Quote of the Day:

“That Andrew Yang is so hot right now.”

— Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang with a ringing endorsement of his own self-esteem. On Monday, Desperate Housewives actress Teri Hatcher endorsed him.

Politico reporter reveals deep, dark secret

“Depression is such a nasty, crafty elusive beast of a disease. Blessings to all who deal with it. Darkness visible indeed. I’m just going to be honest I struggle with it hard. And I’m so full of love and care for those who do as well and you can always tell me your stories. I’ve tried to reply to every single one of the replies to my tweet about depression. If I failed to reply to yours, I’m sorry. I love you and care for you.”

— Politico Chief Economic Correspondent Ben White on Monday night in a surprising confessional. He got mobbed with replies from strangers and pals saying they could reach out to him whenever he wants.

Brittany Shepherd, national politics reporter covering Trump, Yahoo News: “Living with depression is not easy, especially in our industry where were taught to not telegraph our emotions at all, and if we do do, we’re showing our hand. But people like you being open make it easier for us all. Thank you.”

MOOD: “God, coffee is great.”

— Alexandra Jacobs, features editor, NYT.

Pet Peeves

“People who write things, please stop using ‘gifted’ as a verb. Thank you.” — Jada Yuan, political feature writer, The Washington Post.

David Frum gets prickly about Nikki Haley

“So when Nikki Haley falsely said that only Democratic presidential candidates mourned the death of Soleimani, she forgot to mention somebody of whom her statement was true.” — David Frum, The Atlantic.

He was reacting to this:

CNN’s Holmes Lybrand: “You’d have to be brain dead” to think Soleimani’s death would lead to negotiations, @RandPaul told reporters this evening. “The death of Soleimani, I think, is the death of diplomacy.”

Tara Setmayer, a CNN contributor, was also incensed… “Add @NikkiHaley to the ash heap of souls who know better, sold to Trump, alongside @marcorubio @LindseyGrahamSC @seantemajldr @tedcruz the entire GOP House, FoxNews flunkies, right wing talk radio propagandists & the biggest hypocrites, Evangelical.” (Setmayer hosts a podcast called “Honestly Speaking With Tara.”)

Writer channels her anxiety into cleaning

“I kicked off the new year talking about fighting anxiety and worries about the world through … cleaning. It may sound small and superficial, but it works for #mysweetdumbbrain (and frees up that brain to do more meaningful work!).” — Katie Hawkins-Gaar, whose bylines have appeared in Vox and NYT‘s Parenting.

White House reporter awaits new mattress

“You know you’re a real adult when the thing you’re most excited about is tracking the impending arrival of a new mattress.” — Kathryn Watson, White House reporter, CBS News digital.

Matthew Yglesias chooses Bernie

“I may be Chief Neoliberal Shill, but I also think Bernie Sanders is Democrats’ best choice for 2020: — Least likely to start wars — Strong full-employment plank — Plausible electability argument — Get the Young Left inside the tent pissing out.” — Matthew Yglesias, managing editor, Vox. (RELATED: Matthew Yglesias Spends His Vacation Bitching About Nate Silver)

Travel Bitches

“Well that’s a first for me. Delta flight attendant explicitly made announcement telling passengers not to place feet on video screens.” — Ben Schlappig, blogger who tweets about first world problems.

Girl Scouts have a new uplifting cookie: It’s called Lemon-Ups. The cookies try to cheer you up with sayings like “I am strong, I am creative, I am bold, and my least favorite, I am a GO-GETTER.” Here.

Journo encounters birds mistaking seed for weed

“I just saw a bunch of birds going up to this guy and he started yelling, ‘This is medical marijuana!! Not bird food!!'” — Cameron Cawthorne, Washington Free Beacon. (RELATED: I Conducted An Interview Completely Stoned And Here’s How It Went)

Sam Stein is in the middle of a ‘hot streak’

“My kid is like 8 for his last 9 in peeing on me while I’m changing his diaper. What a hot streak.” — Sam Stein, The Daily Beast.

Gossip Roundup

Reporter contemplates eating chili at 10:40 a.m.

“Seriously debating eating lunch right now cuz the chili i made smells so damn good.” — Christian Datoc, The Daily Caller.

Elizabeth Warren’s spokesman tells CNN’s Chris Cillizza how dumb he is… Here.

Joaquin Phoenix really gives a shit about the planet

“This man is a winner… wearing custom Stella because he chooses to make choices for the future of the planet. He has also chosen to wear this same Tux for the entire award season to reduce waste. I am proud to join forces with you… x Stella” — Stella McCartney, designer.

TheBlaze‘s Jason Howerton snarked, “Why won’t you normals sacrifice like they do for the planet?”

Media hound Steve Krakauer goes after Patricia Arquette in his Fourth Watch newsletter… “The worst offender, by far, was Patricia Arquette, who let loose a laundry list of anti-Trump grievances. Vox‘s Constance Grady was a huge fan. ‘Her speech was one of the night’s most impactful and serious moment,’ she wrote. ‘She delivered her message and got off the stage, and now her message is one that viewers are talking about.’ (Which viewers, outside of New York City newsrooms?)”

If you wish, subscribe to his newsletter here.

Benny Johnson writes letter to Hollywood, signs it from all of us

“Dear Hollywood, This is the most liked video in the world right now. People *do not* want to watch you all give each other awards. They want to watch you get completely rekt to your faces for your bullshit hypocrisy and noxious virtue signaling. Sincerely, The Internet.” — Benny Johnson, creative director, professional meme expert, Turning Point USA, addressing Ricki Gervais‘s Golden Globes monologue.

Kevin Bacon sympathizes with hairdresser by same name who died in a horrific way. If you’re on Grindr, be careful out there.

More on celebrities inflating themselves…

“The sanctification of celebrity culture is one of the silliest and most bizarre aspects of our age. Also why people like Cosby and Weinstein got away with it for so long. ‘Vital political statements’ indeed.” — Michael Weiss, editor-at-large, The Daily Beast.

He was reacting to an opinion piece in The Independent that says comedian Ricki Gervais “cheapened” the Golden Globes by “overshadowing vital points.” The story by Jo Murch says Gene Kelly would be “turning in his grave.” She writes, “Call me a prude but a joke about Judi Dench ‘licking her ass’ hardly screams high society.”

WaPo fashion writer Robin Givhan: “Why is this happening?” (When Dave Jorgenson subjects her to a cameo in one of his Tik Tok videos.) Watch here.

Hannah Brown makes things as cringey as possible on ‘The Bachelor’

Her runny mascara smeared all over her face was horrifying enough. But before that, she got up on a stage and informed contestants on the season premiere of ABC’s The Bachelor that she had sex with Peter Weber in a windmill. Here.

Andrew Sullivan and the big penis question heard around the world

JUST ASKING QUESTIONS

“Andrew sullivan’s career bookends are saying black people have smaller IQs and bigger penises and people actually take him seriously.” — Oliver Willis, ShareBlue.

“You don’t want to know why Andrew Sullivan is trending. Trust me, you really don’t.” — Joan Walsh, The Nation, CNN.

(Bolding, mine.)

ANDREW SULLIVAN, New York Mag: She decided to include what she calls a ‘myth’ about ‘large sex organs’ among African-Americans. As a test to see just how fact-checked these essays were, I merely asked her what sources she had that this is indeed a ‘myth.’ …Many of these myths have been clearly debunked as racist myths as the piece shows. Other small ancestral differences – like sickle cell anemia – exist. I’m just asking for the evidence for debunking this one. It would strengthen the piece’s argument. Why not answer the question? …She never responded. So I have to assume she just made that up. Since when is it ‘racist’ to privately ask a New York Times writer for evidence for a factual assertion? It’s called ‘fact-checking.’ And I was curious, since it seems to me that this is pretty much unknowable.”

Politicians are damned if they do and damned if they don’t

On Monday, New York Gov. Mario Cuomo stopped on a New York City expressway to pull a man from what looked like a really jacked three-car wreck. A van is pictured nearly on it’s side tucked up against a concrete median. Cuomo and his team pulled the male driver out, “grabbing the man’s legs and helping to swing him from the teetering van.” NYPD “sources” said there were “no heroics” and “no injuries” and “no need” for Cuomo to get involved.

I’m sure the driver would have preferred to wait for first responders to spring him from the wreckage. The piece says “Cuomo has a knack for assisting drivers in distress” with his office sending out proof of the boss man helping people. Cuomo’s camp says police hadn’t yet arrived. NYPD “sources” said first responders were already there.

Yeah, politicians have bad raps as good-for-nothing phonies. But if our car crashes, wouldn’t we rather they stop kissing babies, cutting ribbons and talking selfies and come cut us out of our cars as opposed to a governor who would drive on by and do nothing? #WTF Here.