In yesterday’s Times Frank Bruni outlined “The Affliction of Comfort” – the worry that those who are taken care of will put taking care of themselves above resolving the problems of others. His essay is farmed in the context of governments making decisions about the long-term welfare of citizens from a position of safety and comfort.

The piece doesn’t deliver on the promise of its title. The affliction of comfort. The inertia of the heavy. Bruni dusts the surface of Italian politics and dips a toe into the American budget mess, but there’s deeper angst at work.

As Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s Texas-sized mouth garners gushers of media attention in the opening days of his presidential campaign, fact-checking website Politifact has been working overtime to ride to Perry’s rescue, rating statements that Perry alternately “threatened to” or “wanted to” secede as “false.”

West Wing Report‘s Paul Brandus points out that it was on this date in 1862 that President Abraham Lincoln laid to rest any doubt about the right of states to secede. Politifact concedes that point, yet ignores it in analyzing the accusations against Perry.

Warren Buffett cannot be simply described with one qualifier; he is, among other things, an American investor, an industrialist and a philanthropist. But he’s probably most commonly known as one of the wealthiest men in America, making his billions with a smart and safe investing strategy that earned him the nickname “the Oracle of Omaha.” So when the poster-boy for a free market system pens a thoughtful op-ed for the NY Times arguing for taxing of the super wealthy, pundits, politicians and the “people” should most certainly take note.

News Corp. CEO and Chairman Rupert Murdoch is appearing before a British Parliamentary committee to discuss the growing phone hacking scandal and charges of corruption and cover-up that has already led to the arrest of some high profile executives and the resignation of London’s top cops.

On today’s radio program, Glenn Beck took great exception with a comment made by NY Times‘ David Carr last Friday night during an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher. While responding to a critique of Gov. Chris Christie‘s leadership of New Jersey — a “smart state” in the eyes of Maher — Carr took a swipe at the residents of Kansas and Missouri, specifically describing their “low-sloping foreheads.” It was clearly a joke (an offensive and unfunny joke) but in Beck’s eyes, this is the sort of comment that “leads to death camps.”

It would be fair to say that the relationship between Fox News and Glenn Beck is being…tested. A recent NY Times column that suggested that Fox News was considering life without its controversial star has led to speculation about Beck’s value to–and future at –the cable news network, yet few have asked what Beck may have planned if he decides to leave Fox News. We may, now, have an answer. Mediaite has learned that Beck has planned to hire a Fox News big wig to work within his production company, revealing, perhaps, much bigger and more innovative plans than anyone had previously thought.

In an interview with The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz, NY Times Executive Editor Bill Keller defended the NY Times ability to cover Fox News objectively, despite comments he made that were critical of the cable news network and the people that regularly watch Fox News. Speaking specifically about his media reporters, Keller claimed “they are professionally indifferent to that fact that Fox maintains a stable of commentators who make a good living bashing the Times.” But did Keller compromise the editorial objectivity of his staff and paper by openly attacking an entity so often in the news?

Shortly after Keith Olbermann was suspended last fall, narly 250,000 fans signed an online petition in support of the embattled anchor. Many suggested that was the best evidence that Olbermann’s next venture would be a Internet-based one. Well now we know that may not be entirely true, as the NY Times is reporting that the former MSNBC anchor will announce tomorrow plans to join Current TV, the struggling cable network founded in part by Al Gore.

Legend has it that the editors at Washington Post and the NY Times communicate each day to confirm that they have different lead stories/images on their front page. Well, it appears that the communication lines between Marcus Brauchli and Bill Keller were not open last night, as both venerable newspapers lead with the same image from the tragic Cambodia stampede from yesterday. (H/T Patrick Gavin)

NBC Nightly News may be about to make one of the strangest pitches in the history of network news: If you don’t watch, maybe you’d like to DVR us?

It appears that the terrible ratings finally caught up with him. Brian Stelter at the NY Times reports that beleagured president of CNN Jon Klein is out of his current position, replaced by Ken Jautz, who is currently heading up HLN. CNN’s Worldwide Chief sent a memo to CNN’s staff this morning indicating that Klein was leaving with “our respect and friendship” without specifying the reason why he was out, though certainly CNN’s declining ratings were at issue.

Flagging polls and a looming mid-term election have understandably caused alarm within leading Democratic political advisers. An article published in today’s NY Times reports that White House strategists are considering a campaign to “tie the G.O.P. to the Tea Party” in hopes of both energizing a democratic base of voters who fear some of the rhetoric coming from the Tea Party movement. While David Axelrod denies such an effort, there does appear to be some legs to this idea. Update – Politico is now reporting that the White House claims the NYT report to be “100% wrong.”

Frank Rich is frustrated. He is clearly annoyed that the Wikileaks release of almost 92,000 pages of documents related to the war in Afghanistan has not become more of a rallying cry to end that military effort. Or more specifically, he is seeking to reassure those hoping it will ultimately have that impact, to be patient.

This week marks the one year anniversary of the launch of Mediaite, and what a year it has been. As Dan Abrams notes, predictions of Mediaite’s doom were greatly exaggerated, and as Mediaite columnist and White House reporter from Day One, I have viewed the site’s successful first year from a unique perch. When Rachel Sklar pitched the site to me, I have to confess I was a little bit skeptical, but it didn’t take long for me to see that she and Dan were on to something.

It is hard to believe it’s been a full year since our newbie website with the awkward-sounding name was welcomed to the blogosphere with accolades such as “sounds…like something you’d give to a toddler suffering diarrhea,” or “no one really cares about the business and personalities behind the media,” or my personal favorite, “Mediaite feels a bit doomed.” Ah, yes — that honeymoon period was so sweet. We all love to curl up with the scrapbook and reminisce about the early days.

Reports have just surfaced that during a 2006 visit to Portland, the former Vice President was accused by a massage therapist of “unwanted sexual contact,” but a lack of evidence led to no charges being filed. The story first appeared in the National Enquirer, but has since been picked up by mainstream news outlets including the Associated Press, the New York Times and Fox News. But the AP report ends with a Detective’s claim that complainant “planned to take her case to the news media.” Is this another example of check book journalism?

Bill O”Reilly and Bernie Goldberg discussed Elena Kagan last night, or more specifically, her brother Irving. O’Reilly thought “the folks ought to know” that “the word in journalistic circles is that the White House is very nervous about Irving Kagan,” ostensibly alluding to a recent story that the White House had denied the NY Times access to Kagan’s family. What’s President is “trying to hide?” asked Goldberg? “Irving is a left-wing radical,” concluded O’Reilly.

Times Square was shut down tonight because of a mysterious package found in a S.U.V. According to the New York Times twitter feed (@nytimes) NYPD have actually found a bomb, though it that remains unconfirmed by other sources. Update – the Daily News now has this image of the suspected vehicle.

Sometimes the best laid plans get undone in the most pedestrian way. Tonight news broke of Harold Ford‘s decision not to run for New York Senate office currently held by Kristen Gillibrand. The once rising star in the Democratic party had a rough number of weeks in the NY press and blogs, and even his announcement not to run somehow, and fittingly, didn’t work out quite like it was supposed to.

In case you haven’t heard, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is in the process of creating a New York City edition of the Wall Street Journal, a project he planned to go “all in” on not a mere two months ago. Now, it looks like “all in” means “turn to your biggest competitors for help.”

Throughout the recent sturm and drang surrounding the NBC late night drama, the one consistent takeaway is that this is all the fault of NBC Chief Jeff Zucker. And while that may or may not be true, the idea of moving Jay Leno to the 10pm time slot wasn’t always seen as the disastrous move that is now. In fact, many television critics hailed Zucker for “the coup” of keeping Leno when this move was announced. Let’s take a look at what critics said at the time, and compare it to their thoughts now. Fun! Right?

As Reuters reported from the trench coat Motherland on Monday, Burberry has dug into the social networking mine with the launch of its new website artofthetrench.com. Burberry’s Facebook page calls it “a living celebration of the trench coat and the people who wear it.” While many designers (@DVFNewYork) and retailers (@Bloomingdales) have taken their businesses to Twitter, Burberry is the first major fashion titan to actually create a social media labyrinth of its own.

The New York Times is reporting that Comcast Corp and General Electric Co are closer to a deal to give Comcast a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal and that a formal announcement may be made in the coming week. Mediaite has learned from an industry source familiar with the negotiations that Comcast will in fact be formally announcing its acquisition of NBC Universal this week.

The Nieman Journalism Lab describes itself as “an attempt to help journalism figure out its future in an Internet age.” Apparently, the future of journalism now includes publishing “off-the-record” speeches. Recently they posted a revealing video of NY Times Executive Editor Bill Keller during an “internal chat” with his staffers.

If you’re a frequent MSNBC viewer, you have no doubt sat through that mopey-faced lecture on how a tax on “sodas and juice drinks” will cause foreclosures and business closings. It’s the kind of whiny appeal that I hate no matter who makes it, but I decided to get to the bottom of this one anyway, and maybe take a stand.