BBC World News anchor Katty Kay got off a cheeky one-liner that had her fellow Chris Matthews Show panelists chuckling (and in Kathleen Parker‘s case, perhaps blushing) when she assessed Florida’s importance in electoral politics by saying “It’s very big, and it swings.”

That’s probably true, but it’s fair to ask what good that does, given the state’s history of electile dysfunction.

Newt Gingrich‘s family values have been the subject of much attention during the GOP primary race, and on his show today, Chris Matthews highlighted a poll which showed roughly half of the respondents rated Gingrich’s personal standards poorly. Mathews asked panelist Andrew Sullivan if the GOP establishment still retained enough clout to heavily influence the race going forward, given the concerns they have about a Gingrich candidacy.

Andrew Sullivan‘s Newsweek story on President Obama angered plenty of conservatives, as the magazine retitled the piece “Why are Obama’s critics so dumb?” and Sullivan, a self-proclaimed conservative, stood up for the president. On tonight’s Anderson Cooper 360º, Sullivan defended his thesis that the President had governed well against Republican strategist Bay Buchanan.

Tina Brown and Newsweek‘s decision to put Andrew Sullivan’s provocative essay (and an even more provocative headline) on the cover was purely about getting people to talk about Newsweek. That was the theory put forth by a Fox News panel during a segment dedicated to…talking about Newsweek. But, as Megyn Kelly proposed at the start, has Newsweek and the mainstream media “crossed a line in trying to get the President reelected?”

Former governor Sarah Palin has some strong words concerning the writer of Newsweek‘s most recent cover story, which asks “Why Are Obama’s Critics So Dumb?”

Glenn Reynolds of the popular conservative blog Instapundit (home of the “Instalanche,” the nickname given to the huge amounts of traffic an Instapundit link can drive) made an unfortunate observation about the Newsweek cover that has so many conservative bloggers in a lather. Rather than focus on Andrew Sullivan‘s titular question “Why are Obama’s critics so dumb,” Reynolds picks on the cover photo, and the President’s “liverish lips.”

Political blogger Andrew Sullivan has made an endorsement among this year’s ever-thinning field crop of GOP presidential contenders, and it’s none other than Ron Paul.

Andrew Sullivan spent a good deal of his morning on television today, following up an appearance on The Chris Matthews Show with an extended interview on Reliable Sources, where the blogger discussed moderate conservatism and his increased alienation from the American right with Howard Kurtz. Sullivan insisted that, despite praising President Obama and, on some issues, falling in the Ezra Klein/Thomas Friedman column, he was still a true conservative.

First Lady Michelle Obama‘s frigid welcome at a NASCAR game was one of the week’s biggest highlights, but to some, it was the reception of the incident from the right that told the story. On today’s Chris Matthews Show, the panel used the NASCAR incident as a prism through which to analyze the Republican race and, noting that the Republican base– the kind that is comfortable with calling the First Lady “uppity”– is “xenophobic and nativist,” they wondered how such an extreme party could win a general election.

Who knew that almost fifty years later, the legacy of President John F. Kennedy would arouse such passionate feelings in people? Chris Matthews, who was on Real Time with Bill Maher tonight to promote his new book about the late president, was naturally very defensive of the Kennedy legacy, and went at it rather passionately with fellow panelist Andrew Sullivan over Kennedy’s foreign policy credentials and whether he was a militaristic hawk while in office.

Bill Maher ripped the entire Republican field in his final episode of the 2011 season, sparing no one, from the politically divisive Herman Cain to the self-proclaimed moderate Jon Huntsman, whom Maher had a few surprisingly strong words for. He began the panel discussion by recapping this week’s local election news, from the defeat of Mississippi’s personhood amendment to the union victory in Ohio.

On his show today, Chris Matthews discussed the Rick Perry-Mitt Romney matchup with his panel and wondered whether the GOP would end up choosing the candidate more in line with their philosophy or the one who (for now) has the better chance of winning.

Guys, we don’t mind telling you that it’s been a pretty slow week for news. We’ve got undercover cupcakes and robo-Palins and, of course, that one guy’s rather outgoing male appendage. But we, and other media bloggers, aren’t exactly scrambling to keep track of myriad breaking news items this week. So you’ll forgive the Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan for crafting a short blog entry – “Piper Palin as Bodyguard” – that consists of a very important query.

Chris Matthews doubted Sarah Palin‘s ability to be elected President, just days after doubting the chances of any other Republican from stopping her from claiming the Republican nomination. However, one of Palin’s harshest critics, Andrew Sullivan, warned Matthews that she could in fact go all the way. Sullivan listed some possible scenarios where Palin could realistically be elected and Matthews concluded only an “Armageddon moment” could make it possible.

With the momentous news that Osama bin Laden has been killed, Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner feels almost like an event from a bygone era. Still, for those of you who still remember the dinner, but have already seen President Obama‘s blistering Donald Trump routine, or Seth Meyers‘ dry-roasting of the media like so many [...]

For those wondering where the mainstream media is in covering the brouhaha over Wonkette’s birthday attack on Trig Palin (since deleted), CNN’s Reliable Sources answered the call Sunday morning. Host Howard Kurtz gave a quick recounting of the offensive post (and perhaps too much credit for an apology), and while the panel unequivocally disapproved, the [...]

On Sunday morning’s The Chris Matthews Show, host Chris Matthews asked his panel to debate Time Magazine‘s recent cover story on the existence of Hell. This isn’t new territory for Time, who drummed up controversy (and sales) by asking “Is God Dead?” in 1966, and as panelist Becky Quick notes, has revisited the topic many times.

Veering off-topic somewhat, Matthews asked “Why does the right wing love the Old Testament so much?”

From his film work to commentary on his talk show, Bill Maher has made a career attacking religion. But he made clear last night that, to him, some religions are more equal than others, detouring from the conversation about the Florida pastor who burned a Koran to question why radical Islam, to him, seems to get a pass on violence, particularly in light of the Afghanistan killings prompted by said pastor.

What’s in a generation? The New York Times took a gander at profiling the famous-for-being-young crowd of political bloggers in Washington, DC now rapidly approaching their thirties on Friday, alternately referring to them as “brat packers” the “juicebox mafia,” and analogs to the characters (not actors) of St. Elmo’s Fire. But in labeling them upstarts in political media, the Times has exposed itself as out of touch with how rapidly generations of writers mature outside the print world.

Chris Matthews hosted a discussion on how any action in Libya seems difficult and unpopular for President Obama. Most critical of Obama was commentator Andrew Sullivan who doubted President Obama was the transformational politician that was promised, if he is willing to cave-in and follow the ideas of Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

Conservative author and blogger Andrew Sullivan announced over the weekend that he is leaving TheAtlantic.com, where he writes his “Daily Dish” blog, to join the Tina Brown-helmed Daily Beast / Newsweek merger.

Frequent Sarah Palin critic and Senior Editor for The Atlantic, Andrew Sullivan, did not disappoint in his appearance on The Chris Matthews Show. In responding to Palin’s video response to the Arizona shooting, Sullivan dismissed Palin as a political “game-player” who should have realized that “I don’t think this was the week to play a game.”

On The Chris Matthews Show, Chris Matthews hosted a discussion about President Obama’s biggest challenge in the year ahead. Most agreed that it would be best politically for Obama to completely forget about Congressional Democrats and instead focus on winning back independents, something that The Atlantic editor and blogger Andrew Sullivan thought would be easy for Obama because that is the type of “president he wants to be.”

Conservative radio host and serial race-baiter Rush Limbaugh has done it again. To no one’s surprise, Limbaugh accompanied a rant about how Barack Obama’s presidency is “graffiti on the walls of American history” with both a reference to Obama’s “gang,” and a mock-up of a “tagged” Mount Rushmore on his website.

The Atlantic’s Andrew Sullivan calls Rush out for his worn-out tactics, but fails to put a fine enough point on it. Rush Limbaugh is not only a race-baiter, he is a coward. Listen to the segment after the jump. (h/t Oliver Willis)

During Fox News’s election coverage, a night when attention should’ve been on current candidates, Shepard Smith turned his attention to his colleague Sarah Palin. If she does one day decide to run for office, Smith asked, would she talk to media outlets that aren’t Fox News, the network at which she currently has exclusive “protection”? Palin’s answer was not promising—for curious voters or for her potential candidacy.