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize winner
“MSNBC has to introduce Eugene Robinson every single time as a Pulitzer Prize winner because the audience then feels like it must be *them* who are crazy for not understanding the garble that comes out of his mouth. After all, he’s a PPrize winner!” — Eddie Scarry, commentary writer, Washington Examiner.
Ex-CNNer Piers Morgan disembowels CNN’s Anderson Cooper
“Notre-Dame still burning to the ground yet Trump-loathing Anderson Cooper’s spent the past 15 minutes whacking the President over debunked Russia collusion, Ilhan Omar & taxes. Come on @CNN – you’re supposed to be No1 for news.
Go back to Paris.” — Piers Morgan, Daily Mail, Good Morning Britain. To be fair, CNN relentlessly covered the Notre Dame fire all day and all night Monday.
Speaker Pelosi disses AOC
“Pelosi says that in safe districts like that of @AOC, a glass of water with a letter ‘D’ next to it would win election.” — Erik Wasson, Bloomberg News.
The Observer: Commentator thinks men’s cuddling groups are ‘gross’
“This is insanity. Guys need to be competing and arm wrestling not cuddling in groups like a pack of chicks. We are weakening our society. Please oppose this nonsense. …Men having cuddle sessions with each other to get in touch with their feminine side is gross.” — Denise McAllister, former contributor to The Federalist, in response to Lehigh University promoting a men’s cuddling group. She now self-describes as a “cultural commentator.”
She was practicing her French, downing espresso and taking things for granted
“I went to France alone to finish my book in 2017. I remember feeling very sophisticated, living in a rented apartment, ordering espresso and practicing my French, and walking past Notre Dame every morning. I felt so sophisticated, in fact, that I didn’t even go inside Notre Dame, where I would have joined rank with the army of tourists with their bad khaki shorts and selfie sticks. I wish I had. I wish I didn’t assume it would be there forever, waiting for me to grow up and realize how wonderful it is to just appreciate beautiful things.”
— Dana Schwartz, correspondent at Entertainment Weekly, author.
Dumbest thought of the Day
“I was just thinking how Americans are so weird about old [E]uropean buildings. I dunno if they realize like every other church in England is this old.” — Libby Watson, Splinter.
Ben Shapiro gets a little dragged for his Notre Dame commentary
“If we wish to uphold the beauty and profundity of the Notre Dame cathedral, that means re-familiarizing ourselves with the philosophy and religious principles that built it.” — Ben Shapiro, EIC, The Daily Wire.
“Maybe we should wait until the fire is out before this?” Jon Levine, media editor, TheWrap.
Shapiro: “Why? It seems a perfectly decent time to think about the elements that make Notre Dame more than a piece of art.”
Molly Jong-Fast: “Never too early to politicize.”
Angelo Corusone, Media Matters: “This fucking guy.”
Journo doesn’t miss a chance to ding Trump
“The good news / bad news about Trump is his key aides seem well aware that his ideas are terrible.” — Matthew Yglesias, managing editor, Vox News.
Gossip Roundup
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) trying to sing Bohemian Rhapsody is painful.
He’s a presidential hopeful for 2020.
Cory Booker sings “Bohemian Rhapsody” with Queen fan Brylie Ruden, 15, of Hinton after a campaign event in Sioux City. #IACaucus pic.twitter.com/ovTdkO5Boy
— Tony Leys (@tonyleys) April 16, 2019
‘Denise, you were at my wedding’: “I am literally blocking people by the hundreds.” — Denise McAllister, ex-contributor, The Federalist, at 11:11 p.m. Monday. Some 15 minutes later, she wrote this: “I’m going to start posting pics of the beers I fetch for my amazing husband who nurtures our family by working hard all day every day. Enjoy!” (RELATED: April Fool’s Day Joke Has Meghan McCain Reaching Out To Denise For Vegas Spa Weekend)
NYT‘s Maggie Haberman Vs. President Trump: Who to believe?
“A great distillation of the Trump bargain: nobody working in politics or journalism believes @PressSec actually trusts Trump over @maggieNYT here (or generally). But this is what’s required.” — NYT‘s Jonathan Martin on ABC’s George Stephanopoulos questioning White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on “This Week.”
The Conways’ marriage takes another optics hit: “There are elementary school students who are more coherent than Trump.” — George Conway on President Trump, Kellyanne Conway‘s boss. (RELATED: NYT’s Story About The Conway’s Starts At The Zoo)
Villain at the mall: update — “Man charged with throwing a [five]-year-old boy off a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America told police he was angry at being rejected by women at the Minnesota mall and was ‘looking for someone to kill.'” — WTOP.
New York Mag and HuffPost‘s Yashar Ali finds comfort in snoring: “People think I’m insane when I admit that I find light (perhaps very light) snoring to be kind of adorable and comforting.”
CNN and ABC “The View’s” Ana Navarro-Cárdenas takes yet another crack at Trump: “Having a President whose intellect exceeds that of a root vegetable…for a change.”
‘Vanity can be fatal.’ — “How sad, she could have been playing with her babies or writing a novel. Instead she got her skull smashed in trying to get a better selfie at [3] in the morning. Sydney Monfries who fell from Fordham University’s clock tower.” — Stefan Molyneux, host, Freedom Radio, self-described philosopher.
In case you’re really into Cher… SiriusXM is launching “The Cher Channel” between April 17 and May 1. It’ll be all things Cher, her life, her music, dishing about her life, her husbands and more. Good thing Cher just blew up her brand by siding with Trump on immigration issues.
Confessional.
“My wife has recently started having her phone play soothing sounds at night to help her sleep, which is usually pretty nice.Except for tonight, as the river sounds are making it impossible for me to convince my body that I don’t need to get up and go to the bathroom.” — Benjamin Park, assistant prof, Sam Houston State University, history blogger.
Journalist is feeling better after bout of depression
“I was depressed for the first few months of this year and it took a toll on my life socially, romantically, professionally. At work, I sort of stepped away from edit. But I’m no longer depressed. So I’m back. And I’m getting GREAT joy in writing my old insane bullshit in slack.” — Ben Dreyfuss, editorial director, Mother Jones.
One America News Network anchor has ‘sad ‘ thoughts about Notre Dame tragedy
“Sad I have to say this even today. I really have no time for Christians of different denominations who spend all their time attacking other Christians for having different prayers or traditions. We are in a spiritual war against Satan and his demons, not our brothers in Christ.” — Jack Posobiec.
Trump supporter suggests FNC’s Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum are not angels
The pair hosted Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) town hall Monday night.
Shaun Humphrey: “Does anyone really believe @BretBaier @marthamaccallum are on the side of good? #NotreDame”
Bret Baier: “Yes. I do.”
Martha MacCallum: “I know we are.”