This week, viewers of Current TV’s Countdown have been treated to syndicated liberal radio powerhouse Bill Press filling the anchor chair for bronchitis-stricken Keith Olbermann. Contrary to this item at Huffington Post, Press will also host Countdown‘s Florida primary coverage Tuesday night, along with guest analyst Eliot Spitzer (Spitzer will then fill in as Countdown host Wednesday night). Olbermann’s absence may be providing viewers with a glimpse of Current’s future.

Today on The Five, the gang discussed Sarah Palin’s talk of possible third party candidates and focused on Ron Paul. After Eric Bolling joked that Paul’s fans may be “too stoned” to make it to the polls, the topic of conversation turned to a recent ad for Paul which featured a number of liberal commentators. The hosts questioned whether it would be effective or simply a turn off.

It is campaign season, and no matter how serious any other non-political story may be in the meantime, there is no such thing as a news item unable to be tied to the presidential election. So when the Penn State child rape scandal broke, it was inevitable someone would drag it into the Republican race– this time, it was Bill Press, who argued there was “no difference” between Herman Cain‘s sexual harassment allegations and coach Jerry Sandusky allegedly being caught sodomizing a ten-year-old boy in a locker room.

Soon after news surfaced of ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi‘s capture and killing, freshman Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fl) took to Fox News to pointedly congratulate British and French forces, and to criticize President Obama for “leading from behind.”

At Thursday’s White House briefing, Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry asked Press Secretary Jay Carney about Rubio’s remarks, and Carney responded, “I think this is not the day for politics.”

Before today’s White House daily briefing, I spoke to several reporters from conservative publications about the chatter surrounding a potential Chris Christie presidential run. They each shared their thoughts on why it is that Christie won’t run, so I thought I’d also get a liberal perspective from my Professional Left colleague, Bill Press. While he agreed with our conservative friends, his reasoning was comically succinct: “He’s too fat!”

On the heels of CurrentTV’s announcement that The Young Turks will join Keith Olbermann at the network as Countdown‘s lead-in, host Cenk Uygur and Current president Al Gore held a tele-press conference Tuesday afternoon. Gore talked about expanding Current’s lineup even more, and Uygur assured current Young Turks fans that he would be bringing the [...]

Al Sharpton continues to increase his presence on MSNBC, and last night, filling in as guest host for the The Ed Show, he moderated a discussion between three liberal commentators (Michael Eric Dyson, Bill Press and Laura Flanders) who took turns bashing the Tea Party and expressing disappointment with the debt deal. Sharpton kicked off the conversation wondering whether all future votes on raising the debt ceiling will be held hostage by the political opposition, like it was this time? The guests unanimously responded yes, as long as a Democrat is President.

It appears that this week will not end without adding another instance of someone in politics suggesting someone else in politics should die for their views. This time, it’s a roundabout request for a supernatural smiting of House Speaker John Boehner from liberal radio host Bill Press who, after playing a clip of the Speaker demanding the President conform to Republican demands, wondered how he had not been struck by lightning for the comment.

It was always an obvious reality that Keith Olbermann‘s Current TV show would experience some degree of crossover with MSNBC’s prime-time programming, but any hope of a peaceful rivalry have evaporated, as Olbermann has made it clear he intends to go after his former employer’s audience by going after his former employer. The fact that Olbermann has opted to “go negative” so early (his show hasn’t even premiered yet) portends a bloody battle for the hearts and minds of liberal viewers.

The establishment of Current TV as a destination for liberal news programming doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing for MSNBC. There are, apparently, millions of liberals who aren’t watching cable news, and this represents an opportunity for both channels to attract a new audience.

Rep. Anthony Weiner lied boldly to the media for more than a week since indecent photos appeared on his Twitter account, and many in the media who believed him are now airing their resentment and indignation. Among them tonight was Salon’s Joan Walsh, who told Ed Schultz on MSNBC tonight that he made her “look stupid” for giving him the benefit of the doubt.

FishbowlDC gossip and media reporter Betsy Rothstein is, to put it mildly, a polarizing figure in Washington, DC. Despised by some for her role in Dave Weigel‘s Journolist-fueled career reorganization, dismissed by others as a petty gossip, she also enjoys a stealth legion of admirers who appreciate her hard work and Keyser Soze-like omnipresence. When word spread of my interview with Rothstein, “Team Betsy” emerged from the woodwork to weigh in, and the common theme was quickly evident: Betsy Rothstein is fearless.

Although conservatives like Rush Limbaugh currently dominate talk radio, there are a few liberals, like Bill Press, and Ed Schultz, who have managed to break that stranglehold and maintain a beachhead in the format. Perhaps the best kept secret in progressive talk radio, though, is that Thom Hartmann sits atop the pack, and he does it with a minimum of the antagonism that is de rigeur in today’s political media. With a recent move to Washington, DC, and a move into television, is Hartmann poised to break out?

Although it has been a few weeks since President Obama released his long-form birth certificate, it has taken some time to catch up with World Net Daily White House Correspondent Les Kinsolving to get his reaction. Les has been a consistent questioner of the President’s birthplace, but faced with the evidence, Les says the release of the long-form puts the issue to rest for him…for the most part.

Washington, DC is often referred to as “Hollywood for ugly people,” but in recent years, the town has enjoyed one night of the year when it blossoms into a Hollywood swan: The White House Correspondents Dinner, aka “Nerdprom.” As the dinner’s profile has risen, so has the demand for tickets to see, and be seen, at an event that is ostensibly a celebration of DC’s least glamorous denizens. Even as this year’s Seth Meyers-headlined fete has had to compete with the Royal Wedding, the clamor to get in has reached an all-time zenith.

MSNBC Live host Cenk Uygur (can we get his show a name, please?) expended nearly half of Tuesday’s show on the subject of wildcard GOP hopeful Donald Trump, which is somewhat in line with the attention the rest of the media has been giving Trump. But just when you’re ready to throw up your hands and exclaim “Enough,” Trump justifies the coverage by doing something impossible to ignore.

Howard Kurtz assembled a panel of guests to further comment on the end of Glenn Beck‘s daily Fox News show. While conservative commentator Amy Holmes defended Beck and argued his rhetoric wasn’t much different than the hosts on MSNBC, liberal commentator Bill Press was glad the “ticking time bomb” would soon be gone.

During a discussion of Glenn Beck‘s departure from Fox News’ air on Sunday’s Reliable Sources, progressive radio host Bill Press joined host Howard Kurtz in pushing back against the idea that MSNBC’s opinion personalities are somehow equivalent to Beck. While Press and Kurtz were correct in their overall assessment, Press’ declaration that MSNBC hosts are “not calling anyone Nazis” is only true because Keith Olbermann is no longer at the network. Oddly, though, Olbermann’s record of Nazi references only reinforces the contrast between Beck and MSNBC.

On Sunday’s Reliable Sources, liberal radio host Bill Press didn’t mince words in discussing Rep. Michele Bachmann‘s (R-MN) presidential aspirations, calling her a “laughingstock.”

Host Howard Kurtz, and panel, wondered if Bachmann’s command of an Iowa audience cut against that notion, and whether sexism is to blame for the gulf in media interest between Bachmann and fellow Minnesotan Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), a notion which Press handily dismissed.

Bill Press is a left-of-center radio host who is also a member of the White House Press Corps. Tommy Christopher is the White House correspondent for Mediaite, and readers familiar with his columns know that he is not afraid to admit his liberal tilt as well. Press had Christopher on as guest this morning to talk about the news of the week, particularly Donald Trump’s odd boast that he’d screwed Gaddafi over a land deal of some sort, but perhaps a more interesting bit was their candid appraisal of the new White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

It was just over a month ago that former print journalist Jay Carney took over as White House Press Secretary from Robert Gibbs, and what a month it has been. With multiple crises in the Middle East, the budget fight, the Wisconsin-led public union protests, and Japan’s earthquake/tsunami/possible nuclear meltdowns, Carney has had many full plates to deal with. All things considered, the White House reporters I’ve spoken with give Carney good marks on his first month on the job, which several of them describe as a “trial by fire.”

Conservative media lightning rod and former “Matt Drudge bitch“ Andrew Breitbart is nothing if not quotable, a quality he displays to amusing effect (intentionally and otherwise) in his interview for April’s issue of GQ magazine. Asked why former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R-FNC) wasn’t on his 2012 dream ticket (he picked Allen West and Michele Bachmann), Breitbart responded that the job was “beneath” her. The governorship of Alaska must have been positively subterranean, then.

The announcement of Jay Carney as successor to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has ended weeks of speculation, but raises questions about how Carney will take to his new post, and it to him. In exclusive comments to Mediaite, members of the White House Press Corps expressed optimism about Carney’s tenure, and identified possible challenges for the new Press Secretary, including his own status as a former journalist, his relative distance from the Obama administration’s inner circle, and his boyish good looks.

In the wake of Sarah Palin‘s video address dealing with the Arizona shooting, it was easy to predict that her controversial “blood libel” reference would generate passionate reaction from many. Without delay, Rep. James Clyburn, offered up his instant reaction to the comment on a radio show with liberal host Bill Press that is likely to stir up some controversy of its own.

In the media debate over this year’s midterm elections, the “enthusiasm gap” has been front and center. Recent remarks by President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have gotten a chilly reception from the base. At today’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs cut through the whining and the disappointment, and delivered a pitch-perfect frame for the upcoming midterms. Asked by progressive radio host Bill Press about that enthusiasm gap, Gibbs cited some encouraging poll results, then delivered a call to arms, saying “Everything (Democrats and independents) care about is at stake.”

Right near the end of a segment examining the continued relevance of Newt Gingrich, Hardball host Chris Matthews made a comment that probably seemed offhand to most viewers, but not all. In a modern media warscape that has each side out to convince itself of the sinister, conspiratorial bias of the other, Matthews’ comment to Media Matters senior fellow Eric Boehlert regarding the media watchdog, to keep posting the information because “we rely on it,” probably set off blaring sirens at the Media Research Center.