Facebook
X
LinkdIn
Copy Link
Cockburn entered the Christmas party fray with two ironclad rules in mind: don’t mix drinks and make sure you eat something. He managed to break both on Tuesday night as he stumbled across the nation’s capital.
His first port of call was the Breitbart Christmas drinks at Blackfinn. Guests including various GOP Hill staffers took advantage of a free bar towards the back of the venue and were treated to a brief appearance from petite former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer.
The talk of the event was the forthcoming DC newsletter Breitbart are set to launch in the coming weeks. Headed up by new politics editor and Laptop-from-Hellraiser Emma-Jo Morris, the newsletter will be “a MAGA rival to Politico’s Playbook”, according to breathless reporting from the Daily Beast’s Zachary Petrizzo and Lachlan Cartwright. An insider said “It’s a real Christmas present to see the establishment media wetting their pants about the mere prospect of them doing this.” Cockburn is also enthused by the prospect: there’s much on the right that goes uncovered by the likes of Politico and Axios, so there’s certainly room at the inn for competitors (though Oliver Wiseman’s DC Diary remains his firm favorite, naturally).
Taxis and Ubers are few and far between in the District these days — presumably due in part to the ongoing carriage repair still taking place on DC Metro. After a frenetic fight with a Lime scooter, Cockburn headed uptown to podcast host and Spectator columnist Jesse Singal’s Christmas bash at Solly’s Tavern on U Street, a graffiti-drenched dive bar with more than a slight Brooklyn flavor. Here, Cockburn took advantage of the beer-and-shot special and mingled with the likes of Andrew Sullivan and Jonathan Chait. He was particularly amused to hear of a writer being declined a book testimonial from a long-time friend — for the crime of following Singal on Twitter. With posts like this, who can blame them?
The Reason TV Christmas party on Friday proved to be a busy, raucous affair. Mixed in with a bevy of reporters from CBS and the Washington Examiner were a number of DC libertarian dudes, reveling in the opportunity to fraternize. Many appeared to be experimenting with new looks for the season: Cockburn spotted fingerless gloves, neck scarves and suspenders as he supped on Flying Dog, a beer that finds itself routinely censored due to the blue names it selects for its new lines.
Presently Cockburn is hooked up to the IV he keeps in his closet, in order to rehydrate for the rest of the week’s festivities. He is always on the lookout for more events to add to his diary: email your invites to cockburn@thespectator.com.
