In a wild exchange on Fox News’ Happening Now, longtime contributor Alan Colmes lost it a little bit when National Review‘s Rich Lowry pressed him over an attack on Rick Santorum‘s handling of the 1996 death of his newborn son. Colmes used Santorum’s reaction to the death of 2 hour-old Gabriel as an example of “some of the crazy things he’s said and done,” prompting immediate, sustained pushback from Lowry, and death-stares from Colmes.

Since announcing “Republicans voted to end Medicare” as its “Lie Of The Year” yesterday, Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-check outfit Politifact.com has faced more blowback than a chronic spitter on a Ducati. While they apparently think this is just griping by the left, even the conservative National Review says they got it wrong. What Politifact doesn’t seem to realize is that this wasn’t just a wrong decision, it was an irresponsible one that undercuts their own, and journalism’s, duty to serve the public.

The National Review‘s Rich Lowry,, appeared on Fox News’s America Live to talk about his publications editorial which urged Republicans “to have the good sense to reject a hasty marriage to Newt Gingrich, which would risk dissolving in acrimony.”

In an editorial released on Wednesday, influential conservative magazine the National Review spoke out against the nomination of Newt Gingrich, making several jabs at his rocky personal life. “At the moment we think it important to urge Republicans to have the good sense to reject a hasty marriage to Gingrich, which would risk dissolving in [...]

Scandal-besieged Republican candidate Herman Cain is considering dropping out of the race, according to a scoop by National Review reporter Robert Costa Tuesday morning, adding that he will decide whether the new allegations made against him will create “too much of a cloud” for supporters. Costa reported Cain, who was in a somber mood, made [...]

With the national debt and its effect on the economy being the top issue of the 2012 campaign, the panel today on Up with Chris Hayes debated the various merits of the Republicans’ tax plans, and one bit of rhetoric from Rep. Michele Bachmann struck panelist Melissa Harris Perry as transcending policy grounds and just flat out racist: the proposition that there is a sector of the population, as host Chris Hayes put it, that are “producers” and another that are “leeches.”

One of the reasons Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain seems to be gaining in popularity with primary voters is because of his real-world accomplishments and a lack of political experience. Yet in an interview with the conservative magazine National Review, Cain seems to have adopted one characteristic of a seasoned politician: never speak ill of another member of your own political party. Cain explained why he doesn’t plan to go on the attack against Michele Bachmann or Mitt Romney.

In anticipation of the “late spring” debut of his Current TV show, Keith Olbermann has been keeping limber by posting web-only video versions of his “Worst Persons” segments from time to time. Monday’s entry featured an odd bit of commentary in the “silver” spot, as Olbermann seemed to argue that Fox News is the very finest example of opinion journalism.

As many conservatives continue to hold out hope that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie might throw his hat into the ring and pursue the Republican nomination for President in 2012, Christie continues to adamantly deny he’s running. However, every now and then, he cracks the door open just a little bit with a comment that makes observers wonder whether he might run after all.

Quick: name the governor of Hawaii. If you said Neil Abercrombie, you either a) live in Hawaii, b) are related to Neil Abercrombie, or c) are following the latest angle in the birther debate more closely than most people. The Democrat’s vowed to “take on” the birthers despite the urging of some in his own party to stay out of a fight “not worth having.”

Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, along with a panel that included pop-culture-savvy former SC Democratic Party Chair Dick Harpootlian, weighed in on the “controversy” surrounding a “casting call” for a joint MTV/BET/CMT town hall event. While there’s undeniable entertainment value in watching Kelly rib Harpootlian’s Krakauer-esque knowledge of the Jersey Shore cast, and her shocked reaction to the “s-word” (skank), the real treat here is how badly they all bungle a central fact in this story.
Update: Back Stage National Casting Editor Luke Crowe provides additional information in a statement to Mediaite

National Review Online has discovered a “casting call” for an MTV town hall event scheduled for October 14, the implication being that this is evidence of artifice in the makeup of the audience. The notice seems to suggest that the audience for the joint MTV/BET/CMT event will be composed of actors, eliciting predictable outrage on the right. In reality, the same submission request was included in the event’s press release, invitations to colleges, and on the network websites.

In a country club version of the Hatfields and McCoys, Tucker Carlson of the Daily Caller and Rich Lowry of the National Review stepped up their online feud over allegations made by the scrappy start-up that the folks at National Review were working with Republican lawmakers to promote the “Pledge to America” in a gushing editorial in the magazine.

Is this a sign that conservatives want to keep Sarah Palin as far away from the 2012 nomination as possible? At the National Review‘s “The Corner” blog, Kevin Williamson sees in the momentum against GOP Chair Michael Steele the possibility of making sure Palin doesn’t run for office again, suggesting that a job based on fundraising would be great for Palin because it would keep her away from policy, “which has not been her forte.”

Today was not shaping out to be a great day for Republicans in the House. First, a video was released of Iowa Rep. Steve King making what sounds suspiciously like a birther joke. Then there was Rep. Louie Gohmert, who read out a column comparing the BP escrow account to, uh, Hitler, on the House floor. And then Democratic Rep. Paul Kanjorski noted that the people benefitting from the finance bill were not “minorities or defective people.”

America may have reached the peak of desperation for finding solutions to the open oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. After a Russian newspaper suggested the tried and true tactic of sticking nuclear weapons under oil leaks to stop the flow, the idea of sticking a plutonium bomb in the Gulf is popping up everywhere as the only hope to save what little remains of the Gulf as it is now. The plan is only slightly less insane than it sounds.

Maybe African American unemployment isn’t as bad as they say, given the National Review‘s inability to find an actual African American conservative to participate in its online “symposium” on Black unemployment and the racial recession. Hopefully everyone was just too busy working.

Sen. Scott Brown is making his mark as a legislative maverick whose yet-untainted heart is his compass. Too bad it’s not 2008, the Republicans don’t have anywhere near a majority in the Senate, and Republican mavericks are passé.

The first major experiment with broadcasting a federal trial has found its case, and it is bound to create controversy (and some great television). A federal judge in San Francisco said today that the trial over the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8, that banned same-sex marriages in the state, will be televised starting on Jan. 11. However, the trial will not be available “live,” something requested by media outlets. Instead, the trial will be recorded by the court and then made available later, according to a spokesperson for the court.

When looking ahead at the next year, pundits turn into prognosticators. Bloggers covering all sorts of topics and industries are now giving their predictions for what’s to come in 2010. Conventional wisdom says to go the conservative route with these choices in order to avoid looking foolish when none of your projections pan out. At the same time, there’s a key difference between picking things that are realistically possible and those that are already on the road to happening. I’ve assembled my favorite predictions covering a variety of fields and what’s supposedly in store for the near future:

As the face of media evolves, it’s important to honor the figures who helped define, shape and set the standards in their industries. These are some of the most prominent members of the media who passed away over the past 10 years. Take a look back with some snippets from their respective New York Times obituaries.

According to National Review editor Rich Lowry there is a new player on the inside political news scene: Sarah Palin’s Facebook page. Lowry describes it as a “must-read organ of conservative opinion.”

When Sarah Palin endorsed Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over GOP moderate Dede Scozzafava, it was a fair question to ask: “why?” Mainstream media accounts that only touch on Scozzafava’s political beliefs are just telling part of the story.

We can’t blame The Economist for replaying 100-day coverage because, let’s face it, the American news media was was a little premature and extravagant. The Economist’s ‘Crunch time’ cover is playful, and handsome to boot. And we especially love the baby blue, because nothing says ‘crunch time’ like baby blue.