NBC Chief Legal Analyst (and Mediaite founder) Dan Abrams appeared on NBC’s Today this morning to discuss the possible reasons that the lawyer who had defended Lindsay Lohan was leaving the case. Shawn Chapman Holley revealed in a written statement that she called the judge’s sentence “harsh and unfair.” But did she quit the case because she was frustrated with Lohan’s behavior, flaunting the law? Or was she fired by the troubled starlet? Abrams posits these, and other theories behind this story.

Praise be to Shepard Smith! Amidst the tragic collapse of Lindsay Lohan, a lot have wondered where exactly her parents have been. Today, Lindsay’s estranged father Michael Lohan showed up on Studio B and received what can only be called a harsh interrogation by host Shepard Smith. Under the heat of a live television appearance (and the appropriately judgmental mien of Smith) Lohan lost his cool, dropping the F-bomb on live TV.

Lindsay Lohan’s court hearing is officially the news that keeps on giving. Yesterday, we reported that Lohan had painted a very pointed message on her nails, while today, WWD reports that her 90-day sentence may in fact help sales of her 6126 clothing line. But last night, while going through the photos of her at court — what? it’s entertaining in a schadenfreude sort of way! — we couldn’t help but notice that the future jailbird changed her outfit no less than three times throughout the day.

With Willie Geist out today, the job of reading the “News You Can’t Use” on Morning Joe fell to Pat Buchanan.

Dubbed “Skank Correspondent” by Mika Brzezinski, Buchanan gave his report on the pressing stories of the day – Lindsay Lohan and Levi Johnston.

NBC Chief Legal Analyst (and Mediaite founder) Dan Abrams appeared on Today this morning to discuss yesterday’s sentencing of Lindsay Lohan to 90 days in an unnamed treatment facility. Abrams questioned whether the punishment fits the crime, claiming that Lohan is being treated much more harshly because of her status as a celebrity. Abrams did not defend the troubled former child actor, though he did make clear the very different judicial standards at play in this case.

Big news! Actress Lindsay Lohan has just been sentenced to 90 days in jail– and no, not for Herbie: Fully Loaded. Lohan’s repeated infractions on her probation, including skipping her alcohol education classes, finally forced Judge Marsha Revel to sentence her with prison time, which is slated to begin on July 20.

The New Republic just published a piece by Gabriel Sherman documenting how John Edwards spends his endless hours of spare time now that his political career has been chucked in the wood chipper. Jogging on the beach in North Carolina, taking lengthy lunch breaks at Wendy’s, and partying with drunk Duke coeds are just a few of his hobbies. Sound familiar?

Lindsay Lohan was in court today because of…something, and the cable news networks were not going to miss this opportunity to use the camera in the courtroom.

CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and HLN all went wall-to-wall as Lohan (with dark hair and a dark suit – does Styleite approve?) heard the update on her probation status.

If you haven’t heard, Lindsay Lohan is suing E-Trade for using a “milkaholic” baby named Lindsay in their Superbowl ads, claiming that she is such a big name star now that Lindsay is synonymous with herself. Her father Michael Lohan took time out of being arrested this week to agree with his delusional daughter on Geraldo.

In Sunday’s column by Washington Post ombudsman Andrew Alexander, the increase in typos and other copy editing errors stood trial. Angry letters have started coming more frequently, wondering, “If they don’t care about basics… how much do they care about factual accuracy?” Alexander served up the standard answer: our staffs have shrunk! But he also had a bizarre new scapegoat; namely, search engine optimization. Huh?

The death of Michael Jackson; Mackenzie Phillips‘ incest accusation; Kanye West‘s uber-interruption; Meghan McCain‘s PG-rated (at best) Twitpic: One of these things is not like the others, one of these things does not belong. On The Huffington Post’s list of Shocking 2009 Celebrity Scandals, the story of Meghan McCain’s Twitpic-inspired firestorm seems to stick out like a…sore thumb. What’s the real scandal here?

Yesterday it was the New York Times vs. Wall Street Journal, and today it gets muddier. The Daily News enlisted Joanna Molloy to write a 575-word column slamming the Post for running Ashley Dupre’s new Sunday column. There’s nothing like a tabloid slamming another tabloid over a prostitute!

Lindsay Lohan — large and unedited. That’s how The Huffington Post Entertainment section kicked off a new feature they call The Big Picture, in which they “present unedited celebrity photos, blown up.” HuffPo will probably win with clicks. And the losers? The makeup artists to the stars — now under more pressure than ever.

Move over, Harry & Louise, there’s a new health care debate going on, and this one’s takin’ it to YouTube. Oh, wait, Harry & Louise switched sides, but the point is, online video has made it really, really easy to take to the Internets to try and move the debate — and activist humor is [...]

Today is the launch of Gossip Cop. The premise is simple: investigate the accuracy of the daily anecdotes, the rampant rumors, and the cubicle grist known as celebrity gossip. Think of it as TMZ meets Smoking Gun. Or maybe Perez Hilton meets Columbia Journalism Review.

Newly installed HuffPo CEO Eric Hippeau says the company could be making money “if it wanted to.” But for the time being it looks like they might be sticking to what one could feasibly refer to as the 2.0 version of the world’s oldest profession. Simon Dumenco weighs in…again.