>> i called evan thomas and i asked evan thomas what he wanted me to say.said, "thank god the award came out before someone else said obama should be commander in chief." it is very funny he would get an award called the obamagasm award. he is about the only person to watch is the west wing. imagine what a real white house secretary looks like. [laughter] evan thomas wanted me to convey his sincere thanks to david brock and his researchers. they spend hours each day meeting boxes of twinkies and drinking red bull. [laughter] but for the fine efforts of the immediate matters, he would not be able to do his job. i had to say, "it does not media that matters, it is the media research center." p said they can all go to hell and thank you very much. [applause] he cannot wait to retire. [laughter] >> by the way, there are big things in store for eric because i have two people who have been nice substitute hosts when i have gone on vacation. i have been doing talk radio for 41 years. i had a great career in radio and not tv. when i first started talk radio, my fil

give this to evan thomas, if you would. would you bring an iphone up here? a script? jeez. >> i called -- >> here. >> i want you people to know i called evenan thomas and i asked him what he wanted me to say and he said, first of all, thank god the award came out for -- beforifyman made that statement last week about obama being an effective commander in chief. then he said to thank the academy because that's what you do at times like this, and also it's very funny that he would get an award called the obamagasm because he's gone through wet wipes like the parents of graudrupe lets. the only person who uses them more is jay carney watching "the west wing," imagining what a real white house press secretary looks like. in all seriousness, he wanted me to convey his sincere thanks to david brock and his crack team media researchers. he said they spent hours each day eating box after box of twinkies, fighting clips of people like evan thomas, racist tea baggers and their racist political allies, but for the fine efforts of media matters he would not be able to do his job a

evan thomas. i'll never forget this one. in this pretend "newsweek" magazine, which has been bought out by larry flint, by the way. yeah. eben thomas says he grabbed the party's power brockers by their elephant stitched -- whatever. he's a c thrvings nn contradictory appearing most nights -- wait a minute. i jumped ahead of the script. that's ok. i want you and they're going to get upset with me because i'm not reading the exact words that bring on the clip. but the people who are running the clips are going to be able to figure this out with these word -- play the ebens what's his face cliff. it's self-explanatory, i promise. >> reagan was all about america. and he talked about it. obama is we are above that now. we're not just parochial, shove nisk or provensrble. in a way obama is standing above the country, above the world. a sort of god. audience: boo! sort of god, but i can't say that up here. ok, here's the envelope, ladies and gentlemen. you know, i can tell from your reaction who you'd like to win this award. am i r

his name was evan thomas. >> she was lovely, not just because she had me on. she was a truth teller. when you screwed up, she would let you know, and a gracious and lovely way, but you know where you stood with our. -- with her. >> she said, about what we have got to have it nina totenberg," to. >> she gave me confidence. at the same time, she was a tough task-master. she's scared the living daylights out of may that i had to be prepared. >> she had an iron fist and a velvet glove. >> i am grateful that she stuck with me and suffered a for all those years. she was just a lovely person, kind, one market, generous -- warmhearted, genevese. she was our producer for 12 years, and never heard a crossword. terrible loss, shocking loss. >> mark, you go way back with her. >> she never changed. in a city of double talk, where mistakes were made, she was not only fun and talented, she said what she meant and and what she said. she will be best. >> -- will be missed. >> every now and then she would say, "you cannot use that word on television." [laughter] project has bee

[applause] >> evan thomas, if you would. did you bring an iphone up here?> i want you people to know i called evan thomas and asked him what he wanted me to say. he said first of all, thank god the award came out before making that statement about obama biblically proving himself to be an effective commander in chief. also that is very funny that he would get an award called the obamagasm. the only person who uses it more is jay carney watching "the west wing." imagine what a real white house press secretary looks like. in all seriousness, evan thomas wanted me to convey his sincere thanks to david brock and his crack team of medium researchers. they spend day after day eating twinkies and drinking red bulls. combating racist tea baggers. but for the fine efforts of media matters, he would not be able to do his job. said it is not media matters. it is media research service. he said brent bozell can go to hell and thank you very much. [applause] >> he can't wait for me to retire. [laughter] now by the way, eric, there is big things in store for you because

evan thomas. and number of people. do not know all of his clients, but he is the best. >> a little background. elihu washburn was a congressman from illinois, who was a fellow politician in illinois of abraham lincoln's, and a close friend of lincoln's. when lincoln became president, it was washburn as much as anybody else who kept telling lincoln you've got to give this man, grant, a full chance to show what he can do. washburn came from galena, illinois, which was where grant was living before the civil war started. what also distinguished washburn is he was one of four brothers who all served in congress in the house or the senate. all four from different states. all got re-elected regularly. all four had distinguished careers. one was a general in the civil war. another was as the governor of maine. he appears to have been the first person to refer to the new political party as the republican party. and they grew up on a hard scrabble farm in western maine in utter poverty. 10 children, and all of those children we