Not content with cliché year-end wrap pieces, the voracious political media machine has resorted to reanimating the rotting corpses of memes past. Now, not only do we now have to avoid the stumbling, vacant groans of “Brains!” from Birther queen Orly Taitz, MSNBC’s The Dylan Ratigan Show has also thrust open the cemetery gates for “Death Panels.”

Using a report from Newsmax (Newsmax!) as its impetus, a panel that includes Jonathan Alter, Jane Hamsher, and Matt Lewis kicks the Death Panels around for awhile, but fails to deliver the requisite double-tap.

Given the polarized nature of American politics in the last several years, accusations of inciting violence on both sides have become somewhat cliched. But this afternoon, MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan took to his show to yell fire in a crowded theater, asking viewers, “Are things in our country so bad that it might actually be time for a revolution? The answer is obviously ‘yes.’”

MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan doesn’t toe any party line, and his take on the American political process is unique and unpredictable. Suffice to say, he’s not happy with the direction of the country.

We talked to Ratigan on Mediaite Office Hours last week about the culpability of the press, the airplane/peanuts analogy and more.

Progressive firebrand and MSNBC staple Alan Grayson may have lost his congressional reelection bid this Tuesday, but it doesn’t appear that he will abandon his progressive causes anytime soon. In an interview that parallels Bill O’Reilly‘s chat with Christine O’Donnell on Fox News, Grayson evaluated his strategy and defeat this week with MSNBC’s Cenk Uygur.

Mediaite Office Hours is has a great show and a new time today from Livestream.com – at 2:30pmET, with MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan, Ashley Madison President and CEO Noel Biderman and author Dan Fost. And a special surprise for Glynnis’ last show!

It’s impossible to lay the honor of creating the Tea Party movement at the feet of just one person, but there were a few seminal figures who help start the movement back in January of 2009. One such “founder” is Karl Denninger, who used his website Market-Ticker.org to promote the very first Tea Party event. Ironically, he’s now using the same means to call out the very movement he started. In a post titled “To The Tea Party: Go Screw Yourself” Denniger rails on those he feels have co-opted the Tea Party moniker, specifically calling out “Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Bob Barr, and douchebag groups such as the “Tea Party Patriots.”

Liberal firebrand and host of pioneering radio/webcast The Young Turks Cenk Uygur made his guest-hosting debut on MSNBC’s Countdown last night, and as he signed off, delivered a thank you to regular host Keith Olbermann. Briefly describing Countdown‘s Bush-era emergence, Uygur said it was an honor to host the show “in the house that Olbermann built,” a reference that is sure to both please Olbermann, and launch spit-your-drink cackles from the host’s detractors.

Yesterday Dylan Ratigan may have surprised his audience when he announced that his political leanings were conservative, and not progressive or liberal like many on the right consider anything related to MSNBC to be. While wrapping up a panel discussion on Obama’s relationship with John Boehner and today’s GOP primary in Delaware with Jonathan Capehart, Alicia Menendez and Matt Lewis let loose his political stance which is certain to color how his future commentary is viewed.

On Wednesday of this week, President Obama gave an impassioned speech on the economy that many saw as a kick-off to the looming mid-term elections. How did the President do?

Well as Jon Stewart demonstrated last night on The Daily Show, it really depends on which cable news network you watched. Oh and he also mocked the President’s evolving stance on bipartisanship for good measure.

This is just uncomfortable and embarrassing and in the future Keith Olbermann should avoid trying to do Glenn Beck. Oof. In one of those instances where you wonder how come a producer didn’t step in and say this is really not a good idea, last night Olbermann played the voice of God (I think) in a skit that awkwardly depicted him playing the “voice Beck is hearing” from a “secret backstage” area in some sort of weird upper class accent.

Do you want to see two respected journalists argue over the definition of “bling bling?” If so, then you’re in luck! Earlier this week, the truly strange story that the DEA was actively looking to hire nine “Ebonics translators” hit the headlines. Dylan Ratigan brought on the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart to discuss the serious implications of this like whether or not Ebonics is an actual language. That serious talk only lasted like half a second. Then it was time for what we were all waiting for: Ebonics Translating Test!

MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan was a guest on The Colbert Report – a show where the character Stephen Colbert plays despises MSNBC but probably agrees with a lot of Ratigan’s more libertarian points of view.

But the most interesting exchange came as Colbert pressed Ratigan on his previous hosting gig – at CNBC’s Fast Money, particularly before the 2008 collapse.

We’ve heard a lot of different opinions about the proposed mosque near Ground Zero – from Bill O’Reilly, from Fareed Zakaria, even from Sarah Palin.

Here’s another from a lifelong New Yorker.

The utter disgrace to the British justice system that is the release and subsequent good health of convicted terrorist Abdel Baset al-Megrahi got significantly more embarrassing this week – with the news that BP (of all oil companies) lobbied for the release in order to begin drilling in Libya.

Now, finally, the British government is admitting it was a “mistake” to release al-Megrahi in the first place.

Longtime producer Steve Friedman will be Dylan Ratigan‘s new 4pmET Executive Producer, MSNBC announced today.

It marks a return for Friedman to the NBC family – the network that epically bashed him three years ago.

Dylan Ratigan is really hoping to topple Glenn Beck during the early evening. He’s tried the red-phone-and-chalkboard before, and even brought in some muppets for good measure, but today he felt the need to attack the competition head-on, joining Rep. Anthony Weiner‘s crusade against Goldline international and calling Beck a “snake-oil salesman” and “scumbag” for being sponsored by them.

Andrew Breitbart was back on Dylan Ratigan‘s MSNBC show this afternoon to talk about Elena Kagan.

Last appearance saw the debut of “jovial and measured Andrew,” while today it was all about the “irony mustache.”

A YouTube message from President Obama specifically encouraging minorities and women to vote this November made some waves as Republicans accused the Democrats of discrimination. Perhaps the harshest critics of the video, the April 27 Washington Examiner headline declared “Obama Disses White Guys.” Dylan Ratigan brought on the paper’s editor Mark Tapscott to defend the headline yesterday.

This week on MSNBC from 3-5pmET, two former CNBC anchors will handle hosting duties. Dylan Ratigan hosts his 4pmET hour while Donny Deutsch will fill in at 3pmET all week.

As MSNBC makes changes since David Shuster‘s indefinite suspension, CNBC is headed for changes as well.

MSNBC anchor Dylan Ratigan is never one to shy away from using props to make his points, usually about the financial crisis. Some would say he’s trying to be MSNBC’s Glenn Beck (he’d love Beck’s ratings, of course).

Well yesterday saw something Beck would likely be proud of – the bank bailouts, explained to children, through the use of puppets.

Back on June 29 when Dylan Ratigan‘s first MSNBC show debuted, his featured guest was former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.

With Spitzer’s name being thrown around as a potential political candidate again, he moved into a new role today – as anchor on MSNBC, filling in for Ratigan.

Today the Morning Joe crew proved that, in addition to featuring colorful personalities debate topical issues, they can also provide the most informative and relevant content in morning cable news programming with a debate on reconstructing the public school system that every parent in an at-risk community should pay close attention to.

Since moving to the afternoon hour, Dylan Ratigan has been on fire! And while skeptics might claim that he’s taking a page from Glenn Beck‘s playbook, his supporters note that no one is exhibiting such feisty behavior on cable news (save perhaps Tsunami-fueled Rick Sanchez.) Earlier today Ratigan had it out with columnist and radio host Mark Williams, who has also organized the Tea Party Express. Things start out ugly, amid claims of racism, then go predictably and horribly down hill.

Dylan Ratigan decided to use Chalkboard Journalism for his response to FNC’s Glenn Beck during his MSNBC show yesterday.

After Beck (and others, like Rush Limbaugh) knocked Ratigan’s climate change/Snowpocalypse segment, Ratigan wanted to set the record straight.

The recent programming changes at MSNBC – Dr. Nancy canceled, Dylan Ratigan moving to 4pmET, Chuck Todd/Savannah Guthrie to host new 9amET show – signal a shift in the strategy for the network.

And MSNBC is explaining why the plan in June has been scrapped fora new one.