Earlier in the week, it was reported that Pat Buchanan would be indefinitely removed from MSNBC, in part due to some of the offensive racial and ethnic comments in his latest book. Not everyone was comfortable with this decision, as Fox News commentator Liz Trotta vehemently proved today, in a talk about how Buchanan’s suspension was “absurd” and a product of the “close to communist” MSNBC network.

Pat Buchanan is disputing reports he was suspended from MSNBC and contends that he was instead on medical leave. “Well, you know I’ve had some medical issues at the end of the year which were pretty problematic, and so I’ve sort of been out of speaking and things like that,” Buchanan told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Monday night. “I’ve started back writing the column in December, and I’ve got the column going. I’m doing ‘McLaughlin Group.’ But we haven’t gotten up on MSNBC.”

The future of Pat Buchanan at MSNBC is hanging in the balance, after a controversial book in which the conservative commentator made statements that were considered discriminatory by several groups. Over the weekend, MSNBC President Phil Griffin said that Buchanan was not allowed on the air indefinitely after the release of his latest book, and has not decided whether to allow the commentator to return.

In what was probably the eighth or ninth iteration of the point-and-laugh-at-Fox White House Christmas card story, MSNBC host Ed Schultz managed to top them all, with an assist from a temporary co-host named Rex. Schultz set up the story by introducing the adorable animal shelter beagle, a stand-in for First Dog Bo Obama, whose presence on the White House card, and on a presidential shopping trip, prompted ridiculous criticism from the likes of Sarah Palin and Sen. John McCain.

It’s fast becoming the worst-kept secret in cable news that Chris Hayes is ruining people’s weekends. The editor-at-large of The Nation, former Rachel Maddow fill-in, and (for the past few weeks) proud papa of daughter Ryan hosts a political roundtable which, true to its title, forces a growing number of people to get Up With Chris Hayes. The show combines the fun, accessibility, and sleep-interrupting qualities of a Saturday morning cartoon with the smarts and savvy of a crackling wonk dinner party. To atone for waking us up every weekend, Chris Hayes agreed to give us a look inside Up.

As part of our one-part series Project: In Vino, Mediaite set out to capture media elites, gathered to fête Hardball host Chris Matthews‘ Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero, in their alcohol-lubricated natural habitat, and maybe to drink some of it ourselves. With the aid of a hidden camera, I ventured to MSNBC’s book party Tuesday night to tear the lid off of this den of open bars and Wagyu beef hors d’oeuvres.

Last Friday, I made my way down to Zuccotti Park to meet up with Current TV’s latest host, Cenk Uygur (who was taping a week’s worth of shows there), for a quick discussion about a variety of topics: the Occupy Wall Street movement, the role of corporate media in its coverage of the protest, and when and what we can expect to see his new Young Turks show on Current. A series of unfortunate events conspired to delay the interview, which lessened the total time to just a few minutes. However, Uygur packed a lot of observations about the OWS protests, the Tea Party, and the media into our short visit.

MSNBC’s third quarter ratings put the network just a smidgen ahead of CNN, which has filed competitive prime-time viewership numbers for the first time in years. MSNBC’s ratings have fallen where CNN has gained, most starkly so in Keith Olbermann‘s old 8pm hour. Could Olbermann’s exit be to blame for MSNBC’s fall in rank?

Well that was quick. Just after a few weeks of what seemed like a trial period, Reverend Al Sharpton has been named the permanent host of PoliticsNation, the new 6PM weeknight show on MSNBC. In the last few weeks, Sharpton has earned a fair amount of attention, though not all of it has been praiseworthy. See the full press release after the jump:

Although MSNBC has benefited, ratings-wise, from Al Sharpton‘s unpaid stint on the network, it has yet to make him a firm offer.

Sources have told The Daily that MSNBC head Phil Griffin is stalling on giving Sharpton a temporary position at the network, where he’s been filling in for the recently ousted Cenk Uygur at the 6 p.m. slot.

At the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills Tuesday, MSNBC president Phil Griffin said his network showed signs of strength over the last year–even outperforming cable news leader Fox News Channel in specific hours on specific days. “It just gives uou an indication of where we’re going,” Griffin was quoted by The Hollywood Reporter. “For the first time we’re beginning to chip away at Fox News Channel.”

MSNBC contributor Chris Hayes, who’s been a regular fill-in host for both Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell, will begin his own show, to air live on Saturdays between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., and on Sundays between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. The program, yet to be named, debuts September 17 and will focus on politics. “Chris is a thoughtful analyst and one of the smartest journalists out there,” said MSNBC president Phil Griffin in a statement released by the network. “As we head into election season, there is no better time to amp up our weekend political coverage.”

Al Sharpton‘s surprise resurgence as a cable news host seems to have come a bit out of nowhere– certainly to his predecessor and to many viewers. Given his previous forays into television, the Daily Beast‘s Wayne Barrett has penned a doozy of an investigative piece that proposes talent alone couldn’t have gotten Sharpton the job: it was affirmative action and his support of the NBC/Comcast merger, Barrett concludes, that landed him the position.

MSNBC president Phil Griffin recently sat down with Mediaite and discussed the reasons for the network’s success, which included the unrepentant assertion that MSNBC’s coverage comes from a progressive stance. We also discussed the successful navigation through some rocky waters over the last six months (the departure of Keith Olbermann and successful transition to a new prime time lineup), with little effect on its overall ratings.

This week Cenk Uygur lost his spot as interim host of the 6pm slot on MSNBC; since then there has been something of a he said/he said surrounding the reasons behind Uygur’s departure from the cable news network. Last night, Uygur appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, which now appears on the fledgling Current network, for an interview rife with hidden meanings, subtext, and almost Shakespearean tragic tones.

In explaining his departure from MSNBC, Cenk Uygur related a conversation with the “head of MSNBC” in which he was told that “people in Washington are concerned about your tone.”

The story caught the attention of conservative website The Blaze, which asks “Is the White House Programming a News Channel?”

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney tells Mediaite, exclusively, that they, alas, are not involved in leaning the network forward, or in any other direction.

With the door at 30 Rock shut firmly behind him, ex-MSNBC host Cenk Uygur‘s version of events–that he refused to “tone down” his show in the face of political pressure–is getting sharply rejected by network bosses. “Cenk’s claims are completely baseless,” an MSNBC spokesperson told Mediaite. “It’s unfortunate that he’s decided to depart in such a negative fashion.” Uygur, host of the web talk show The Young Turks, had been hosting the 6 p.m. hour for MSNBC for nearly six months on a trial basis.

Reports surfaced this weekend that MSNBC is looking to replace Cenk Uygur at 6PM and are looking to make a rather noteworthy switch at that time slot by bringing in Al Sharpton to host his own at that time. Those paying close attention may note that Uygur was never named the official host at the 6PM slot, never having shed the “interim” qualifier to his spot.

Keith Olbermann opened the latest chapter in his itinerant broadcasting career last night, and introduced as a contributing guest Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos, to his new program. Moulitsas was on to ostensibly explain why he stopped appearing on MSNBC roughly a year ago, but ended up using the reclaimed platform of a broadcast medium to antagonize his former allies at MSNBC, especially Morning Joe Host Joe Scarborough, to whom he referred as a “loser.” #Newtone.

Ex MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has given a revealing interview to The Hollywood Reporter, claiming his new job in the cable wilderness of Current TV will pay him ten million dollars a year (with the possibility of banking $100 million over the course of his five year contract)–a staggering figure that dwarfs his MSNBC salary (and was not confirmed by Current).

Former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele says he won’t be a “conservative punching bag” in his new role as commentator on MSNBC. Or, put more bluntly, he has no intention of being the next Alan Colmes. I think people kind of look at it and they go, ‘Oh, gee, you know, yeah, he’s the Alan Colmes,’” Steele tells The Baltimore Sun. “But I don’t think it’s that at all. I think I bring a very different style…I’m not a wallflower. I don’t hold back my views…I want to engage people.”

In a profile of MSNBC by Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Bob Fernandez, the president of MSNBC, Phil Griffin, describes a network that’s survived the transition to Comcast and the exit of star host Keith Olbermann–and, he tells the Philly paper, has its sights set on becoming number one in cable news. “I want to make up ground with Fox News. That’s the goal,” said Griffin.

Amid plenty of talk about the new owners coming onboard at NBC, there was a moment during today’s NBC Universal “town hall meeting” that jumps out. (And no, we’re not talking about the new corporate logo that sidelines the NBC peacock from its corporate perch, though it remains a fixture of the NBC brand)

As Mediabistro’s Alex Weprin reports, new CEO Steve Burke was asked–by none other than NBC News anchor Brian Williams–what exactly led to the departure from MSNBC of Keith Olbermann.

In the world of cable news opinion media, its a rather well accepted axiom that Fox News primetime line up advances opinion that are from the right of center, and that MSNBC’s line up presents news and analysis from a left of center point of view. But according to a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter about the media’s ostensible obsession with Sarah Palin, not everyone seems to see the “opiniotainment” landscape in such binary terms. Bill Wolff, for example, claims that MSNBC is not “driven by politics.”

Does the departure of Keith Olbermann mean the soon-to-be-under-new-management MSNBC will tone down the partisanship or even move away entirely from the perceived leftward lean of Olbermann’s Countdown? MSNBC boss Phil Griffin says simply, “nothing changes.”

In an interview with Tim Molloy of The Wrap, Griffin declined to get too specific about the details of Olbermann’s sudden evacuation from 30 Rock, but was firm that the network’s mission remains unchanged: catching Fox News, and using the deep bench–like Rachel Maddow, whom Olbermann brought onboard–to get it done: