Salon’s Glenn Greenwald, not oft deterred by hairy subjects, met a match last night that he was not prepared for in, of all places, his kitchen pantry.

If Wikileaks began as a mission to enter history for releasing the largest number of sensitive federal documents in history, it may have achieved that this week, at the cost of their own reputations and, potentially, a number of lives. The group released the entirety of its U.S. dispatch archive suspected to have been delivered to them by current military prisoner Bradley Manning– a release that was prompted by a Guardian editor publishing the password to an encrypted file holding some of the documents in his book, and threatens to put many lives across the world in danger.

On Thursday’s The Last Word, Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald joined substitute host Chris Hayes to discuss the “reemergence,” as it would appear, of former Vice President Dick Cheney as he makes the media rounds in promotion of his upcoming memoir, In My Times.

Shockingly, Hayes is less than delighted with the positive reception and attention Cheney’s book has been getting, particularly since Cheney has been telling interviewers that, yes, he still supports waterboarding and other forms of what he calls “enhanced methods of interrogation.” Hayes shared that he initially thought “everyone” at Simon & Schuster, the book’s publisher, should be deeply ashamed of themselves, although he admits he’s since refined and refocused his considerable ire. What troubles him most, he shares, is “the fact that he has managed to escape not only legal sanction for advocating and overseeing the implementation of the war crime that is torture, but that he has appeared to manage to escape social sanction as well.”

Yesterday Reverend Al Sharpton was officially named host of PoliticsNation, MSNBC’s new 6PM show. The announcement was met with certain hesitation, questions raised regarding his strained history with teleprompters and, more seriously, his journalistic integrity. Yesterday it was pointed out by NPR’s David Folkenflik that Sharpton himself was perhaps wondering if he was up to the job when he penned this op-ed from last Sunday’s New York Daily News.

Last night on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert described Anonymous, the Internet group that originated on imageboard 4chan, as a “hornets nest” and described the actions of Aaron Barr, the computer security expert that tried to go up against the group, as “sticking your penis in the hornet’s nest.” However, Colbert had another message for the members of the group, one he delivered subliminally. The question now is…is Stephen Colbert actually a “/b/tard?”

A cold flame war has broken out between Salon’s Glenn Greenwald and reporters Mark Ames and Yasha Levine of The Nation over the latter’s article, which attempts to unravel “The Washington Lobbyists and Koch-Funded Libertarians Behind the TSA Scandal.”

Central to that article’s premise is the notion that John Tyner, the originator of the “junk-touch” protest heard ’round the world, is not what he appears to be. Greenwald rightly labels the article a “smear” (an opinion shared by Nation reporter Jeremy Scahill), prompting a lily-livered response from Ames and Levine, and widespread refudiation from fellow liberals.

This morning’s Morning Joe offered some serious left-on-left action, in the form of a heated debate between Salon’s Glenn Greenwald and The Last Word host Lawrence O’Donnell. At issue was Greenwald’s critique of O’Donnell’s, among others, analysis of Tuesday’s midterm results. Greenwald had called O’Donnell out for “blam(ing) ‘the Left’ and ‘liberalism’ for the Democrats’ political woes.”

Former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman tells The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder that he is gay and that he decided to come out in order to endorse efforts to legalize gay marriage.

Rachel Maddow returned from last week’s secret trip to Baghdad and jumped right into the Lower Manhattan mosque controversy. Maddow’s explanation for the recent furor over the building is this: It’s merely “this month’s new ‘scare white people’ story.” Says Maddow: “What’s worth noting about all of these different ‘scare white people’ stories is that they’re not really actual news stories…No non-Fox News, non-conservative media outlet ever starts these things.”

It remains to be seen whether former President George W. Bush was correct when he asserted that history would vindicate his decision to invade Iraq. It’s going to be many years before History makes up its mind on that one. Recent history, however, is not looking favorably on how the press conducted itself during the Iraq war years, particularly on the subject of torture.

After taking heat from some of his liberal fans on Twitter over his strong criticism of Pres. Barack Obama‘s Oval Office speech Tuesday, Keith Olbermann stopped into another of his new media stomping grounds to find more of the same.

Now he’s leaving The Daily Kos after finding a “diary trashing first me and my colleague Rachel.”

Now that the controversy over the failure of the White House corps to criticize Helen Thomas has temporarily blown over, there is a new journalism controversy facing the DC press: should journalists go to the Biden’s house for a picnic and be Super Soaked by Rahm Emanuel.

Woo-hoo! Elena Kagan is everywhere! It’s Kaganfest 2010! She’s totally debatable as a Supreme Court nominee! She knows Eliot Spitzer! She’s better for a headline than Taylor Momsen! Everybody loves the Supreme Court! That is…now. But in 2008 during the campaign, no one cared.

George Will came to Elena Kagan’s defense on This Week today…sort of. During a a roundtable discussion about the possible challenges Elena Kagan’s confirmation might face Will spoke out against the prevailing issue the right has with Kagan, namely her restriction of military recruiters on the Harvard campus. Said Will: “It is unfair to say that she kicked the military off Harvard’s campus. Harvard did that.” Fear not, he didn’t stop there.

Last night Rachel Maddow pondered whether SCOTUS nominee Elena Kagan might be the Left’s Harriet Miers in so far as, will Obama be able to muster the support from his own party to confirm her. All signs point to no on this. However, if there were more Glenn Greenwalds in the party she might have something to worry about. Greenwald told Maddow last night her lack of a paper trail is a huge concern.

It’s true. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post are running articles today confirming that the Obama administration has authorized the “targeted killing” of New Mexican-born, radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. The NYT calls it extraordinary, and not in a good way.

Liberal blog Firedoglake is embroiled in a mini-blogwar with the founder of spoof site The Drudge Retort over questions surrounding FDL PAC’s expenditures. FDL founder and unlikely Fox News darling Jane Hamsher became a polarizing figure on the left when she jumped ship on health care reform, and this report smacks of payback. The implication is that Hamsher is lining her own pockets at the expense of PAC donors.

While the conflict has spilled over onto Twitter, is there any fire to go along with all the smoke?

The health care summit that framed much of our weekly news cycle has passed, but if the coverage of the event by the media is any indication, it reminded us of the durability of the media’s own bipartisanship, with pundits on the left and right both sounding off against it: CNN is confused as to the direction Congress will now take, MSNBC’s pundits unhappy with the call for compromise, and news anchor Shepard Smith is tired of Congress wasting his time on talk that leads nowhere.

This morning, we told you about Ellie Light — the fake or maybe-not-fake woman (or man or group?) who had an identical Letter to the Editor published in nearly 50 newspapers around the U.S. in defense of President Obama. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, who originally had the story, thought they figured it out — then, Gawker did. We’re still confused.

The Washington Post and MSNBC.com are running identical stories about a new report from a former CIA member that calls al-Qaeda leaders “determined and patient, willing to wait for years to acquire the kind of weapons that could inflict widespread casualties.” The terrorists are “pursuing parallel paths to acquiring weapons and forging alliances with groups that can offer resources and expertise.” Is this news?

In a story picking up steam in the conservative blogosphere — even scoring a segment on Hannity last night (video below) — a frequent Letter to the Editor writer Ellie Light has had submissions appear in numerous newspapers around the country in support of President Obama. First reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Light’s identity remains a mystery though she’s claims, “I’m only me,” unlikely to satisfy many who remain suspicious.

With print’s business model eroding, can journalists make the move online without sacrificing quality or originality? Fortunately, some already have. Last week, we ran a poll of some of the contenders for Top Site of 2009: Politico topped our editorial list. Find out why, and see the runners-up, after the jump:

George Stephanopoulos‘ move to Good Morning America has left open the plum assignment of Sunday morning talk-show host. The This Week gig is not just a big break for the eventual host, but a real opportunity for ABC News to break NBC’s ratings stranglehold on Sunday mornings.

On a very short list of rumored Stephanopoulos replacements sits ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper.

In the wake of the tragic shootings in Fort Hood, millions of Americans scrambled to follow what was going on — and encountered misinformation and rumors at every corner, including TV, blogs, and Twitter. Could Twitter’s new list feature give news consumers better information when stories like this break?

The hits just keep on coming. The Republican National Committee flubbed the roll out of their new web identity in glorious, grand ole, fashion on their own yesterday. Today the dark underbelly of the internet decided to help them finish the job. What’s a conservative to do? Twenty-four hours into the life of the RNC’s new website and parodies of the Faces of GOP web banner are circulating on the internet. Some are apt, some are funny and naturally, most are offensive.