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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.

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Bill Maher welcomed conservative firebrand Andrew Breitbart onto his Real Time panel tonight, which alone probably would have been enough for some heated discussions. Add liberal political analyst Laura Flanders to the mix and…well, you get tonight’s panel. (Yes, sparks flew.)

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Bill Maher’s guests the other night, which included New Yorker editor David Remnick and journalist Laura Flanders, appeared to concur with Frank Rich’s take on what’s motivating the movement, concluding from the poll results that the Partiers are actually not that upset about government involvement or taxing (they like their medicare; social security), but are worried and angry that we have a black president.

ohn Nichols and Robert McChesney, this was a book promotional event and an opportunity to outline their recommendations to save traditional journalism. It was a setup for a predictable night full of previews of what’s contained inside yet another “save journalism” solution book. Yet, thankfully, David Carr took a topic that has been spoken about to death and breathed new life into the discussion.