8 Minor but Grating Thanksgiving Annoyances

This past week as members of Washington's media were off stuffing themselves with turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and bourbon, some managed to be acutely irritating in a whole smorgasboard of ways. See as we dissect them below. 8. From the Dept. of Bragiculture...Sen. Rob Portman (permanent fill-in for GOP Presidential debates) tweeted about reading ABC News' Jake Tapper's new book, Outpost: "Started reading @jaketapper's book 'The Outpost' over the weekend. Powerful reminder of sacrifice of our troops on ground in Afghanistan." Of course, Tapper, always moved when people write about his book, retweeted it. And just in case you haven't gotten enough Outpost rammed down your throat, Tapper also retweeted about it here: "Black Friday blog - @powerlineblog review: 'The Outpost': Buy This Book'." Read the positive review here. Tapper will also be on Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert tonight and on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Tuesday morning to discuss it. "I'll be the guest of @StephenAtHome on @ColbertReport on Monday to discuss The Outpost.tinyurl.com/OutpostBandN BRING IT, STEPHEN!!!!" Undoubtedly Colbert will be touched and won't be challenging him about it. 7. Just in case you haven't thanked the troops yet this holiday season, please allow NBC "MTP" host David Gregory to do it for you. "A special thank you to our service men and women for their service and sacrifice. We are thankful for you all. #thanksgiving," he wrote. Politico's Christine Delargy also felt the need to publicly thank the troops: "Anything we have to be thankful for today is due in part to men & women serving overseas. Thank them: uso.org/operation-uso-… #supportourtroops" 6. As if we needed more reasons to be thankful, Politico's Mike Allen wrote a personal note to readers expressing his gratitude for them. Bizarrely he turned into quite the politician and told them that the most important email he receives is "yours." He also apologized for whatever f--kups they may have caused and for any unreturned email. Our favorite part is the wisdom from Grandma Powers, who is apparently now all of our grandmas, collectively. We'll spare you the scene where Allen and his family retreat to a Japanese steakhouse for a knife throwing contest while bouncing eggs off their faces (or something like that). DEAR PLAYBOOKERS: Thank you for being so alert, smart, encouraging -- the best audience in the world. Many of you have heard us say: "Every morning is Christmas morning!" We feel that way partly because of the exciting times we live in, and partly because it's such a huge privilege to have a daily conversation with someone like you. But mostly, it's because this community is so appreciative and engaged, making it a joy to serve you each day. Thank you for forgiving our lapses. In the early '90s, FedEx unveiled the slogan: "Our most important package is yours." We feel the same way: We get thousands of emails each day, but the most important one is yours. If we said we were going to do something and then forgot, or if we didn't respond, we apologize. We try to respond to each personal email and when we don't, it's a mistake. As our Grandma Powers used to say: "We slipped a cog." Please remind us - we'll make it right. You are the reason Playbook exists. We believe strongly in constant reinvention to remain essential and enjoyable. So we're grateful for your suggestions about how Playbook can evolve to serve you better:mallen@politico.com. A healthy, happy, hearty Thanksgiving to you and yours. And thank you! 5. This is more a shocker than an irritant, though we don't imagine it could have gone over too well at FNC's Shepherd Smith's Thanksgiving table. After Breitbart.com's Pat Dollard wrote, "Shep Smith Suggests Netanyahu Started Gaza Crisis for Political Gain," conservative blogger Robert Stacy McCain jumped in with this whopper: "Shep hates Jews. Also, vagina." See the remaining 6 annoyances... 4. National Journal's Editor-in-Chief Ron Fournier doles out a healthy helping of guilt, reminding and preaching to each and every one of us to stop being selfish and help someone else: "Happy Thanksgiving, tweeple. Are you helping somebody less well than you today? Please do. Food for the soul." (Not that his message isn't valid, but "less well?" And why do we want to hear it from Pastor Fournier?) 3. Bright and early on Thanksgiving morning, we get this supposedly "fun" game from Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, who has decided it would be a hoot to replace song titles with the word "turkey." Here's how that turned out: "Turkey Like You - Adele #ReplaceSongTitlesWithTurkey" And this: "#ReplaceSongTitlesWithTurkey Single Turkeys (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce." We really hope this happens again next year. 2. Just after the crack of dawn on Thanksgiving (6:20 a.m.), HuffPost comes out with this breaking news story about Kim Kardashian wrestling with her leggings. They write, "Kim Kardashian struggles with her leather leggings." Read here (or don't). 1. Democratic pundit Donna Brazile's gumbo and okra cooking class: EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. In which Brazile takes us through every excruciating juncture of creating the dishes. God help us. Brazile's Rachel Ray cooking show begins on the night before Thanksgiving. We much preferred her going on about how badly she misses Michael Jackson. Those sentiments emerged on Thanksgiving Day as she watched an ABC special on the King of Pop. "Gumbo!" "Never Roux the day u never tried to stir things up." "Holy Creole! it's the mighty Trinity..." "Ain't nothing the real thing y'all. Gumbo time! Stir it up. All things fresh and spicy." "Andouille sausage. Okay, my Lil brother Kevin Koo Arrived with his three sons. old school gumbo player. #roux it up" "Okra." (pictured above right) "Pure ground Gumbo File" (pictured above left)

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8 Minor but Grating Thanksgiving Annoyances

Betsy Rothstein

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Betsy Rothstein