Playbook newsltr
=<div>the new drudge?
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">wire #1 in insurrection bubble?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/what-politico-playbook-didnt-tell-its-readers-about-ben-shapiro">https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/what-politico-playbook-didnt-tell-its-readers-about-ben-shapiro</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The January 14 edition of Politico’s daily newsletter “Playbook” was guest-written by Ben Shapiro, founder of the right-wing The Daily Wire, a conservative <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/daily-wire/daily-wire-cesspool-hatred-and-bigotry" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">cesspool that’s been pushing bigotry and hatred</a> since 2015. (The outlet <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-candace-owens-is-joining-daily-wire" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">recently hired</a> Candace Owens.)</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Shapiro personally carries responsibility for fostering and enabling today’s dangerous political climate. Whether it be promoting an <a href="https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-ben-shapiro/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">us versus them mentality</a>, or <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-dismisses-shooting-protesters-predictable" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">dismissing the murder of protesters</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/1349699408036843527?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">innocent children</a>, Shapiro helped lay the foundations for today’s political violence.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Playbook <a href="https://www.politico.com/playbook" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">calls itself</a> the “#1 political newsletter” among political professionals, and it reportedly brings in <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-politico-playbook-shake-up-jake-sherman-and-anna-palmers-exit" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">millions of dollars</a> in annual revenue for Politico. <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cnns-don-lemon-pbs-yamiche-alcindor-and-nbcs-chuck-todd-to-guest-author-politicos-playbook-exclusive" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Beginning on January 1</a>, Politico began bringing guests in to write the daily Playbook newsletter. Surely it is possible to highlight guest writers from a variety of viewpoints without lifting up someone who built his career with takes <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/695622179874967552" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">like this</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Shapiro’s edition of the Playbook <a href="https://twitter.com/hunterw/status/1349710725367943168?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">has</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SabrinaSiddiqui/status/1349725659208294404?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">been</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1349727047648747522?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">roundly</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TheToddSchulte/status/1349696581512130561?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">criticized</a>, including for his claim that former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Georgia Stacey Abrams “<a href="https://www.politico.com/playbook" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">never accepted her election loss</a>.” This is <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/11/16/668737597/georgia-facing-final-deadline-for-ballot-certification-in-governors-race" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">false</a>. Abrams acknowledged Brian Kemp as the elected governor of Georgia but <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/us/elections/georgia-governor-race-kemp-abrams.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">maintained her criticism</a> of the state’s voting process that led to this election result.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Shapiro also grievance-mongered over Donald Trump’s impeachment by saying conservatives see Congress’ move as inspired by “<a href="https://www.politico.com/playbook" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">members of the opposing political tribe [wanting] their destruction</a>.” Last week’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/12/us/capitol-mob-timeline.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">insurrection at the Capitol</a> by pro-Trump rioters <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/us/who-died-in-capitol-building-attack.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">left five people dead</a>. Trump has been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/us/politics/trump-impeached.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">impeached for inciting this violence</a> against Congress. Yet, Shapiro is claiming that he and other Trump supporters are the <a href="https://twitter.com/TheToddSchulte/status/1349696581512130561?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">true victims</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shapiro <a href="https://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp/status/1349760736445272068?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">argues</a> that Republicans saw impeachment as a Democratic plot to undermine them, and that they were justified in thinking this. <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/01/republicans-impeaching-trump-would-make-us-look-pro-riot.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">If Republicans genuinely wanted to distance</a> themselves from the rioters and Trump, however, then they could have simply voted for impeachment. Instead, they <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/13/us/politics/trump-second-impeachment-vote.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">overwhelmingly sided</a> with Trump thus showing to the nation that they are still united with Trump and his inciting to violence.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Shapiro also <a href="https://twitter.com/MattNegrin/status/1349718942579830786?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">compared</a> Trump, whose rhetoric incited an insurrection, to Bernie Sanders, connecting the <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/rep-steve-scalise-shot-sanders-supporter-replies-request-evidence-bernie-bros-being-bad-1488354" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">shooting of members of Congress in 2017</a> to last week’s Capitol attack. <a href="https://www.pressherald.com/2021/01/12/trump-takes-no-responsibility-for-capitol-insurrection/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Unlike Trump</a>, Sanders <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/14/politics/bernie-sanders-baseball-shooting/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">explicitly denounced this violence</a> (and never incited it in the first place, obviously).</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Shapiro has a long <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-sound-was-his-computer-most-likely-explanation-trump-retweeting-white-power" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">record</a> of <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/ben-shapiro-trumps-coronavirus-response-terms-his-actual-policy-has-been-very" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">spreading</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-claims-trumps-behavior-leaked-call-did-not-amount-threat-georgia-secretary" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">disinformation</a> and amplifying <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-you-dont-have-reverse-rachel-dolezals-indicator-where-power-lies" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">racist</a>, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-mocks-women-who-wear-white-honor-suffrage-movement" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">sexist</a>, and <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-megan-rapinoe-good-soccer-player-would-get-fewer-contracts-if-she-wasnt" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">anti-LGBTQ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1334211971995021312?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">rhetoric</a>. His daily podcast features such intellectually weighty moves as complaining about <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-complains-about-holiday-film-happiest-season-featuring-lesbian-couple" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Hulu holiday movies</a>, ranting about a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-woman-cant-play-james-bond-because-men-pretend-theyre-bond-when-watching" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">female James Bond</a>, and calling the movie <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Get Out</em> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-movie-get-out-racist-against-white-people" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">racist</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When Shapiro is not <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/daily-wire/watch-ben-shapiro-read-lyrics-wet-ass-p-word" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">reading lyrics to hip hop songs</a> or complaining about <em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1205237631799513088?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer</a></em>, he is providing juvenile commentary on the day’s news. He denied reports that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh committed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/27/brett-kavanaugh-allegations-sexual-misconduct-complete-list/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">sexual assault</a> because “<a href="https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1173628757221019651?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">nobody has yet described Kavanaugh’s [genitalia]</a>.” He told Americans who must work more than one job to feed their families, “<a href="https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1161679740354387969?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">That’d be a you problem</a>” (which is not surprising for someone who thinks <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/black-lives-matter/ben-shapiro-declares-empathy-bad-politics" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">empathy is “bad for politics”</a>). And he once <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1182694698659569664?s=20" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">threatened to murder</a> then-Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Today's Politico Magazine offers up some seriously dope sponsored content for your weary body, in the form of an article called "<a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/gulf-coast-recovery-expectations-112088.html#.VEfE-fmwIUo" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No, BP Didn't Ruin The Gulf</a>." The piece goes on to insist, at length, that four years after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, things down around the Gulf Coast are hunky-dory, nothing to worry about, nothing to see here. The punch line is that this piece was penned by Geoff Morrell, BP's "senior vice president of U.S. communications and external affairs," which is a fancy title that means "head of PR shenanigans for BP." What to call this genre of editorial?</p><center data-twttr-id="twttr-sandbox-0" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Yeah, that sounds about right.</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The basic issue, from BP's perspective, is something that Morrell waits until the end of his native advertisement to bring up -- namely, the money that BP has been legally obligated to pay out to claimants as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This matter has been fraught: BP has been fighting the way the law has been interpreted in court, with <a href="http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/2013/10/03/appeals-court-gives-bp-a-win-in-settlement-dispute/" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">mixed</a> <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303393804579313352259634422?mod=newsreel_4" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">results</a>. And there have been a number of plainly fraudulent claims, filed simply in an effort to get some BP ducats, that Morrell can legitimately point to. Indeed, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bp-cries-foul-in-massive-oil-spill-settlement/" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">this is something Morrell has complained about before</a>.</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Such complaints are unobjectionable, if for no other reason than that fraudulent claims impede justice for those who have legitimate ones. This Politico Magazine piece, however, embarks on an entirely different path: It attempts to convince you that the environmental impact of the 2010 disaster was really very slight. <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/gulf-coast-recovery-expectations-112088.html#.VEfE-fmwIUo" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Per Morrell</a>:</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 15px; direction: ltr; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); line-height: 21px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; background-color: rgb(240, 240, 240);"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;">Make no mistake: The Deepwater Horizon accident was a tragedy. Eleven people lost their lives. Birds, fish and other wildlife perished. And with a camera trained 24/7 on the wellhead, a sense of alarm was understandable while the well was flowing.</p><div class="ql" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="qr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That's a pretty neat trick right there: equating <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">coverage of the disaster</em> with the harmful effects of the disaster itself. Morrell's take seems to be that one of the bigger things that damaged the Gulf Coast was the fact that too many people knew the Gulf Coast was being damaged.</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Morrell goes on to point out that the most dire predictions of the spill's effects -- that "there will be tar balls all the way up the East Coast, all the way to Europe" -- didn't happen. The Gulf of Mexico, he says, is possessed of an "inherent resilience." The type of oil that poured into the gulf was "Louisiana sweet crude," you guys, which <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">totally</em>isn't as bad as the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez. (Hashtag: #notallpollutants!) And there was an "unprecedented response" to the disaster. (Because maybe it was an unprecedented disaster?)</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Natural oil seeps release up to the equivalent of nearly six Exxon Valdez spills in the Gulf each year, and microbes in the Gulf have adapted over time to feast on oil," says Morrell, apparently missing the point that maybe those well-adapted microbes weren't prepared to feast on an additional two months' worth of oil seepage that appeared in the Gulf of Mexico all of a sudden.</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Beyond all that, Morrell wants you not to worry, because of a study:</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 15px; direction: ltr; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); line-height: 21px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; background-color: rgb(240, 240, 240);"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;">But today, it's worth examining what is currently known about the spill's actual impact based on the environmental data that is now available. This includes studies conducted as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) -- the process for determining what harm has been done to natural resources. The Deepwater Horizon NRDA is the most extensive and expensive environmental assessment ever conducted, spanning four years so far and costing BP a billion dollars and counting.</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 8px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;">Although the NRDA is not finished, the evidence to date shows the Gulf environment is rebounding and that most of the environmental impact was of short duration and in a limited geographic area.</p><div class="ql" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="qr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It's pretty neat how in the space of a few paragraphs, Morrell goes from an insistence that we have to assess the situation based upon data "that is now available," holding up the NRDA as an example of that data (and suggesting that it exonerates BP), to the part where he basically says, <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Oh, by the way -- minor point here -- the data I'm saying is 'now available' actually doesn't exist quite yet.</em></p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">As to the claim that "BP Didn't Ruin The Gulf," there are a lot of people are saying, "Nah."</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries <a href="http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20140925/NEWS0101/140929738?tc=ar" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">reported in September</a> that "commercial catches for several varieties of seafood have decreased since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill." A study published <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140728153935.htm" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">in the July 2014 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a> found that "the footprint of the impact of the spill on coral communities is both deeper and wider than previous data indicated." In April, the National Wildlife Federation <a href="http://www.nwf.org//media/PDFs/water/2014/NWF_deepwater_horizon_report_web_FINAL.pdf" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">released a study</a> that attested to the continuing harm being done to key Gulf region species by the oil spill, including dolphins and Atlantic bluefin tuna. (This is <a href="http://www.aaas.org/news/tuna-hearts-damaged-gulf-mexico-oil-spill" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">something</a> of a <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/12/18/3080781/dolphins-lung-damage-deepwater-horizon/" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">recurring theme</a> among those who study the Gulf's wildlife.) On the coast itself, the oil spill <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/20/3428269/bp-oil-spill-four-year-anniversary/" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">continues to foster accelerated erosion</a>. And tarballs containing material from the Deepwater Horizon spill <a href="http://neworleans.legalexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/95/2014/04/FDEP-Monitoring-Report_4.02.14_FLES1-035_ES2-008.pdf" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">continue to find their way ashore</a>.</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Morrell, who is nothing if not persistent, has occasionally popped up to accuse the people who conduct these studies of <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/10/3425225/bp-oil-spill-gulf-wildlife/" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">having a political agenda and "cherry picking" data</a>. In his Politico Magazine piece, though, cherry-picking is evidently OK:</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 15px; direction: ltr; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); line-height: 21px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; background-color: rgb(240, 240, 240);"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;">For example, these groups claim the spill harmed the Gulf's oyster population. What they don't say is that government sampling in 2010, 2011 and 2012 did not document a single visibly oiled oyster bed. In 2013, researchers found some tar balls on a single bed in Louisiana, but the government has not yet disclosed if they were even from the spill.</p><div class="ql" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="qr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">And yet, <a href="http://gulfseafoodnews.com/2014/04/21/gulf-oysters-at-zero-population/" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">according to the Gulf Seafood Institute</a>:</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 15px; direction: ltr; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); line-height: 21px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; background-color: rgb(240, 240, 240);"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;">From Texas to Florida, the number of oysters harvested in the Gulf is at one of the lowest on record. Three years after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, oyster industry experts have no answers on the cause of the steep decline; especially on public grounds relied upon by commercial fishermen.</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 8px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;">Oystermen and processors indicate that Gulf oysters are tough to come by. Various Gulf State fisheries are conducting studies on oyster reproduction and growth, but answers have been elusive.</p><div class="ql" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="qr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Right about now, you are maybe wondering how it came to pass that Politico Magazine even gave space to Morrell's meandering bit of hand-waving. The answer, of course, is that Morrell paid for it.</p><center data-twttr-id="twttr-sandbox-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Yeah, son. All that <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">quid</em> eventually yields a hot bowl of the ol' <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">pro quo</em>. If you cast your mind back to Eric Wemple's original Washington Post study on the vagaries of Mike Allen's Politico Playbook and its troubled history with sponsors, you'll find that BP and Morrell <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/11/20/politicos-mike-allen-native-advertising-pioneer/" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">shine brightly in the firmament</a>:</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 15px; direction: ltr; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); line-height: 21px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; background-color: rgb(240, 240, 240);"><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;">Another big name that's gotten a healthy dose of earned media from Playbook is BP, a company that has faced quite a challenge in image-conscious Washington, thanks to the 2010 oil spill at the Deepwater Horizon rig leased by the company. In recent months, BP has blanketed "Playbook" with ads hyping the company's status as "America's largest energy investor." The free BP mentions authored by Allen tell a similar story.</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 8px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;">Last June, for instance, Allen found newsworthy an AP story about a BP campaign to challenge settlement claims stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The item quoted from a full-page ad that the company had placed in newspapers, and that the AP story had cited. It also included a link to the ad.</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 8px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-size: 15px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal;">Companies love it when their ads get passed around.</p><div class="ql" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="qr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></div></blockquote><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That's just one of many documented examples of the tidy BP-Politico synergy that Morrell has procured. "'This Town,' the defining political book of 2013, notes that Allen and Morrell are close friends," writes Wemple, referring to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/books/review/this-town-by-mark-leibovich.html?pagewanted=all&r=0" target="hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the best-seller by Mark Leibovich</a>. "And close friends help each other in business."</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Today's Playbook sponsor, by the way? <a href="http://www.politico.com/playbook/1014/playbook15771.html" target="_hplink" sl-processed="1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(57, 152, 0); text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It's BP</a>. Sweet <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">and</em> crude.</p><p style="text-align: left; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; direction: ltr; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">UPDATE, 4:52 p.m.:</strong> A BP spokesman responds: "[Morrell's Politico piece] is an opinion piece submitted by BP to an influential newspaper to counter several op-eds about the Gulf that previously were published in this and other media outlets. It’s no different than any other op-ed by any other company in any other publication.”</p></center></center></div><div>==</div></div></div>