Ed Schultz began something of a feud with Sean Hannity, again, yesterday as the Fox News host had commented that he believed that Osama bin Laden would still be alive and kicking had President Obama “gotten his way.” Naturally, these comments incensed Schultz and led him to a discussion with Hannity over Twitter which resulted in Schultz challenging Hannity to produce any evidence that supported him.

Over the weekend, CBS’ 60 Minutes offered an in-depth profile on Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, a man who is, very likely, best known for his role as CIA Director — a role that saw him presiding over the covert operations that resulted in the discovery and death of Osama bin Laden. As Secretary of Defense, Panetta is the person who would be responsible for launching a nuclear missile from the so-called “Doomsday Plane” should the President give the order.

Vice President Joe Biden spoke to a conference of House Democrats in Maryland today, and in discussing the SEAL Team raid that successfully took out Osama bin Laden, he admitted that he advised President Obama not to carry out the mission because “we have to do more things to see if he’s there.” The vice president gave an insider account of the internal discussions in the White House before the order was officially carried out.

The State of the Union address is a once-in-a-year opportunity for mockery for Jon Stewart. With the President going over his past successes and future plans, there was plenty to go over: The Osama Bin Laden opening, the large amounts of tax credits, and the bad joke that made the First Lady force an awkward smile.

In the world of the microscopic news cycle, a year is a mighty long time. Think “dog years” on steroids. Over the course of the past year, in thousands (around 7,500 ) of articles and millions (between 3 and 4 million) of words, Mediaite has covered the ups and downs of that whizzing, ricocheting media world. In case you lost track in that sea of information, we’ve compiled a list of 2011 Media Winners and Losers that we hope will be the start  of a conversation, not the end of one. Here, in no particular order, are Mediaite’s 2011 Media Winners and Losers.

On Wednesday’s The Daily Rundown, host Chuck Todd drew a lot out of the candidate with his deceptively easygoing style. Todd asked Romney about the notion that “any president” would have carried out the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and Romney said “I think other presidents and other candidates like myself would do exactly the same thing.”

Shockingly, Mitt Romney from four years ago sang a completely different tune.

On Sunday, I caught up with Up With Chris Hayes‘ Chris Hayes to quiz him on the success of his new show, his take on the media, and other topics. In the second part of our exclusive interview, Hayes assessed some current political topics, including President Obama‘s recent tough-talking reply to a question about conservative accusations of an “appeasement” strategy in foreign policy. Somewhat surprisingly, Hayes was not happy with the President’s “Ask Osama bin Laden” response to that question.

It’s a well-known fact that Donald Trump has all of the self-awareness of a Commodore Vic-20, but sometimes, he manages to outdo himself. Such was the case today, when the Apprentice host and former Muammar Gaddafi landlord trivialized President Obama’s decision to take out Osama bin Laden, asking Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, “Who is not going to make that decision?”

Whoa. I suppose that’s one way to shut down a question.

During a press conference, President Obama was asked by the Associated Press’ Ben Feller about the GOP candidates’ accusation that he was an appeaser in regards to the Middle East. Obama then responded that they should ask Osama bin Laden if he’s an appeaser. Again, whoa.

Mark Williams, the Tea Party Express organizer best known for writing a letter to Abraham Lincoln on behalf of “colored people,” is apparently still someone who gets asked about things. In a recent appearance on RT America’s Crosstalk, Williams held forth on how Republicans loosened the jar for President Obama on Libya and Osama bin Laden, and what great friends they are to Israel. Luckily, liberal blogger Cliff Schecter was there to set him straight.

This week began with a series of raids on Occupy movement encampments across the country, and an admission by Oakland Mayor Jean Quan that 18 municipalities had participated in conference calls on how to deal with the camps. Filmmaker Michael Moore, a vocal and visible supporter of the Occupy Wall Street movement, responded by accusing President Obama, via Twitter, of giving the “green light” for the raids. It’s just the latest in a series of unhinged attacks on the President, by Moore. What gives?

In what is sure to be a parade of Republican figures ignoring or downplaying President Obama’s pitch-perfect handling of dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney reacted to news of the tyrant’s death, in an interview with Iowa radio station KSCJ, by saying, “It’s about time.”

Every Halloween there’s that one costume that everyone does. You know, that costume where, whenever you go to a big party, there’s at least two guys there wearing it and trying their best to stay on opposite sides of the house. Well, while I’ve recently had my money on Ryan Gosling’s Driver being the 2011 example, I somehow missed the obvious; Dead Osama bin Laden. Yes, there’s no way our streets aren’t going to be absolutely packed with dead terrorist leaders this Halloween.

Fortunately, a funny, new video from the folks over at the comedy site Jest has taken a preemptive measure to stop it.

Former Obama spokesman Bill Burton‘s Priorities USA Action PAC continues to strafe Mitt Romney like an ED-209 on a sugar high, this time with an ad pegged to Romney’s recent assembly of a foreign policy team. While the spot cleverly toggles from Romney’s foreign policy chops to his record of exporting American jobs, the real significance of this ad is the fact that it’s the first sign of terrorism as an issue in the 2012 campaign, one that President Obama is well-positioned to run on.

When news broke earlier this morning that a U.S. missile had reportedly killed Anwar al-Awlaki most reporters were focused on the details (and ethical questions) surrounding the news. But by this afternoon, cable news analysts started to consider what sort of impact this story has on the word of politics. Case in point, Fox News Chris Wallace suggested to Studio B host Shep Smith that the so-called “war on terror” is a political strength for the Obama campaign, noting his administration has taken down the “two greatest threats to America.”

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 24-year-old Nigerian student who boarded an Amsterdam-to-Detroit plane Christmas 2009 morning with a bomb tucked into his underwear, showed up for jury selection with something to say. “Osama’s alive,” he shouted as he entered the Detroit court house where he hopes to defend himself against criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit [...]

Michael Moore appeared on the set of The View today promoting his new book Here Comes Trouble. Perhaps predictably, Moore brought trouble with him when the conversation turned to the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden when he very specifically suggested that the Navy SEALS should have brought the al Qaeda leader back to the United States to be brought to trial. Elisabeth Hasselbeck vociferously disagreed.

The ideological rivalry between Rick Santorum and Rep. Ron Paul, arguably the most conservative and libertarian members of the 2012 race that are allowed on debate stages, has become a fascinating subplot of the 2012 debates, and tonight sparks flew as Santorum challenged Rep. Paul’s foreign policy, comparing his opinions to Osama Bin Laden and putting him on a defensive that earned him boos.

Previously, we’d told you that the National Geographic Channel is planning to air a 9/11 special focusing on former President George W. Bush thoughts during and after the terrorist attacks that demolished the World Trade Center towers and seriously damaged the Pentagon.

Nat Geo (as all the cool kids are callin’ it) offered a little preview of the special, providing further insight into the moment between Bush first learned that a plane had hit the towers (and surmised, as many of us did, that there must have been some unfortunate but isolated issue with the plane or the pilot) and when he was informed that the United States was, in fact, under attack.

You might remember Monday’s post drawing attention to a fascinating New Yorker piece about the capture of Osama Bin Laden. The article offered many details about the meticulous planning leading up to the raid on Bin Laden’s compound in suburban Pakistan, including the fact that the ultimate goal of the mission had always been to [...]

On May 1st, a Sunday night here in the U.S., the world learned from President Barack Obama that terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden had tracked, found and ultimately killed by an elite force known as “Team Six.” In the months following that announcement, more details about the mission to locate bin Laden have slowly, gradually trickled out into the public.

Now, a fascinating piece published in the New Yorker provides further insight into the planning — and steel nerves — required to capture a terrorist mastermind.

On Friday morning’s Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy slammed Gawker over a blog post that attempted to extrapolate the identity of the CIA agent responsible for tracking and killing Osama bin Laden. Doocy is correct that the site acted recklessly, but along the way, he gets a key fact wrong, makes an unexplainable comparison to the outing of Valerie Plame, and actually shows a photograph of the man in question, in stunning Hi-Def, to millions of Fox News viewers.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Friday morning, conservative columnist Peggy Noonan channeled her inner middle-schooler, calling President Obama a “loser,” and likening White House Press Secretary Jay Carney to a “ferret with flop sweat.”

While there are people on both sides who might foresee the inside of a gym locker in the President’s future, Noonan’s current conclusions about the debt ceiling negotiations are based on complete nonsense. Noonan appeared on Morning Joe to defend her comments.

Former president George W. Bush is set to give his reaction to the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden — a name that loomed over much of Bush’s presidency — in an upcoming special for the National Geographic Channel set to act as the cornerstone for programming commemorating the 10th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th.

In an interview that took four months to negotiate and which eventually happened to be scheduled two days after the world learned that SEAL Team Six members had found and shot the terrorist mastermind at his Abbottabad compound, Bush shares his first thoughts on the day the World Trade Center fell and the Pentagon collapsed. The Hollywood Reporter was able to obtain exclusive quotes from the film.

ABC News Martha Raddatz is quoting unnamed U.S. officials who are claiming that Osama bin Laden had the desire to celebrate the tenth anniversary of 9/11 with another attack on the United States, and had a “hit list” which included Barack Obama, General David Petraeus and included plans for crashing a small airplane into a major U.S. sporting event causing mass casualties.