video President Barack Obama appeared before the press tonight with Vice President Joe Biden and once again demonstrated his calm and cool style in the face of a major, historic event with his patented rhetorical flourish."Tonight we answered the call of history as so many generations of Americans have before us. When faced with crisis? We did not shrink from our challenge, we overcame it. We did not avoid our responsibility, we embraced it. We did not fear our future, we shaped it." Video below: (more...)

video The House of Representatives just passed a hotly debated and controversial health care bill with a vote of 219 to 212. Its a stunning turn of events from just a few days ago when conventional wisdom had the bill dying on the hill. To best understand the scale of the moment, Fox News news analyst Charles Krauthammer set up the moment quite prosaically. "It's now the law of the land. This is a historic moment. This is the moment I think America changes. I don't think it will ever end up being repealed. There's no way it could happen before 2013. I think its unlikely to happen anytime at all. In terms of debt it will be huge... (more...)

video 60 Minutes aired tonight what feels like the kajillionth interview/profile of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Boy does he look tired. Interestingly, the excerpt released yesterday in which Emanuel referred to the "fringe" element of the GOP did not make the final cut, so perhaps there is more to come online the sometime in the next few days. The interview contained the usual tropes: Emanuel's aggressive style, his penchant for profanity (he never swears in the Oval Office), and the toll his job is taking on his family life (his kids get up at 5:15am so they can go swimming with him), his competitive relationship with his brothers Ari and Zeke. (more...)

video This is the game-changer, folks: Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak held a press conference at 4 p.m. today saying he's voting yes on the House health care bill, with President Barack Obama signing an executive order that places restrictions on federal funding that can go to abortions in order to get the necessary voting bloc that Stupak brings to the table. (more...)

Bill O'Reilly and Karl Rove may bust the chops of Sean Penn, Tom Hanks, and other smoking/drinking/eating Hollywood liberals, but we bet the next time Hugh Grant's name appears on the network, there will be nothing but kind words. That's because the Meet the Morgans actor managed to get into a physical altercation with Matthew Freud, son-in-law of Rupert Murdoch and super-critic of Roger Ailes, president of FNC. (more...)

In case you wanted to see everyone employed by cable news in a 12 hour period, turn on your TV today to watch the coverage of the health care reform bill that Democrats say they now have enough votes to pass. Sean Hannity, Megyn Kelly, Shepard Smith, Bill Hemmer, Bret Baier, Greta van Susteren, Bill O'Reilly, and Geraldo Rivera will be rounding out the Fox lineup, while over at CNN Wolf Blitzer, Candy Crowley and John King will be starting their coverage at 1 pm, with Larry King on at 9. Tune in and watch every talking head from these two channels as they try to find enough filler material to debate until we actually get a bill passed. (more...)

video Kathy Griffin was in D.C. earlier this week for a rally at the capitol to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." While the My Life On The D List celebrity has made gay rights one of her biggest causes, she also took a moment to talk to interviewer Liz Glover about Scientology, Levi Johnston, and flying on Southwest. (more...)

Just because the Academy Awards happened two weeks ago doesn't mean that it's too late for Michael Moore to say his piece. Mainly, that Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker was a piece of crap because it was "lazy" and that James Cameron's Avatar was amazing because of its portrayal of how we "privatized war" and treated the planet. (more...)

video For those carefully monitoring the potentially historic health care vote this weekend (and the subsequent online debate) there were a number of Internet memes that had a short but impactful lifespan yesterday. One such example is a nine-second viral video of Representative Alcee Hastings (D-FL) proclaiming in conference “we just make up the rules as we go along,” which, in the context of the current debate over the byzantine legislation process, is a pointed example of why so many are currently frustrated with the Government. However, the quote in question is lacking in context; that Hastings' quip was in reference to a Thomas Edison quote, and that taken in full, the quote isn't nearly as damning as was originally presented. In fact, its fair to say that the selective editing is disingenuous. What's worse? It appears to have started on the YouTube channel managed by the office House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH.) (more...)

video "Rising tensions on Capitol Hill" is a cliche in cable news, but it may never have been apt than today. With the House of Representatives currently negotiating a controversial vote on a Senate bill that aims to reform health care, protesters have gathered to voice their opposition to the bill. CNN's Capitol Hill reporter Dana Bash reports today of personally witnessing epithets being used towards John Lewis (D-GA) and Barney Frank (D-MA) by protesters that had been identified earlier as "Tea Party people." (more...)

video President Barack Obama spoke in the conference hall of the Capitol today about the health care reform bill which is coming close to meeting enough votes to pass in the House of Representatives, which earlier today decided not use the "deem and pass" strategy to railroad the bill through Congress. "I know this is a tough vote for some of you," said our president, adding "Don't do it for Nancy Pelosi, or Harry Reid, or me. Do It for the American People." Pay attention folks, this speech is definitely one for the history books. (more...)

The Conan O'Brien effect is vast: Ever since the late night host began his fight with Jay Leno for NBC's coveted time-slot, the "I'm With Coco" campaign has taken over Facebook, Twitter, and every other social-networking platform you can think of. O'Brien's own Twitter account made waves went it first went up, and then again last week when he followed his first fan - Sara Killen - who then became a micro-celebrity herself. Now the man behind "I'm With Coco" image has stepped out from behind his Banksy-esque silence to talk about his new-found success as the official designer for Conan's tour posters. (more...)

video After a week of debate over the process behind passing the potentially historic health care legislation before them, it appears that the Democrats in the House will now not be using the "deem and pass" method to move the bill through the house. Representatives Steny Hoyer and Tom Clyburn just announced to the press on Capital Hill that they expect to have the votes to pass the Senate bill deeming the "deem and pass" tactic unnecessary to pass the bill. (more...)

video White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was recently interviewed by CBS' Katie Couric for tomorrow night's episode of 60 Minutes, a short clip of which has been released online. In the clip made available, Emanuel briefly discusses the challenges of his political foes: the Republican Party, and says that they have their "own problems and fissures" and are "at the behest of a fringe group that's taken control of their own party." Video below:

I think The Republicans have a level of energy but inside that energy they have their own problem and fissures. They're basically at the behest of a fringe group that's taken control of their own party and their own leaders are scared of it.

video Bill Maher's graphics team had a fun time last night making up posters for Liz Cheney's alleged 2012 campaign for office. Maher's attack on Dick Cheney's daughter comes after her Keep America Safe ads several weeks ago which depicted the lawyers who defended suspected Al Qaeda members as terrorists themselves. (more...)

Apple CEO Steve Jobs - whose...er...job of late it seems is to keep his health issues private and out of public scrutiny - has finally opened up about his long battle with pancreatic cancer and other health problems. The impetus for the sharing? Jobs' was coming out in support of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's bill to have California drivers decide when they get their license whether or not they'd donate their organs. Currently CA law has it that possible donors can attach the stickers themselves at their convenience. (more...)

video Yesterday President Barack Obama was met with thunderous applause at George Mason University, where he delivered a rousing speech about this weekend's "historic event" in health care. We honestly haven't seen Obama in such top form since he was campaigning, and it was nothing short of inspiring. You forget sometimes that our current POTUS is an amazing orator, and despite the current back and forth in the House and Senate over this reform bill, just listening to Obama joke about being "the comeback kid" can transform you back to those heady days of 2008, when change really did seem like something we could believe in. Watch the full video and an excerpt of the transcript below. (more...)

video After 3 years of back-and-forth court battles of Viacom versus YouTube after the media conglomerate was unable to purchase the video sharing site (and was outbid by Google), the court documents that were previously unavailable to the public are finally ready to be seen by America...and they aren't pretty. Think YouTube called Viacom "a jilted lover," if jilted lovers created lots of fake accounts, didn't even know which clips belonged to them (we all remember when we could watch The Colbert Report and MTV clips on YouTube?) and in a final, desperate attempt, tried to partner with Google on the deal but were told to back off. (more...)

Ah, Europe. With their laxer policies from everything from drinking to nudity, who wouldn't want to live there? But it's not all free-wheeling nudists Frenchmen all bicycles: BBC Breakfast host Sian Williams said she would read the news naked, if that's what it get her out of paying over $9k in taxes that she was trying to write off as expenses. But both her bosses and a tax tribunal said nay. (more...)

video MSNBC's David Shuster made an appearance at yesterday's White House briefing, and afterward, sat down for an interview for Mediaite. While not a regular presence in the briefing room, Shuster is more than qualified to render an opinion on the journalism being practiced there, and that distance allows him to make fresh observations. Shuster, you may recall, rather famously did battle with Andrew Breitbart and James O'Keefe over the latter's arrest for his alleged involvement in an attempt to "maliciously interfere" with the telephones at Senator Mary Landrieu's office. In this preview of our interview, I asked Shuster for his take on the position of people like Andrew Breitbart, Matt Drudge, and James O'Keefe in journalism. His responses were rather surprising. (more...)

No not this one. Nor this one. Print subscribers to the New York Times will already know the answer because the accompanying picture to the article takes up 3/4 of the above-the-fold space of today's paper. Hillary and Obama! (more...)

It was a big day in court for CNBC's business news competitors - both FBN and Bloomberg won Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits against the Federal Reserve. And they did it right next to each other in the same courthouse. (more...)

video At yesterday's White House briefing, the hot topic du jour was the House Democrats' procedural "Deem and Pass" maneuver, also known as "Demon Pass," the "Slaughter Rule," and if I'm not mistaken, the "Cider House Rule?"  I'm not sure about that last one. All this after Fox News' Brett Baier spent a good chunk of his POTUS exclusive grilling President Obama on whether he supports the maneuver. Just to be thorough, I took a shot at the question with First Dog Bo Obama. Not surprisingly, he agreed with the President. (more...)

The Congressional Budget Office released its preliminary estimate of the Senate health care bill yesterday and found that the bill would reduce the deficit by $130 Billion in the first 10 years and $1.2 trillion in the second 10 years. Upon the report’s release, conservative bloggers and pundits began trying to discredit the CBO, saying that the office allows Democrats to cook the numbers and its estimates are often not a good indicator of reality. If the CBO is so unreliable, then these bloggers wouldn’t cite it uncritically when it favors their positions, right? (more...)

video There are two very distinct things to note about the way CNN has introduced the upcoming 7pmET show John King, USA to its audience - the show itself and the way it happened. John King hosted a trial run of the program today on CNN.com/live, which gave a sneak peek at what the show will be, but also gave viewers a chance to give their take on the first look. (more...)

Today, W Magazine tweeted that readers could unlock special deals and content via their iPhone app. “Take a pic of any ad in the April issue with your smart phone,” the tweet read. “Send it to W@pongr.com & get special deals and dish on your favorite brands.” It looks like magazines in the Condé Nast family are stepping on each other’s perfectly pedicured toes for their entree into the world of the iPhone application.

video Is anyone in the media not talking about Glenn Beck? It's clear we here at Mediaite certainly spend a lot of time doing so, but it would appear the rest of the world is catching up. Are they ever. Just take my morning media consumption as an example. (more...)

I am attached to my blackberry. Sometimes, when I'm holding it, my other hand goes to my pocket automatically in search of it. I'm on a plane now with it, and will be typing this post furiously until the flight attendant makes me stop - at the very last minute. (more...)

video According to some, the United States House of Representatives will soon pass the controversial health care reform bill this weekend. If true, and one is to believe that, as Howell Raines recently stated, that Fox News has been "conduct (ing) a propaganda campaign against the Obama administration," then perhaps Raines will see this as the white flag of surrender. Kiss bass-player Gene Simmons discussing the woes of health care reform on America Live with host Megyn Kelly. Woof. (more...)

video Earlier this week, in what is surely a sign of the coming Demon Sheep Apocalypse, both Michael Moore and Rush Limbaugh raised the same concern in responding to heartbreaking healthcare anecdotes. On Countdown, Moore pointed out that the reform bill would not have helped Natoma Canfield, because the pre-existing condition rule doesn't kick in for adults for 4 years. The following day, Countdown fill-in Lawrence O'Donnell chastised Rush Limbaugh for telling 11 year-old Marcelas Owens that his mother "would have died anyway" due to the same provision. At yesterday's White House briefing, I asked Robert Gibbs to explain the gap to Moore and Limbaugh. (more...)

It’s a title you would expect to refer to something written on Sarah Palin’s Facebook page, but the good folks at The Daily Beast have won the gold on outrageously, offensively false opinion pieces with this gem from Gina Piccalo, who suggests that the 1980s are a completely forgettable decade in the history of modern cinema. (more...)

video Things I have gleaned from my Twitter feed today: It is the second anniversary of the death of Arthur C. Clarke. Things that are noticeably absent: Any mention that today is the 7th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq. It's an absence made even more noteable when one considers the deluge of reflection that overtook Twitter this last Sept. 11. Today's anniversary is not even a trending topic (more...)

video The comedy interview form is easy to replicate, but very difficult to master. Judging by the recent efforts of Zack Galifinakis to interview Ben Stiller on his Funny or Die! produced "Between Two Ferns" bit, Galifinakis has mastered the form. It's funny. Really funny. Watch and see.

audio We've seen a lot of reaction to Bret Baier's exclusive interview with Pres. Barack Obama Wednesday on Fox News, and in the same way Baier focused on process over content, the reaction has largely focused on tactics over content. One of the toughest criticisms came from Baier's own colleague today - Geraldo Rivera. (more...)

video Cue collective head explosion. Glenn Beck was doing one of his live audience shows last night -- among other things, advocating against violent protests -- and who should appear but Fox News analyst Sarah Palin! Palin was apparently on Beck's mind when he heard about some armed protests in Alaska so he asked her to come on. I happen to find that the two together weirdly cancel each other out; the result being far more low key than you might suspect. (Or surreal, depending how accustomed you are to Beck.) But nevertheless! (more...)

video CNN anchor Anderson Cooper was on Celebrity Jeopardy last night, and in keeping with the success level of cable news hosts recently on the program, he finished with zero dollars. What happened? Here's a look at how it all went wrong - and how the guy who smokes weed with Tommy Chong became the champ. (more...)

Peggy Noonan's WSJ column this week is utterly brilliant in so far as, had President Obama at the last minute decided to stick with his plan to visit to Australia and Indonesia she would have only had to change a few words and voila! She could still make her point. Which is: the President is a failure and he is embarrassing her. A lose-lose for Obama is merely a win-win for columnists! Also, he's being mean to Australia. (more...)

Is Bill O'Reilly softening as others on Fox News go more partisan or attack stronger? It's a case made today by the Los Angeles Times' Matea Gold, who talked to the longtime cable news ratings leader about his role at the network - and Glenn Beck. (more...)

video Last week's episode of 30 Rock featured a "truth is better than fiction" plot line that introduced the acquisition of NBC by a Philadelphia-based cable provider known as "Kabletown" (which parallels the real-life drama behind Comcast's efforts to purchase the real-life television network.) Of course, 30 Rock is a fictional comedy whose writers consistently have Escher-esque fun with real-life influences and characters. But one has to wonder if the disparaging depiction of the cable provider's revenue dependence on pay-per-view pornography isn't a real-life concern in the halls of NBC HQ. (more...)

video Will Washington survive this weekend's health care vote? (And if it didn't would that be the worst thing ever?) NPR's Morning Edition has been packed with stories this morning about the pressure the Dems are under to pull together enough Yes votes for this Sunday's epic Health Care vote. Double that for Bart Stupak who is holding on to his No vote come hell or highwater. No Air Force One rides will sway him! Or will they? (more...)