On Friday, we reported that Andrew Breitbart was confronted at the liberal Netroots Nation conference in Minneapolis. As is often the refrain on Breitbart-related stories, the full video is now available (from The Uptake), and it is compelling. Breitbart’s conversation with Dave Weigel is interrupted by questions about his credentials, his sexuality, cocaine, and a drunk who dropped Breitbart’s name the night before. The dramatic video shows Breitbart’s full harague-filled exit from the hotel.

The “Weinergate” story has been a veritable clinic in the pitfalls of new media-influenced journalism, and one such pitfall has come to a head. Andrew Breitbart has been repeatedly accused of engineering a hoax against Rep. Anthony Weiner, and while journalistic ethics prevented me from explaining further, I tried to defend him. As rampant, baseless speculation ruled the week, I have been developing the story the old-fashioned way, by properly verifying facts before I release them.

Whether you approached news of Keith Olbermann‘s sudden departure from MSNBC with deep disappointment, unbridled glee, or total apathy, the fact remains that many – ourselves included – are keeping a very close eye on what is next move will be. (Sorry, Greta.)

Given that Olbermann is contractually obligated from hosting a television show for a length of time, taking to the internet would seem a good, natural fit as his next platform.

What happens when two liberal giants collide? Countdown host and liberal opinion leader Keith Olbermann wrote what netizens call a GBCW (Good-Bye, Cruel World) post at Daily Kos Wednesday night, touching off a blizzard of blog posts and comments at the left’s leading online community. The uproar is understandable, but also damned entertaining. Pop some Orville Redenbacher, pull up a chair, and check out some of the highlights.

Pioneering Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas was on hand yesterday for a panel discussion at the liberal America’s Future Now! conference, and spoke with authority about grassroots activism in the Age of Obama. I caught up with him after his panel to bounce a few media-related questions off of him, and he had some surprising things to say.

Liberal blogger and Firedoglake publisher Jane Hamsher has come under heavy fire for an appearance on Fox & Friends in which she promotes a petition to kill the current health care reform bill. Liberal critics paint her as a “useful idiot” being exploited by the right, and point out Hamsher’s own distaste for those on the left who appear on Fox.

Hamsher has responded to the criticism, but she’ll have to convince a tough critic: Jane Hamsher from July. That Jane Hamsher seemed to have a different set of priorities.

For all the talk about the White House squaring off against Fox News, it’s easy to forget that it is essentially the job of any White House Press Secretary to mitigate the media’s handling of the administration and “work the refs.” We’re seeing it now, but let’s remember that we’ve been here before, in the not so distant past, but on the other side of the aisle: President George W. Bush routinely called out NBC and MSNBC for blurring the line between “news” and “opinion.”

This year’s Netroots Nation, the annual gathering of of progressive bloggers launched in 2006, was different: The president from the party they fought to elect — President Barack Obama, a Democrat — is in power, and they no longer represent the voice of the opposition.

But that doesn’t mean they don’t have any.