Cockburn entered the Christmas party skirmish with two iron rules in mind: don’t mix drinks and make sure you eat something. He managed to break both on Tuesday night when he stumbled upon the country’s capital.
His first port of call was the Breitbart Christmas drinks at Blackfinn. Guests, including various GOP Hill employees, took advantage of a free bar in the back of the venue and were treated to a brief appearance by petite former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer.
The topic of conversation was the upcoming DC newsletter Breitbart, which will be launched in the coming weeks. Led by the new politics editor and laptop-from-Hellraiser Emma-Jo Morris, the newsletter will be “a rival of MAGA to Politico’s playbook”, according to the newspaper breathless reporting by Zachary Petrizzo and Lachlan Cartwright of the Daily Beast. A source said, “It is a real Christmas present to see the mainstream media piss themselves for the mere prospect of doing so.” Cockburn is delighted with the view, too: there’s a lot revealed by Politico and Axios on the right, so there’s certainly room for competitors in the inn (though Oliver Wiseman’s DC Diary of course remains his firm favorite).
Taxis and Ubers are few and far between in the district these days – presumably due in part to the ongoing car repairs that are still taking place on the DC Metro. After a frantic battle with a lime scooter, Cockburn drove up to Uptown to catch podcast host and Spectator columnist Jesse Singal’s Christmas party at Solly’s Tavern on U Street, an easy-going shit with more than a slight Brooklyn flair. This is where Cockburn took advantage of the beer-and-shot special and mingled with the likes of Andrew Sullivan and Jonathan Chait. He was especially amused to hear that a writer had been turned down a book endorsement by a longtime friend for the crime of following Singal on Twitter. With Posts like thiswho can blame them?
Reason TV’s Christmas party on Friday turned out to be a busy, noisy affair. Along with a bevy of reporters from CBS and the Washington Examiner were a number of DC libertarian guys enjoying the fraternization opportunity. Many seemed to be experimenting with new looks for the season: Cockburn spotted fingerless gloves, scarves and suspenders while drinking Flying Dog, a beer that is routinely censored due to the blue names it chooses for its new lines.
Currently, Cockburn is plugged into the IV, which he keeps in his closet to rehydrate for the remainder of the week’s celebrations. He is always on the lookout for more events to add to his diary: Email your invitations to cockburn@thespectator.com.
