Politico Senior Editor Gregg Birnbaum is Duh, Winning

Kat Stoeffel — Fri, 06 May 2011 14:31:43 -0400

We always knew we liked Gregg Birnbaum, from his obsessive Hillary Clinton campaign blog, his glorious exit from the Post in December and his resemblance to Cabin Boy's Chris Elliott. Now, a tipster points us to the New Jersey Star-Ledger, which shows Mr. Birnbaum getting patriotic at Ground Zero on Sunday night after Osama bin Laden's death. Mr. Birnbaum certainly seems freed from the shackles of something--although we're not sure whether it's global terror or just former boss Col Allan. At any rate: we're glad at least one reporter decided to turn off CNN, put on his flag-lined denim jacket and Charlie Sheen tee shirt, and get in the streets.

"It was a very special night at Ground Zero and I will always remember being a part of it," Mr. Birnbaum wrote The Observer in an e-mail. For him, the celebration was more about New York solidarity than terrorist bloodlust.

"While that picture shows my exuberance at the killing of bin Laden--and that was certainly how the crowd felt--perhaps the most moving part of the evening was when a spontaneous moment of silence quieted us, hands were raised silently in the air flashing the victory sign, and for 60 seconds we honored the 9/11 families. The silence ended with chants of "USA! USA!" Who could forget a night like that?" he wrote.

kstoeffel@observer.com :: @kstoeffel

Observer » Politico Senior Editor Gregg Birnbaum is Duh, Winning

Politico Senior Editor Gregg Birnbaum is Duh, Winning