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Michael Schaffer Profile
Michael Schaffer

@michaelschaffer

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Capital City columnizer, @POLITICOmag . Co-host, @citycast_dc . Formerly: Editor of @washingtonian & @wcp . D.C. Native. Admirer of schemes.

Washington D.C.
Joined March 2009
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 years
Proud Boys jury selection is going about as expected.
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Michael Schaffer
4 years
I hate to be a narc, but this house sorta near me is a real nuisance! The tenants keep throwing illegal parties & I worry someone’s gonna wind up dead. The cops won’t crack down, so I was thinking of calling the landlords. Anyone know how to reach them?
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Michael Schaffer
5 years
Just me or does this read like Fugazi lyrics?
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southpaw
5 years
One for the history books. (📷 Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
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Michael Schaffer
6 years
Three sources tell @jsidman that Taylor never recovered from its owner's photo-op with Trump. “Our sales dropped 40 percent the next day,” says one. “And it persisted and never really got any better.”
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
8 years
Really, Oxford University Press?
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 years
The irony of all these scenes of citizens arming up, beauty queens with AKs, grandmas making Molotovs, action-movie caliber quotes (“I don’t need a ride, I need ammunition”)…It’s the fantasy scenario of a certain slice of American society—the slice most likely to be pro Putin.
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Michael Schaffer
2 years
An awful lot of people who cover Kevin McCarthy think he’s…not smart. Why don’t you read it in the coverage? Because stupid may be Washington’s last taboo.
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Michael Schaffer
4 years
Someone enjoyed writing this hed
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
This is shockingly small play for one of the most jaw-dropping threats in the history of American democracy.
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Michael Schaffer
4 years
I knew he sounded familiar
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@JeffreyGoldberg
Jeffrey Goldberg
4 years
New, from @TheAtlantic : Trump skipped a visit to an American military cemetery in France after calling the dead "losers" for getting killed: Full story here:
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Michael Schaffer
5 months
There’s an effort afoot to oust a top Hill aide who’s on Putin’s enemies list. On paper, it’s office stuff. Some of the activists I talked to think something more sinister is going on.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
Wow the White House statement about why they held a reckless event in the middle of my city that has led to a covid outbreak really seems like evidence that these people take their leadership responsibilities seriously.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
3 years
Home news. After seven and a half wonderful years as editor of @washingtonian I'm joining @POLITICOmag . Among other adventures, I'll be putting on my anthropologist's pith helmet to create a new feature about Washington that I hope you'll all read.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
10 years
On the plus side, the HBO go outage is helping family togetherness, as people all over call their parents to see if they changed a password
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Michael Schaffer
1 year
Try that in a big city
@J_Hancock
Jason Hancock
1 year
An entire small-town police department in Kansas raided a newspaper's offices and its reporters' homes because the paper got a tip about a well-connected person's DUI
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Michael Schaffer
4 years
I knew it was gonna be a chesse-puffs-overturned-on-the-Beltway kinda day. I just knew.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
1 year
Has any piece of media criticism had such an immediate impact — or such a lousy legacy — as Jon Stewart’s famous takedown of Crossfire?
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
We made a magazine
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Michael Schaffer
4 years
I wonder if A-Rod and Dan Quayle will ever be in the same place again
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Michael Schaffer
3 years
When the article hed could be the section name
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Michael Schaffer
2 years
Bizarre fun fact: The first newspaper article in LexisNexis that mentions Sarah Palin comes from 1996, and concerns a visit by Ivana Trump to the Anchorage J.C. Penney. Palin apparently took a day off work to see her.
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Michael Schaffer
4 years
There’s a party-throwing local mansion around here that could use their attention, too.
@yashar
Yashar Ali 🐘
4 years
Police Break Up 400-Person Party at Long Island Mansion
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
In a fitting end to the Trump years in my particular neighborhood, a bunch of pizzagate conspiracy loons protested our local restaurant but left after the restaurant started playing loud music & allies came to dance in the street.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
9 years
Carr gave me my first story, my first job, my first ass-kicking over weak work. Taught journalism, taught being a standup guy. Heartbroken.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
5 years
I’m coming home from Minneapolis with this most excellent plaque honoring my ⁦ @washingtonian ⁩ colleagues for making the best damn big city magazine in the country. So pumped for our team, ⁦ @merrillwilliams ⁩, and the whole company. #CRMAmpls
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
You don't say
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
3 months
Noem tried to tell the I-Shot-My-Dog story in her first book but was talked out of it. Second time, the guardrails didn’t hold…
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Michael Schaffer
3 years
I work with a terrific team @washingtonian , and today they voted to be represented by @washguild . Even in a tough summer of debate, Delta, and anxiety, they kept making a great magazine. Now I’m looking forward to collaborating anew on ways to make the work even better.
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Michael Schaffer
5 months
"After decades of tumbling crime, many in Washington seem to forget the toxic effect that fear of violence can have on politics. A fearful electorate is more susceptible to demagoguery and terrible ideas and warped understanding of how a city works."
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
3 years
The recent golden age of DC growth/wealth has also been a pretty dreary age of DC architecture. The new DC public libraries seem to be an exception. What an odd change—private sector condo bldgs go up fast/generic, public sector considers creativity.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 months
I'm as offended as the next DC native when it comes to the trampling of self-government, but I wonder sometime whether an appeal to basic good management is a more effective argument against federal meddling than the appeal to fairness has been.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
Some people wait years to write a lede like this, in a story about how the local Next Day Blinds chain has been taken over by California chain called 3 Day Blinds: "If you were hoping for Next Day Blinds, you’ll now have to wait two extra days."
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
3 years
Today is the final @kojoshow on @wamu885 . I sat down with Kojo @Nnamdikid for an exit interview of sorts—touching on how he wound up in DC, the future of local media, his thoughts on the region, more. Take a read (after you listen to the show at noon!).
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 years
Burying the lede here about Indiana declaring independence
@UKinUSA
British Embassy Washington
2 years
Today the UK signed a trade and economic agreement with Indiana. A great 🇺🇸-🇬🇧 collaboration to benefit both countries!
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
Didn't leave anything on the field
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
3 years
In Rehoboth, the dream lives on.
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Michael Schaffer
2 years
I worked with lots of geniuses @wcp , but there was no one whose judgment I trusted more than @Darrow_M . I lived in fear that he’d pan some story or idea or scheme of mine. A magnificent photographer of DC, but also a conscience for generations of writers & editors. This sucks!
@wcp
Washington City Paper
2 years
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Michael Schaffer
4 years
Just realized that if Biden wins, this dateline is going to be a regular summer feature of American journalism. WH briefings at Dolle's! Pool holding pen at Funland!
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
I don't get her supposed dilemma. Story says she's a technocrat, not a hack. She's out of a job 1/20. Getting fired a month early can't be that big a deal. Personally, professionally, financially, & patriotically, what's the upside to aiding obstruction?
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
DC bans gatherings of more than 50 people, mandates mask-wearing outside the house, and requires visitors from states including Indiana to quarantine. MPD could have averted a crisis if they’d just sent a couple squad cars over to 1600 Penn to break up this illegal party.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
6 years
Foreign agents attacked American citizens on the streets of DC. Our report on Americans' efforts to bring them to justice
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
🎶🎶Well they stole ballots from the Chicken Man in Philly last night / and they voted absentee at his house, too/ Down at Four Seasons Landscaping they’re getting ready for a fight / Gonna see what them racket boys can do 🎶🎶
@willsommer
Will Sommer
4 years
Giuliani and other Trumpworld figures have promoted the idea that a Philly mob boss stole the election for Biden, and is now ready to flip to Trump to ensure that he can go hunting in national parks. The claim is total nonsense. Story via @arawnsley .
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
8 years
Pence's "serious" face looks like Will Ferrell doing GWB.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
People keep assuring me that this effort to overrule a free election is a clown show. But for the next 50 or so years, we’ll have to share a country knowing it includes hundreds of lawyers & thousands of enablers who once worked to thwart democracy.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
9 months
Remember when Bush was the biggest polarizer we'd ever seen? That version of the ex-president popped back up last week. Which was jarring, because his role model as a POTUS who actually goes away had made him a nostalgic fave.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
10 months
The Kremlin may have tried to assasinate someone in suburban DC. Why was the case left to local cops instead of intelligence experts? via @politico
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
8 years
"Of course it ain't true, but I want to make the son-of-a-bitch deny it." -LBJ
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
12 years
I demand to see Invisible Obama's invisible birth certificate
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
What if all of life was just a tiny speck of newspaper, inside a larger newspaper, inside an even larger newspaper, and on and on. It boggles the mind. The universe is so vast.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
Did the vetting team know this?
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
10 years
So I have some me news: I'm going to be the editor of @washingtonian . Immensely pumped for this. http://t.co/InQqB9efh1
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
7 years
@SimonMaloy Also just imagine: Visitor records!
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Michael Schaffer
2 years
“Unsolicited RSVPs” is my favorite DC concept of the year.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
1 year
Kid’s first hat tip
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 years
CSPAN has been walloped by cord cutting, which has slashed its revenue & audience. My column this week looked inside this venerable Beltway institution’s unlikely, poignant fight for eyeballs and relevance.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 years
“As the old journalistic adage goes, if your mother tells you she’s just a humble jurist calling balls and strikes, check it out.”
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 years
I'm in the final @wcp print, alongside @MikeMadden , @jackshafer , @jasoncherkis , @jelani9 & a bunch of fellow geezers. I wrote about: The Snyder suit, zany @carr2n anecdotes, @jon_fischer 's cruise ship, the sex workers in the lobby, more.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
5 years
I’m guest hosting @kojoshow today! Listen at noon.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
My great @washingtonian colleague @EvyMages ' various pictures from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial represent a narrative of the era, don't they?
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 years
I wrote about the politics of the Congressional hearings on the Commanders — the one venue where Dan Snyder is structurally guaranteed to have allies (and has taken advantage of it)
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
3 years
Helping mom clean out attic
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 years
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
At last ⁦ @ErikWemple ⁩ has wrested control of the Post’s editorials
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
I'm sorry to keep playing the local yokel here, but this man lives in Fairfax County and works in the District. Can local officials please intervene to force him to follow the law in order to keep our neighbors & coworkers safe?
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 years
“Fanone’s book is also a story about class in Washington, documenting the chasm between the national-capital VIPs who run the government and the hometown-D.C. folks who serve the drinks and staff the preschools and, yes, patrol the streets.”
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 years
I would have preferred The Final Days, but if the Washington Football Team was determined to go with a Woodward title for its new nickname, I guess The Commanders is okay.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
I get that you have to make statements like this, but if your state is literally on a coast, maybe it's best to come up with another catch-all slam than "coastal elites." So many caricatures out there, Virginia! You can do better!
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Michael Schaffer
4 years
It’s like a still from aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer
@markhlyon
Mark Lyon
4 years
Happening now: CBP and other agencies muster in preparation for supporting @DCPoliceDept this evening. @PoPville @DCist
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Michael Schaffer
6 months
I wrote about this crazy case where a judge in India was able to order a story by US reporters taken offline — in America. It’s a scary precedent from a national-sovereignty point of view. I wonder what the America-firsters who hate the media will think?
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
8 years
If he worked there today he would be called Artisanal Fruit-Compote Roll Morton
@jackshafer
Jack Shafer
8 years
Jelly Roll Morton managed and played in a bar at this DC location (2011 U) St in the late '30s.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
1 year
Smart @jackshafer on thinly-sourced correlation-equals-causality coverage of Tucker firing
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
"Projected President-elect." Hm.
@7NewsDC
7News DC
4 years
Projected President-elect Joe Biden is naming some of his most prominent allies to be the co-chairs for his upcoming Inauguration.
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Michael Schaffer
3 years
This is a beautifully told story by my colleague @lmullinsdc , who learned about DC’s secret covid morgue and told the heart-tugging story of the volunteers and public servants who took care of the dead there. Please take a look.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
2 years
In Beltway parlance, #Thistown has become code for what are essentially misdemeanor offenses. And we’re now in a time of felonies. How is the writer whose book became the hashtag supposed to feel? I found him in a sorta introspective mood.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
4 years
This removal of confederate statues is really getting out of control.
@axios
Axios
4 years
BREAKING: Rep. Steve King has been defeated in Iowa's Republican primary.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
3 years
This is really entertaining, and the (ghost?) writing is great, but dude is trying to have his merlot and drink it, too. I don't recall any great Boehnerian bravery in the face of government shutdown lunacy or anything else. via @politico
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
8 years
This is some pretty epic extended-metaphorage from @jonathanchait
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
7 months
The Archives, as you recall, had some legal issues with Trump that are still in court. So why invite Melania to an immigration ceremony at HQ? I tried to find out why.
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@michaelschaffer
Michael Schaffer
10 months
The good news: This shutdown won't turn downtown DC into a ghost town. The bad news: That's because 3 years of work-from-home have kinda done that already.
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