coming attractions 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 (they are more than seven months away in real world time) it's entirely possible those were just a warm up. To what exactly, one shudders to think. (more...)

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. (more...)

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. (more...)

video 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. (more...)

You don't need us to tell you that the recession is not over. Despite the Obama administration's various bailout plans people are still struggling, and there is the strong sense things may remain this way for longer than predicted. So who's fault is this? Depending on what news source you follow and/or how well-versed you happen to be in the economic history of this country the answers range from Wall St, to Main St., to Reaganomics. President Obama, however, apparently has pinpointed his own culprit: the media. (more...)

President Obama sometimes doesn't have a lot of luck when it comes to timing. First there was Kanye West, followed by Joe Wilson, and now Sarah Palin going Rogue all over the President's Asia trip. Once again a major Obama initiative has been seemingly trumped by spectacle (unless, of course, you are a Time reader). Moreover on top of getting submerged under a bunch of Sarah Palin madness the White House apparently feels that the coverage they did get Stateside was 'asinine.' From today's Playbook: (more...)

Amidst all the chatter about the upcoming Week of Palin, you may have noted that President Obama is part way through an important trip to Asia. The President, and the press corp. traveling with him, landed in China Sunday and are scheduled to depart Tuesday. Yesterday the President addressed a group of students about the importance of a free and unfettered Internet; the Chinese place strict rules on how much information is available online, and many sites we take for granted here are banned there, for example, Twitter, something the President has apparently never used: (more...)

webcast 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! (more...)

It was a sign that things were bad: David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Obama, sat down with Fox News founder and chairman Roger Ailes for coffee while the whole White House crew was in New York City two weeks ago for the United Nations General Assembly. (more...)

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! (more...)

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, according to Michael Scherer at Swampland. (more...)

EXCLUSIVE 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? We did some web-sleuthing and discovered that not only were Tweets off the official White House Twitter feed posted during business hours, they were almost exclusively posted posted “from web” – i.e. during business hours accessed from a computer – or “from HootSuite” – a web-based Twitter app that manages multiple Twitter accounts with multiple editors, also from a computer. This was a mystery! (more...)