The outrage over the way some in the media have been covering the tragedy of Trayvon Martin has crossed partisan lines, as last night Brent Bozell of the conservative Media Research Center targeted the “liberal media,” particularly NBC and MSNBC, for their role in advancing the story. Bozell spoke to Sean Hannity during his regular segment on the eponymous program and condemned the “falsehoods” of NBC and called the shooting “another Tawana Brawley moment.”

Bill O’Reilly clearly doesn’t think all that much about the way other networks have been covering the Trayvon Martin coverage. O’Reilly opened his program last night attacking what he considered “pathetic” attempts to “whip up the Trayvon Martin case to dangerous levels,” particularly by MSNBC, but he included CNN in his attack. He discussed the case with Mike Huckabee, asking, as a Southern governor, how he dealt with similar cases.

On Thursday, Dr. Alveda King, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece and director of African American outreach for the pro-life group Priests for Life, appeared on Fox News Channel’s America’s Newsroom with Martha MacCallum where she called the recently slain Trayvon Martin a “late abortion.”

In an interview with Orlando Sentinel reporter Arelis Hernández this morning, the Rev. Al Sharpton warned that an escalation in civil disobedience and economic sanctions would be imminent unless Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman was apprehended immediately. “I will speak about how the National Action Network will move to the next level if Zimmerman isn’t arrested,” Sharpton told Hernández, adding that he will “elaborate on this plan Saturday” when thousands are expected to demonstrate.

The new George Zimmerman surveillance video, released by the Sanford Police Department, is the latest in the ongoing release of information in the Trayvon Martin case. Upon seeing the footage, many said Zimmerman looked unharmed, contrary to claims on the police report. On his show Thursday evening, Rev. Al Sharpton argued just that. It’s clear from the video, he said, that Zimmerman wasn’t hurt — and certainly not hurt enough to shoot in self-defense.

Rush Limbaugh is ready to declare the controversy surrounding the shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin entirely contrived. On Thursday, he warned his radio audience to be cautious of future stories with a racial component as they are likely to be “manufactured and made up for the advancement of a political agenda.”

The release of surveillance footage, by the Sanford Police Dept. to ABC News, of Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman showing little or no signs of injury the night of the incident has been called a “game changer” by our own Dan Abrams, and others, because it undercuts Zimmerman’s version of events. However, according to conservative website The Daily Caller‘s “analysis,” the tape might show “a vertical laceration or scar several inches long.”

Last weekend, CNN’s Howard Kurtz took issue with the dual role Rev. Al Sharpton is playing in the Trayvon Martin case. While he is an MSNBC anchor, Sharpton has also been an activist who “has claimed a starring role in the Trayvon Martin case.” On a Reliable Sources segment, and then in a Daily Beast piece, Kurtz said even commentators have rules to abide by, but Sharpton has “obliterated” any such boundaries. In a recent Associated Press piece that tackled the same topic, MSNBC head Phil Griffin openly stated, “We didn’t hire Al to become a neutered kind of news presenter.”

Over the weekend, Reliable Sources host Howard Kurtz slammed MSNBC for allowing Rev. Al Sharpton to cover the Trayvon Martin story, while leading rallies and protests at the same time. Rev. Sharpton picked up an unlikely ally Tuesday night, as The Young Turks‘ Cenk Uygur, who has been sharply critical of The Rev in the past, came to his defense, saying “God bless Rev. Sharpton. He’s bringing to light an issue that needed that light, that needed that attention.”

Bernie Goldberg isn’t buying the fact that the killing of Trayvon Martin would have gotten as much national attention as it has if the teenager had not been killed by a white person. Goldberg joined Bill O’Reilly today for his usual weekly commentary and noted, with the caveat that “all decent people should want justice,” he could not see civil rights leaders as up in arms as they are today if this story did not have potential racism in it, because “they don’t want to air their dirty laundry.”

As the Trayvon Martin case receives more and more national attention, a number of famous entertainers and non-political celebrities have come out to take a stand and call for further investigation into the teenager’s death. This has sometimes resulted in rather unorthodox cable news panels, like tonight’s on PoliticsNation, where host Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson and comedian Sinbad, who told the group he felt obligated to speak up as someone with a spotlight on himself.

On CNN’s Reliable Sources today, Howard Kurtz called out MSNBC Anchor Al Sharpton for having it both ways on the Trayvon Martin story: covering it on his program, PoliticsNation, and then being a part of a rally for it in Florida, publicly calling for George Zimmerman to be arrested. Kurtz first brought up the discrepancy in coverage between Fox News and MSNBC.

The Rev. Al Sharpton stopped by Morning Joe on Wednesday to speak in depth about the case of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who had been shot to death by a self-appointed community watchman named George Zimmerman. After noting that Zimmerman had made over 40 calls to 911, the group focused on whether Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law holds up in this particular case, as well as whether local Sanford, Florida authorities have been handling this case properly.

Tracy Martin, father of Trayvon Martin, who was killed a by a neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman spoke to Al Sharpton on MSNBC’s Politics Nation Monday evening. “The family is calling for justice. We don’t want our son’s death to be in vain. We’re looking for answers. We haven’t received any answers, we just don’t understand. I don’t have any understanding as to why my son is dead to this day,” Martin told Sharpton.

A very young person was killed last month, for carrying a bag of Skittles and an iced tea. His killer made a dubious claim of self-defense, despite being explicitly told by law enforcement he had no right to confront the teen and his Skittles for his “suspicious” behavior. The claim worked, and witnesses say that police officers told them they were mistaken when they tried to say it was the teen who cried out for help, and not the killer. Trayvon Martin‘s death is a harrowing story, particularly given that his killer, George Zimmerman, seems to have escaped any brush with the legal justice system. It should alarm any American than our legal system protected Zimmerman’s liberty after his crime. So why are only black people talking about it?

A poll conducted this week in anticipation of today’s Alabama and Mississippi primaries found some data show that a shocking number of people in both states believed President Obama was a Muslim. This poll concerned Chris Matthews tonight significantly, since it seemed to him to feed Republican support for Mitt Romney despite him being Mormon. To Matthews, Romney was like an Indian (“or somewhere in the Third World”) computer scientist fixing your computer: “you don’t care who is fixing it, just fix the damn computer!”

Al Sharpton has spent much of his week working on rallies about race in America, and began his program yesterday talking about race within the Republican Party with two fellow MSNBC hosts, Chris Hayes and Melissa Harris-Perry. The segment has a little bit of everything you’d expect in the quintessential MSNBC panel– talk the use of race on the American right to divide the country, the increasing number of white “militias,” and, most comically, Hayes’ assertion that Rush Limbaugh‘s attacks on President Obama’s black bona fides are, in fact, “impotent.”

During his victory speech in Georgia last night, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told the crowd that President Obama, in his Tuesday press conference, “said, ‘You know, I’m really worried about higher gas prices because it will make it harder for me to get re-elected.’ I did not make this up.”

Within minutes, MSNBC’s Al Sharpton blasted Gingrich’s claim, calling it an “outright lie,” while co-host Rachel Maddow shared the panel’s comical reaction to Gingrich’s claim before playing a clip of what the President actually said at that press conference.

CNN’s Don Lemon spoke with the Rev. Al Sharpton about Whitney Houston‘s funeral and the touchy subject of Bobby Brown leaving after getting into an argument with Houston’s family. Sharpton told Lemon, “I wish people would leave Bobby alone.”

Have you gotten — ahem– Lin-ough of New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin and the pun frenzy associated with him? MSNBC’s Al Sharpton hasn’t and Lin fact, got Lin-volved in an Lin-promptu Lin-terview. Playing off of the cable news network’s Lean Forward campaign — comes Lin Forward!

On Wednesday’s Morning Joe, fellow MSNBC host Al Sharpton came on to discuss the latest twist in the Republican primary race. According to a new poll, Rick Santorum leads Mitt Romney, 36% to 29%. If his new “Rombo” ad is any indication, Santorum is feeling pretty good about himself.

Appearing on MSNBC’s PoliitcsNation, California Senator Barbara Boxer quoted a Jon Stewart sketch on last night’s Daily Show to slam Republican opposition to mandating employers to offer contraception coverage in their health insurance plans. “Jon Stewart, last night, of course, in his amazing way, uses humor and says, well, guess I would have a great time ’cause I believe that laughter is the cure of everything!” Boxer exclaimed.

Lawrence O’Donnell dedicated most of his program tonight to the death of Whitney Houston, with friends and critics coming on the program to discuss the tragedy of losing Houston and sharing their thoughts on her impact and why she died so young. Among those were MSNBC host Al Sharpton and contributor Touré, one who spoke to the unity of the family around Houston, the other to the enormous stress that black artists in particular have to cope with after they reach a certain level of success.

Societal pressures have made Valentine’s Day a very stressful time for the world’s men. Sometimes it’s really difficult to show your significant other the magical day you feel they deserve. Sure, some people like myself are preternaturally gifted at giving their girlfriends exactly what they want (Oh, crap. I hope she doesn’t read Mediaite or else I totally just ruined that “pony covered in rose petals” surprise…), but what about everyone else? The guys of the world need some helpful pointers to make sure they don’t mess things up. I mean, I’d help but my pony guy is all out of ponies. So who else is there? Well, Al Sharpton, of course!

If you were looking for a sign of just how divisive American politics is, look no further than the widespread Republican distaste for Clint Eastwood‘s Super Bowl ad for Chrysler where the famously conservative anti-bailout Hollywood star may have covertly been endorsing President Obama‘s reelection. On Real Time tonight, Bill Maher and panel took on the ad and the whole issue of auto bailouts, as if this was 2009 all over again.