The investigation President Obama called for back in May into how the government handled the oil spill is not making President Obama and his administration look very good. You know it’s bad when even the NYT puts “slam” in its hed.

The Journolist email roll-out continues at The Daily Caller, with supposed proof of an immediate push for a plan of attack after Sarah Palin was announced as Sen. John McCain‘s VP nominee.

Yesterday focused on attacks on Fox News – and one from a journalist who currently sits on the board at the White House Correspondents’ Association who could help decide whether FNC gets Helen Thomas‘ seat.

It’s hard not to wonder whether this is a cry for help or merely an ingenious move to remain in the news cycle. Time‘s Michael Scherer reported yesterday that during a recent interview with Alvin Greene, South Carolina’s embattled and mysterious Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, Green encouraged Scherer to dig into his military history

When I first saw Lloyd Grove‘s version of the now-annual effort to autopsy the White House press corps, I rolled my eyes in agreement with Glynnis MacNicol.

Then, I noticed that not one of the 3 C-Spans, nor any other news outlet, carried yesterday’s briefing. Heh, neat coincidence. No biggie. The timing’s a little weird, but these things happen.

Still, before this gains any more traction, allow me to make the case for the press corps to the writer of next year’s “Press Corpse” piece, and anyone else who’s interested.

Why is everyone so determined to kill the White House Press Corps? Last year Ana Marie Cox wrote a much-passed-around op-ed calling for the dismissal of the group altogether. Now Lloyd Grove at the Daily Beast is taking aim wondering whether “the White House press corps teetering (possibly tweeting) on the brink of obsolescence?” But is it really?

Can it be possible that when it comes to bitter partisan divide we haven’t seen anything yet? Last summer’s Tea Party/Town Halls appeared to take much of Washington, and the media, by surprise (and by storm). But with this November’s midterms already looming large on the political horizon, look no further than the anti-health care ads sweeping the country for a preview of what’s to come.

The internet has made definitive revolutionary changes in the way Americans consume their media and interact with their federal government– not exactly a shocking statement. But Michael Scherer at Time Magazine is now proposing that the most tech-savvy government in history is being hurt by its inability to control the flow of information (and misinformation) online.

Can it be that the leader of the free world, who recently made a quick lunch out of a roomful of House Republicans, is afraid of getting nailed by Stephen Colbert? In an interview with Michael Scherer, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that President Obama would love to appear on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show, but gave Colbert the bump.

So! 2009 is almost over. The health care bill has passed. President Obama has announced his plan for Afghanistan. The midterms are still eleven months away. What will we talk about? If some of the coverage these last few days (from normally stalwart Obama supporters) is any hint, it’s likely the focus between now and the president’s State of the Union address is going to on Obama’s sinking popularity and everything he has done wrong in the last…eleven months.

Despite the Obama administration’s various bailout plans people are still struggling, and there is the strong things may remain this way for longer than predicted. So who’s fault is this? President Obama, has apparently pinpointed his own culprit: the media.

President Obama sometimes doesn’t have a lot of luck when it comes to timing. Once again a major Obama initiative (China) has been seemingly trumped by spectacle (Palin). Moreover, the White House apparently feels that the coverage they did get Stateside was ‘asinine.’

President Obama, and the press corp. traveling with him, landed in China Sunday and are scheduled to depart Tuesday. The Chinese has strict Internet rules and many sites we take for granted here are banned there, for example, Twitter — something the President has apparently never used, but which the press corp traveling with him is desperate to access.

Today on Mediaite Office Hours we’re coming to you live as usual from Livestream.com’s studio at 3pmET. We’ll be joined by Time magazine’s Michael Scherer, Deadspin.com editor A.J. Daulerio, Politico’s Patrick Gavin…and you!

The White House might be annoyed with the way that Roger Ailes‘ Fox News has been covering the current administration, and a little upset that other mainstream outlets have not been especially diligent when fact-checking Fox. But there’s one thing that Anita Dunn, field marshall of the White House’s Call ‘Em Out Patrol, doesn’t mind about Fox: Golden boy Major Garrett.

If you watch Glenn Beck with any regularity you know that he thinks the mainstream media is not doing their job (to be fair, the ACORN debacle and the NYT delayed response to it sort of suggests he’s right). Looks like the Obama administration agrees with him! But are they taking the right measures to fix the problem?

Looks like the Obama administration is serious about dealing with Fox News. Politico reported yesterday that during President Obama’s visit to the UN two weeks ago senior adviser David Axelrod met privately with Fox News head Roger Ailes…for coffee. Details are sketchy but perhaps they should have considered something stronger.

Yesterday we wondered about Robert Gibbs‘ statement that Twitter was blocked on White House computers: If it was, then how did the White House Twitter feed get updated? Well, mystery solved — thanks to White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton, who laid to rest some of the extrapolated conclusions drawn from Gibbs’ comment, notably that White House staffers were banned from Twitter (they’re not), that the same people are responsible for both @WhiteHouse and @BarackObama (they’re not) and that nobody tweets from the White House (they do!). It’s true, children: It’s coming from inside the house.