Elmira had a set of parties, and the Villagers Society Pages, er, Tiger Beat’s, er, Politico's, email thingie tells us who amongst the movers and shakers and floaters was there!

THE JUICE … SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS had a pair of going-away events this week after wrapping up her tenure as White House press secretary.— SPOTTED at Sanders’ White House correspondent going-away drinks Monday night at Rare, organized by Anita Kumar and Francesca Chambers: Josh Dawsey, Ashley Parker, Anne Gearan, Jennifer Jacobs, David Smith, Chris Johnson, Hunter Walker, Shirish Date, Franco Ordonez, Jeff Mason, Steve Holland, Todd Gillman, Jon Karl, Sara Cook, Fin Gomez, Debra Saunders, Dave Boyer, Asawin Suebsaeng, Nikki Schwab, John Roberts, Hogan Gidley, Steve Groves, Judd Deere and Jarrod Agen. The NYT coverage, by Shawn McCreesh … Erik Wemple in WaPo

OK, that’s just sad. More proof that There Is A Club And You Are Not In It, or maybe it is the Stockholm Syndrome in action?

The Columbia Journalism Review has a somewhat scathing story with quotes from some attendees, some on record, most not. It’s not pretty watching your Failed Media grovel to justify why they are there:

“A White House correspondent who resembled a young William Shatner (and didn’t want to be named) took a gulp of beer and said that the night felt like “the end of a battle, or a decent game of rugby, where at the end of the day you shake hands.”“A colleague chimed in, “Everybody has their issue with Sarah Sanders, but if you can’t have a drink with somebody, then all of civilization has broken down.”

And this just is more data for why our media sucks so bad. That is almost the definition of access journalism right there. It’s not news, it’s a game and we are all players.But then there are a few (OK, one) journalist who proudly did not attend:

When the party had been announced, some journalists (and news readers) balked. “I’m on a cross-country flight, and very disturbed that in the midst of these serious issues, of possible strikes against Iran, there was no briefing by Sarah Huckabee Sanders in over 100 plus days,” April Ryan, a CNN analyst and White House correspondent, said in an Instagram video. “Sarah Huckabee, have your party. I won’t be there. Girl, bye!”

Thank-you April Ryan. You restore my faith that some reporters still have some integrity.

Back to Tiger Beat, who continues to list attendees at yet another party, and you know, an enterprising subpoena server could have made their yearly goal in a single night:

— SPOTTED at Sanders’ White House going-away party, at the Trump Hotel on Tuesday night: President Donald Trump (who stopped by after a fundraiser to offer a brief toast), Ivanka Trump, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Alyssa Farah, Linda McMahon, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Joe Grogan, Rick Dearborn, Lindsey Walters, Raj Shah, Mick Mulvaney, Stephanie Grisham, Mercedes Schlapp, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Pat Cipollone, Marc Short, Bill Shine, Kayleigh McEnaney …… Kellyanne Conway, Brad Rateike, Stephen Miller, Larry Kudlow, Tim Murtaugh, Jessica Ditto, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Andy Post, Sean Spicer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Hogan Gidley, Judd Deere, Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Steven Groves, Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, Derek Lyons, Nick Butterfield, Kerri Kupec, James Rockas, Ninio Fetalvo, May Davis, Chris Liddell, Julia Hahn, Catherine Keller, Ashley Mocarski, Michael Kratsios, Eric Bolling, Tony Sayegh, Zach Parkinson, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, Bill Shine and Julie and Wynn Radford.

Anyway, the Possum has not yet left the building. There may be more parties.

Republished with permission from Mock Paper Scissors