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.

Appearing on Countdown Wednesday evening with guest host David Shuster, actress-comedienne Janeane Garofalo criticized the Republican’s 2012 political strategy of labeling President Obama as elitist — or “uppity” as Rush Limbaugh has on his program.”It always works on a certain segment of the population. If you are trying to appeal to the worst in us,” Garofalo observed. “They do love a black man like Herman Cain, and Michael Steele, and is it Ron Christie? Any of these pundits who pretend we’re in a post-racial society. They like that kind of black person.”

On CNN’s Reliable Sources today, David Shuster (Keith Olbermann‘s substitute host at Current TV) criticized the moderators of the Fox News GOP debates, and specifically called out anchors Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly, calling them too inexperienced to moderate a political debate. Howard Kurtz pointed out to Shuster that many of the questions asked were substantive and fair.

From time to time, our readers will challenge us to cover a story they think we’ve missed, so when one such reader alerted us that First Lady Michelle Obama thanked “CNN and the rest of the mainstream media for all its support and kindness,” we got right on the case. Sure enough, Real Clear Politics had the goods, under the headline Michelle Obama: “Fortunately, We Have Help From The Media.”

Aha! Proof that the in-the-tank lamestream media is in the tank, right? Not so much.

MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, suspended by MSNBC Wednesday evening for calling conservative radio host Laura Ingraham a “right-wing slut” on his nationally syndicated radio show, addressed his comments on the final Ed Show episode before beginning what was to be week-long suspension. In a remarkably fulsome and sincere apology, though, Schultz announced that he was taking himself off the air for an “indefinite” period.

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 [...]

Between parties at Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner, I spotted a small group of protesters outside the Washington Hilton who were trying to draw attention to their Twitter campaign against undeclared GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. Under the Twitter name @DumpDTrump, the group is trying to make advertisers aware of their objections to Trump’s attacks on President Obama. Former MSNBC anchor David Shuster wandered by to call Trump a “jackass,” and Rev. Al Sharpton also voiced his agreement.

In a videotaped “First Guess” segment for his Fok News Channel, future Current TV tentpole Keith Olbermann taunted departing Fox News tentpole Glenn Beck with a dramatic reading from A Face in the Crowd, from which Beck’s “Lonesome Rhodes” nickname derives. Along the way, though, Olbermann offered his own insight into Beck’s coming departure from FOX, revealed some information about his upcoming show, and displayed the kind of hubris that is the hallmark of either the truly gifted, or the truly narcissistic (or both!)

On Friday, Parker/Spitzer co-host Kathleen Parker announced that she is leaving the show. In a guest column, John Ziegler, radio host, Palin confidante, and the filmmaker behind Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted, offers his commentary on Parker’s departure from CNN.

The speculation over Keith Olbermann‘s future after MSNBC continued tonight on Anderson Cooper 360º, where our own Managing Editor Colby Hall joined host Anderson Cooper and the New York Times’ Bill Carter to discuss Olbermann’s latest tweets, what went on behind the scenes at MSNBC, and what the former Countdown host has in store for the upcoming months.

The ongoing controversy regarding Keith Olbermann‘s abrupt exit from MSNBC was the main topic of discussion today on CNN‘s Reliable Sources. Columnist for the Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik and former MSNBC anchor David Shuster not only debated the merits of Olbermann as television host, but also the journalistic standards of both Fox News and MSNBC.

On Sunday’s Reliable Sources, former MSNBC anchor and sometime Countdown fill-in David Shuster lent his own insight into Keith Olbermann‘s sudden exit from MSNBC, telling Howard Kurtz that the fan outpouring in the aftermath of his November suspension played a much bigger role than anything else. “Keith was mesmerized, and flattered beyond belief, by the 250,000 people who signed the petition” to get him back on the air, Shuster said.

Last night earned its place as one of the most earth-shattering nights in cable news history– the longtime host of a cable news network’s flagship institution– the face, heart, and soul of the network– ends an eight-year run shrouded in mystery, leaving uncertain whether his departure was voluntary. Yet as fascinating as the sunset of Keith Olbermann‘s MSNBC career may be, the response from rival network CNN was no less intriguing. Trotting out an all-star panel led by Anderson Cooper, the network decided it was time to debut a talent whose involvement with them led him to a similar fate to Olbermann’s: departed MSNBC anchor David Shuster.

The New Year is here, and with it, the annual exercise in futility that is the New Year’s Resolution. As you stare into the abyss of another 365 days in which to improve yourself, it might help you to know that the figures who make Mediaite go ’round have some things to work on, too. Here’s what we think some of them are saying into the mirror this morning.

So, before you try to shake off that Cold Duck and Four Loko hangover and blearily search for a gym membership you can get out of when you get tired of it after 3 sessions, why not check out our list  of New Year’s Resolutions for Everyone Else?

Ex-MSNBC host David Shuster emerged after months off the air, and came out firing at Fox News and Glenn Beck.

Shuster, who explained his sudden departure from MSNBC as amicable and caused by his interest in “looking around” for other work (Shuster was widely believed to have been auditioning for an anchor role at CNN) and “we had a disagreement about what happened.”

Last night, former MSNBC host David Shuster broke his online silence of some five months to inform his Twitter followers that he would be acting as a substitute radio host for Jim Bohannon this week. Shuster was suspended by MSNBC back in April (before suspending anchors was en vogue) for having shot a pilot with [...]

Politico’s Mike Allen added another layer of speculation to Keith Olbermann‘s sudden and indefinite suspension on Friday: Olbermann was suspended for refusing to apologize on air. “Olbermann told his bosses he didn’t know he was barred from making campaign contributions, although he is resisting saying that publicly. Olbermann may not hold as many cards as he thinks.”

Real Time host Bill Maher, who normally says “teabagger” more frequently than a foreman on a Lipton assembly line, was on his best behavior last night for “Tea Party Person” (and Hottest Conservative New Media Woman) Dana Loesch. Both he and DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas, another aficionado of the term, studiously avoided using the Tea Party-coined-then-rejected appellation throughout most of the show, obviously in deference to Loesch.

MSNBC’s David Shuster may still be off the air for NBC, but that doesn’t mean he’s just sitting around D.C. with nothing to do.

He’s playing softball, and not only playing softball, he’s continuing his long history of successful and productive play in the co-ed rec media league. He’s also emailing the Washington Examiner for getting so many things wrong in their report about his softball playing.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele visited Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC earlier today, a month removed from the Voyeur club scandal and four months removed from the RNC’s Hawaii planning meeting. Condemning the RNC for “having luaus” while “we were digging our way out of the snow banks” and getting mostly laughter as a response, Mitchell brought up Voyeur, to which Steele responded: “You mean to tell me not one employee of your organization has done something that the management has not been proud of?” Too soon?

At today’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked, by CNSNews.com reporter Fred Lucas, to comment on President Obama‘s use of the term “tea-bagger” in an interview for Jonathan Alter‘s book. Gibbs replied that he hadn’t read it. I followed up by asking Gibbs if he could find out if the President was aware of the controversy, or if he had any comment about his word choice. Short reply: Not a tea bag’s chance in hell.

ABC News’ Jake Tapper took heat from “some liberal bloggers” when he contrasted President Obama‘s call for civility in politics with Obama’s use of the term “tea-bagger” in a November interview for Jonathan Alter‘s new book. At issue was Tapper’s failure to point out that the term was originally coined by the Tea Party movement, which he addressed in an update.

The story of John Edwards‘ affair with Rielle Hunter seems to have raised a media meta-quandary about how to treat stories reported by The National Enquirer. Should we report on them? Should we report that they’re being reported? Throw in a Drudge link to an already explosive rumor like, say, the President covering up an affair with a former campaign staffer, and it’s damn near irresistible. There is a responsible way to cover something like this

The Washington Post did a lengthy profile on Robert Gibbs, from which the Huffington Post gleaned a list of the six biggest press corps complaints about Gibbs. There are some fair criticisms, some of which have been echoed on the record here at Mediaite, but much of the criticism of Gibbs is simply built into the divergent roles of Press Secretary and reporter.

We published an email exchange Thursday night between MSNBC President Phil Griffin and a David Shuster fan about his anchor’s indefinite suspension.

Mediaite spoke exclusively with Griffin today about the reasons behind the suspension, emailing with viewers and more.