Playing catch-up on DNC photos: Wednesday, part two

Well, I told you it would take all weekend to catch up. And it's a three-day weekend, too.

More security theatre just inside the outer perimeter around the Pepsi Center. "Go Denver Police, and leave the driving to us."

"Seen any good riots lately?"

Taking you behind the scenes ... I found it interesting to see how they handed out the signs several minutes before they were needed. Here, for example, the tall "Biden" signs shortly before his introduction; we also got the "McCain: More of the Same" signs and the "Obama: Change We Need" signs shortly before those key points in Biden's speech.

My slightly out-of-focus view from behind the Florida and New Mexico delegations.

Here's a wider (and clearer) look from my vantage point during the Biden speech.

CBS News anchor Katie Couric: "Oh, John, I never get tired of that Chelsea Clinton joke!"

The CNN crew. "So that's when I thought, 'Hey, if Hillary can wear orange, so can I!' " The mention of Hillary sends Paul Begala into trance-like paroxysms of joy.

Possibly my favorite photo of the entire week: outside the Pepsi Center, five Aurora (Colo.) police officers cap a long night (as I often do) by enjoying a cigar. Said one, "Don't worry, it's not Big Tobacco."

UPDATE (9:45 am 8/31/08): I'm really proud of "trance-like paroxysms of joy." I hope Begala likes that, too.

Headline of the day

Unfortunately, I can't find a link and I don't have a scanner, but in today's Palm Beach Post, right there on page 2D, Liz Smith's column bears the following headline (verbatim):

For Katie, Hillary: Tea bag test

I was surprised to see that the column is about Katie Couric and Hillary Clinton and their respective challenges as prominent women. See, I thought from the headline that the column would be about ...

Well, you get the idea.

Wanker of the Day update

By popular request, I am pleased to present the latest installment in the occasional series of Wanker of the Day statistics. For the previous tallies, or if you have no idea what "Wanker of the Day" is, go here and here. I just don't feel like writing all the background. So there.

The Hall of Fame currently has six members: David Broder, Fred Hiatt, Joe Klein, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, and Glenn Reynolds. All of those were in the charter class of inductees except Broder, who was added when Atrios declared him the first Wanker Emeritus.

And now, the updated list, as of today, of those lucky few who have wanked themselves to top honors at least four times:

19 - Joe Lieberman (in 2007: 3/29, 4/12, and 4/20, in addition to those shown in the prior tallies); and Glenn Reynolds (4/7) ... yep, it's a tie for the lead! Who will be first to 20? Maybe not Joe or Instawanker ...
18 - Fred Hiatt (4/5, 5/21, 6/3, 6/4)
17 - Joe Klein (4/23, 5/25, 6/7, 6/11)
10 - John McCain (4/1)
9 - David Broder (4/10 by vote, 4/26 as emeritus, 5/24); Jonah Goldberg (no new honors since last tally)
8 - Richard Cohen (no new honors); Andrew Sullivan (5/30)
7 - Michelle Malkin, Tim Russert, John "Assrocket" Hinderaker, Rick Santorum (no new honors for any of them)
6 - Marshall Wittman (no new honors)
5 - Bill O'Reilly, Peter Beinart (no new honors for either)
4 - Tom Friedman, Hugh Hewitt, Will Saletan (no new honors for any of them); George W. Bush, a/k/a Drunky McStagger (4/3)

Some anecdotes:

• Atrios named himself WotD for the second time on May 27; the first occurred on January 20, 2005.
• Hiatt's honors on June 3 and 4 make him only the second person ever to "win" on consecutive days (after Marshall Wittman, January 10-11, 2006).
• April 1 was the ninth multi-wanker day and the first since January 21, 2007.
• The only non-Hall of Famer to be a multiple honoree in this cycle (since the last tally) is Katie Couric, who wanked her way to the top spot on April 13 and June 9. She still has a ways to go, though, to catch up with the leading female wanker, seven-time WotD Michelle Malkin.

And so it goes until the next update ... the Hall of Famers continue to wank away, but there aren't a lot of current wankers waiting in the wings as potential candidates to join the Big Six. It doesn't take long, though -- if Klein and Hiatt have been WotD as many times since April 1 as Drunky McStagger has been in over two years, then there's real hope for a dark horse to reach the pantheon.

Keep wanking, pundits and pukes. The sky's the limit!