<b>Morning Chatter</b>

Quotes of the Day -- State of the Union-Fugitive Edition SOTU quotes that are fit for a Fishbowl: "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." -- brought to our attention by HuffPost's Sam Stein's Twitter feed. It's an old quote from former President George W. Bush. And this: "At least there's no smoked fish joke in this one." -- Mother Jones' Nick Baumann. "The outside of the Dome on SOTU night." -- Roll Call's Meredith Shiner with accompanying photograph. Shut up SOTU clappers, journo wants his Zzzz's "Dear applauders: Please stop. I have a bedtime." -- WaPo's Chris Cillizza. Importantish Q to Ponder: "So... Does Senator Menendez shake President Obama's hand as he walks in? Awkward. #SOTU" -- NRSC Strategist Brad Dayspring. Important Q to Ponder: "So does CNN break away from the burning house to do the State of the Union." -- TPM's Josh Marshall. Important Q to Ponder III: "What's the over/under on the number of Nicorette patches John Boehner has plastered all over himself right now?" -- Times of London's Matt Spence. THE SPEAKER AND THE LOUDMOUTH: "Luke Russert shakes Speaker Boehner's hand as he walks to the chamber for SOTU." -- NBC House of Representatives Producer Frank Thorp. Boehner affectionately (we think) refers to Russert as the "loudmouth." Rothenberg crushes the spirit of political reporters "Political reporters always incredibly excited by SOTU. Real people not so much." -- Stu Rothenberg, who writes a column for Roll Call, a publication full of political reporters. And then, oddly, he writes, "My first SOTU inside the chamber? 1970 when I was Colby College intern in Ed Muskie's office. AA gave me ticket." Um, hey Stu, do real people give a sh-t about this? Speaking of excitement... "The hallway outside Sen. Durbin's office smells overwhelmingly of barbecue." -- Roll Call's Shiner of the Illinois Democrat. And again... "Just spoke to Gabby Giffords for the first time since the day before she was shot. She looks amazing. Twinkle in her eye and broad smile." -- CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash. "Senate page just said in Statuary Hall 'Oh my God. Kelly Ayotte is rocking the mint-green!' I am partial to Bader Ginsberg's red." -- Roll Call's Abby Livingston. "McCain ribbing Kerry as he walks by." -- Politico's Manu Raju. "Rep. Terry Sewell is the most energetic greeter of the House! Urrybody gets a kiss and big laugh and a thousand watt smile." -- BuzzFeed Washington Bureau Chief John Stanton. "Lots of schmoozing with former colleagues as Secy Kerry makes his way down the aisle." -- CBS White House radio correspondent Mark Knoller. "Whoever said that politics is showbiz for ugly people was a master of understatement. Or just blind." -- Reason's Nick Gillespie. "VP Biden has a scratched cornea, reports NBC, which is why he is wearing glasses." -- The Hill's Emily Goodin. Politico Playbook Publish Time: 7:43 a.m. The Jokester Caucus "Press will now begin attacking Rubio for drinking problem." -- USA Today's Paul Singer. "I'm sure I'm going to dislike this but at least Beyonce is performing." -- Logan Dobson, before the SOTU address began. "When is halftime? Where is Beyonce?" -- FNC's Greg Gutfeld. "Who's the fat lump of shit next to Mrs Obama? #SOTU." -- Anthony Cumia from the Opie and Anthony radio show. "Marco! Pollo! Marco! Pollo! Fish out of water!" [Insert Rubio Joke Here] #Rubioing." -- Syndicated columnist and Bullfight Strategies' Karl Frisch. "What's the opposite of 5-Hour Energy? Boehner's had two of them, at least." -- Bloomberg Business Week's Joshua Green. The Critics "Really pathetic and sad reflection on media-culture that taking a drink of water can overwhelm everything else." -- Christian Heinze, founder of Prez16.com. Seconded by NRSC Spokesman Brian Walsh, who said, "Exactly." Oh, but wait: "Jesus... the water sip blew the whole speech. Was on board until then but he blew it. Cue SNL." -- Jason Killian Meath, President, GOP Media Firm. "The problem with this speech is a.) we already knew what was in it and b.) little of it is new." -- Politico's Ben White. "I like Rubio's remarks thus far, dislike the dry mouth. Get the man a water. Let's hear some solutions." -- Conservative radio host Dana Loesch. "Was leaning off camera to get water really better than obviously needing one?" -- WCP Editor Mike Madden during the GOP response of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). "Rubio keeps grabbing at his face. What's with that?" -- Baron's D.C. Editor James McTague. "Huh, Chris Matthews voted for George W. Bush. You can admit that on MSNBC and still have a job? #MSNBCAfterDark" -- U.S. News & World Report's Robert Schlesinger at 12:19 a.m. Gratitude is... "SOMEBODY PLEASE GIF THAT AWKWARD WATER BOTTLE GRAB, RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!! wowowoowowowowoowowow" -- WaPo Express' Clinton Yates. "Water grab! Thank God." -- ABC News' Nico Hines. "Rubio has serious case of drymouth. Thank god he just took a sip of water." -- Roll Call Senate Editor Emily Pierce. Jeff Zucker, give this man a raise! "CNN has every story covered tonight. On CNN-US: SOTU coverage. On HLN, continuing live coverage of Calif. Manhunt." -- CNN Washington Bureau Chief Sam Feist. Wardrobe Change "I just changed into flats because it is SRO in the House press gallery. #SOTU" -- TWT's Emily Miller. The sharp-tongued observers... "Rachel Maddow just referred to prepared #SOTU remarks sent out by White House as 'excerpts that were leaked out'" -- The New York Observer's Hunter Walker. "The unhappiest man in the room--John Boehner. All things considered he'd rather be on the 19th hole." -- Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham. "Tom Coburn looks like a homeless man who wandered into the House chamber." -- Conservative radio host Jason Mattera on the Republican senator from Oklahoma. "Justice Ginsburg appears to be sleeping during SOTU" -- Medill on the Hill. Self-appointed C-SPAN Advisor "There should be one CSPAN camera trained on Joe Biden the entire speech." -- New York magazine Senior Editor Dan Amira. The Grossest Thing You'll Read Today? "When I think of Ted Nugent, I think of the time he once bragged of pooping himself to avoid the draft." -- TIME White House Correspondent Michael Scherer. Need to read more on this? Visit here. Woo woo tweet of the night "Ruth Bader Ginsburg is my spirit animal." -- Rowan Farrow, writer and former adviser to Sec. Hilary Clinton on Global Youth Issues. Editor has high hopes for SOTU "I just hope there's a Nuge cam split screen shot for the entire speech." -- Joe Heim, Editor, The Washington Post Magazine. He's of course referring to rocker and gun enthusiast Ted Nugent, a guest of a GOP congressman. Speaking of Nugent... "OH reporter asking someone to help him find Nugent in the crowd: 'He looks like a tall, crazy white motherf**ker'" -- Slate's huge FBDC fan Dave Weigel. Ask and you shall receive "Ted Nugent, who the press corps FINALLY found after long minutes of scanning, stands up, doesn't clap. this is hopefully my last nug tweet." -- BuzzFeed's towering Stanton. Oversharing Sherri: "tummy tingles" "My comedy show starts in 45 min -nervous...tummy tingles...so very thankful 4 this sense of humour God has given to me #Lord #stirupthefunny." -- ABC "The View's" Sherri Shepherd. FishbowlDC Anonymous Tipster (hungry apparently): "I want it to be with the caramel inside, no peannut [sic] butter, white chocolate, no dark chocolate." Unnecessary Tweet of the Day "Dear reporters at the Capitol to cover tonight’s speech: How does being at the Capitol help you cover the speech?" -- Slate's Matt Yglesias. Journo wants prayers for friend with cancer "Learned today a friend & mom of 2, my age, diagnosed w breast cancer. But cancer's picked 1 hell of an opponent. Ladies, check yourselves! And, if you can spare a prayer, much appreciated." -- Hotair.com's Mary Katharine Ham. Eddie Scarry contributed to this report.

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Betsy Rothstein

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