The political world is still reeling from the intense Congressional debate that pushed America to the brink of default, and trying to find just who to blame to make sure it doesn’t happen again. On last night’s The Big Picture, Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher took on the subject with host Thom Hartmann, arguing that the Democrats were “cute” in their naivete and could never pull off such a stunt because, with Republicans, “there’s nothing you can threaten them with.”

What with the Tea Party jokes, Obama knocks, and footage of John Boehner appearing to do something filthy in an elevator, it would be easy to miss one of the most impressive bits during the early minutes of last night’s Daily Show. Jon Stewart played a clip from early last December in which National Journal’s Marc Ambinder seemed to predict the entire debt ceiling debate that embroiled the nation for the last few weeks. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s certainly worth a look because it’s pretty darn amazing.

When Marc Ambinder went live on Wednesday with his story for The Atlantic that former Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman was coming out as a gay man–in one of the worst kept secrets in Washington, D.C.–the story may have appeared to come out of nowhere. Although the story reads as if Ambinder had been [...]

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.

National Journal Group has had a busy few weeks: as they gear up for their October relaunch, the publisher of National Journal, The Hotline, and Congress Daily has been building an impressive portfolio of some of DC’s top reporting talent. The rapid hiring — and poaching — spree of some of Washington’s best journalist talent has caught many by surprise over the past couple of weeks.

Let’s get one thing out of the way up front. No one doesn’t have an opinion on things they know something about. I may have no opinion on who the best NASCAR driver is (and I don’t) but that would certainly change if I started paying attention to the sport. Coming in to last month, [...]

Now that Gen. McChrystal is officially out and Gen. Petraeus has taken the reins juicy little tidbits (that, to be honest, might not have otherwise interested prior to the Rolling Stone piece) about McChrystal are making the blogosphere rounds. This is one.

For the first half of today’s White House briefing, Robert Gibbs was a bundle of barely retrained disgust and anger, as he fielded questions about Gen. Stanley McChristal‘s disastrous Rolling Stone interview. Since the McChristal horse was in a post-mortem heap by the time he got around to me, I thought I might be able to draw a reaction out of Gibbs with a carefully executed question. While that didn’t quite work out, in retrospect, Gibbs may have signaled a surprise ending to tomorrow’s McChrystal-Obama tete a tete

For reasons that remain unclear General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, gave an interview to Rolling Stone magazine for a piece titled ‘The Runaway General’ in which he criticized the Obama administration’s handling of Iraq. Actually he ripped it to shreds. The article has reportedly “enraged” President Obama who has ordered McChrystal to hightail it back to Washington pronto to explain himself in person.

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.

With the White House announcement that Elena Kagan has been nominated to the Supreme Court, it won’t be long until the chattering classes again begin to discuss her (lack of a) personal life and the lesbian rumors. Perhaps more importantly, why should it matter whether Kagan is a lesbian or not?

The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder took amused offense, on Twitter, over the most bizarre bit of social criticism you’re ever likely to see. Sharra Vostral, Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and History at the University of Illinois, uncovers the coded, gender-based insult behind the metaphoric use of the term “patchwork” in an Ambinder article [...]

Predictably, a great many people (read: journalists) were less than thrilled to see the New York Times anoint Politico’s Mike Allen the most influential journalist in Washington. In his WaPo column today Howie Kurtz politely suggests it might be otherwise. Hmm.

This is starting to feel like the beginning of a backlash. In a post yesterday that grabbed a lot of people’s attention, the Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder questioned whether the Republicans had in fact gone mad. Rachel Maddow suspects the conservative embrace of the fringe is a result of the lack of gatekeepers in the party. The GOP has become a party with no serious thinkers and no serious ideas.

You might have noticed a new hobby lately among journalists: writing and tweeting about efforts to lose weight and live more healthfully. The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder, the NYT’s Brian Stelter, Deadspin’s Drew Magary – all three have been using media, social and otherwise, to document – and support – their efforts to lose weight.

The conservative blogger whose post was pulled from the CBS website after pressure from the White House is surpised the White House cares about “something mentioned in passing, and intended to highlight a political positive about a potential Supreme Court nominee.”

Yesterday, the CBS News website published a column that asserted that Solicitor General Elena Kagan – a leading candidate for the Supreme Court – is in fact gay. In the piece, former Bush administration aide Ben Domenech said that Kagan could potentially be the “first openly gay justice”; pleasing Obama’s base. Howard Kurtz reports that an unidentified administration official “said Kagan is not a lesbian,” and reports that Anita Dunn blasted CBS News for “posting lies.”

Everyone has that one incorrigible media junkie in their circle of friends. You know, the one who greets you every morning with “did you see the latest Griff Jenkins ambush video?” or “Michael Calderone is leaving Politico!” Turns out there’s an entire industry of those people (if not an entire nation), and The Atlantic Wire has taken on the formidable task of chronicling their information consumption habits. Here’s your semi-weekly Media Diet.

Headline blogger Andrew Sullivan (who left Time for The Atantic just over three years ago) is really not at all happy with last week’s redesign of the Atlantic.com’s powerhouse website and is making his dislike known. Really known. Behold.

“Sarah Palin herself has said she is following the blueprint that God has laid down for her; her political pathway is being lit by lamps supplied by the divine. Interpreting the deity is above my pay grade, so we’re left with asking whether Palin is lucky or she is savvy” — Marc Ambinder.

If President Obama’s goal this week was to alienate and anger just about everyone than it would seem he has succeeded. Last night’s late-breaking news that the president would announce a three year spending freeze on most domestic programs during tomorrow’s State of the Union has met with angry responses on the left — Obama is the new Hoover!

Game Change, the upcoming (tomorrow) book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, is already making waves in DC with its sensational revelations about the 2008 presidential campaign. One of those excerpts, posted by The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder, struck me as just a bit hypocritical. It concerns Cindy McCain and a previously discredited rumor, resurrected in Halperin’s book.

Late last night, the White House announced that there would be no pool coverage for Sunday, January 10. While the President had no scheduled events this weekend, there was pool coverage yesterday. It could be a mere coincidence, or it could be that the White House is trying to catch its breath before responding to bombshell revelations in the upcoming book Game Change, excerpts of which poured out all day yesterday. President Obama already issued a statement about Harry Reid’s “negro dialect” quote, but even more explosive passages have emerged since.

After every major speech, after every event really, Twitter is usually ablaze with people weighing in with their thoughts and opinions, and takeaways. It’s like one big cable show but (thankfully) without the sound. Last night however, there was a definite sense of ‘everyone shut-up, already’ permeating the media twittersphere.

Now that the White House’s war on Fox appears to have simmered down it looks like they may have found a new target for their frustration with media coverage: Politico. Sort of. Now, if only every battle with the press represented a skit on The Daily Show.