Jodi Cantor‘s new book The Obamas has stirred some controversy over its claims that the First Lady proved somewhat problematic in terms of her image. On The O’Reilly Factor tonight, Bernie Goldberg admitted that the story of Robert Gibbs losing his patience with the First Lady’s extravagant clothing was “doesn’t shock me,” but upon debating further her image as a “Marie Antoinette” type, Bill O’Reilly came to her defense.

In the midst of all the hoopla over NBC’s big Republican debate, George Stephanopoulos quietly returned to his old position as anchor of ABC’s This Week, and already he’s made some news with today’s appearance by former White House advisor David Axelrod. A new book out about President Obama details tensions between First Lady Michelle Obama and White House staffers, which led to one advisor cursing her out during a meeting. Axelrod confirmed today that this incident did take place.

On CBS News’ Face The Nation Sunday morning, host Bob Schieffer indulged in a popular Supercommittee media narrative, asking  former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs why President Obama holds himself “above the battle,” and “how could he just sit there and let this Supercommittee fail?”

Gibbs handled the question ably, explaining “what the President did for the Supercommittee,” with one glaring omission.

During a pre-debate appearance on MSNBC’s Hardball, host Chris Matthews pressed former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to explain where the President really stands on issues like Medicare reform, and bluntly asked, “Is President Obama a liberal?”

Gibbs took offense to Matthews’ suggestion that the President’s stances are unclear, calling Matthews’ accusations “crazy and unfounded,” and Matthews took offense right back.

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.

August is turning out to be a month dedicated in the media to hammering President Obama on his jobs policy– which, coincidentally, he has yet to release in any detail. On today’s Meet the Press, Robert Gibbs argued that the President had his hands tied by Congress on the jobs issue and that the economy was in too dire a situation to solve immediately, but host Savannah Guthrie continued to push him, reminding him polls showed the American people dissatisfied with the President’s performance and yearning for a concrete plan.

Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs‘ appearance on Tuesday’s Morning Joe evoked a strong sense of déjà vu. Time‘s Mark Halperin asked Gibbs about a familiar line of attack on President Obama, noting that GOP hopeful Rick Perry (R-TX) responded to a reporter who asked him if the President loved America by saying, “You need to ask him.”

Gibbs called Perry’s “passion” for America a “remarkable turnaround” from his not-so-distant talk of secession from the United States.

Within hours of being hired by Fox News, White House correspondent Ed Henry found himself in the crosshairs of Fox-hunting media watchdog Media Matters, who published a thin batch of research suggesting conservative bias. Scant weeks later, Henry seems to have earned his way (at least temporarily) off of the group’s s#%t list, pretty much the same way he got on it: by doing his job.

At Wednesday’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that this afternoon’s debt ceiling meeting with Congressional leaders would be restricted to a still only “pool spray” at the top of the meeting, and closed to reporters. Carney complained that the last time reporters had been allowed in one of these meetings, they had shouted questions at the President. The response didn’t sit well with CBS News’ Chip Reid, so he, and several others, challenged Carney on the media shutout.

A little over four months after stepping down as White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs stepped back into the spotlight Tuesday morning for a spot of Morning Joe. Discussing Monday night’s CNN Republican primary debate, Gibbs took a few well-placed shots at contenders Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, declared Michele Bachmann the victor, and talked about some of the challenges that President Obama faces in his reelection bid. Given his skills with a political knife, it was a soft rollout of Gibbs 2.0.

President Obama has some impressive policy accomplishments when it comes to gay rights, but even though he has presided over the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” has consistently supported a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, and instructed his Justice Department not to defend the law in court, President Obama still has not said that he believes in the right of gay couples to marry. At Tuesday’s White House briefing, I asked Press Secretary Jay Carney why that is.

Hey, White House press conference fans, have you been in serious need of a Robert Gibbs fix lately? While, the former press secretary has been of the radar since he left White House in February, a New York Times report may have a lead on his where he’s popping up next: Facebook! Yes, the social media giant is apparently thinking of hiring Gibbs to “help communicate the company’s message in the media, to investors and policy makers.” This, of course, can only mean one thing. Mark Zuckerberg is finally repealing the ban on people in complicated relationships joining the Facebook army! Hooray!

It was just over a month ago that former print journalist Jay Carney took over as White House Press Secretary from Robert Gibbs, and what a month it has been. With multiple crises in the Middle East, the budget fight, the Wisconsin-led public union protests, and Japan’s earthquake/tsunami/possible nuclear meltdowns, Carney has had many full plates to deal with. All things considered, the White House reporters I’ve spoken with give Carney good marks on his first month on the job, which several of them describe as a “trial by fire.”

During President Obama’s January State of the Union address, Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA 10) tweeted “Mr. President, you don’t believe in the Constitution. You believe in socialism.”

Broun became embroiled in another controversy when, at a Tuesday town hall meeting, he was asked “who is going to shoot Obama?” and responded with stunning nonchalance.

On Sunday Morning’s The Chris Matthews Show, panelist Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal Constitution may have coined a phrase that will help to define the 2012 Republican presidential field. Speaking about the unlikelihood of a run by Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), Tucker said that the rising GOP star would be unwilling to pay the Republican “crazy tax” of pandering to the likes of the “Birthers” (and their Pied Dog-whistlers like Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin), and denying science. Ozzy Osborne, we’ve got the DNC on line 1.

On Monday, I interviewed former Fox News Senior White House correspondent and current National Journal Hill correspondent Major Garrett on a variety of topics, and have been rolling the clips out all week. In the final segment of our conversation, I asked Major to tell Mediaite readers something personal about himself, quizzed him about his relationship with departed press secretary Robert Gibbs, and got the straight dope on where Garrett’s martial-sounding name came from.

On the heels of newly-minted White House Press Secretary Jay Carney‘s first daily briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton (a heavy favorite for the job that went to Carney) announced Wednesday that he is leaving the White House. Burton has been floated as a candidate to fill the House seat vacated by “Shirtless” Chris Lee (R-NY), but, in an email to Mediaite, Burton has ruled out such a run.

Shortly after Friday’s intense White House briefing, during which President Obama delivered warm remarks about outgoing Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the entire press office returned to the briefing room for a final Bundt cake-and-champagne-fueled send-off by the press corps. Do we know how to party, or what?

During his final White House press briefing today, a slightly choked up Robert Gibbs said he didn’t like talking about himself. If that’s the case, then he chose a perfect day for his exit (“a boring day in the White House” Gibbs joked) to be overshadowed. Still, while there was plenty of important news to talk about, Gibbs got a chance to take his bow and President Obama even made an appearance to celebrate his “great friend.”

Apparently, Lawrence O’Donnell isn’t the only one who needs a Sarah Palin translator. At Wednesday’s White House briefing, I asked Robert Gibbs if he thought Palin’s remarks to CBN, in which she suggested President Obama doesn’t know “what America stands for,” were a dog-whistle to the Birther movement, questioning the President’s American-ness, and if this [...]

As Aristotle–or was it Bones McCoy on Star Trek–once said, “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer.” And in the same vein, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has, over the years, explained to reporters the very many things that he is not. He’s not, for instance, a scholar of Chinese history. And he’s not Speaker of the House. And, as he’s said many times, he is not a lawyer. Or a judge. Or a law enforcement official.

The recent appointment of former Time magazine reporter Jay Carney as White House Press Secretary has already spawned an effort to discredit Carney, and his former colleagues, by right-wing media watchdog Newsbusters. The right’s answer to Media Matters has released what it calls a “Media Bias Dossier” on Carney, but at eight quotes in a twenty-year career, it’s pretty thin gruel. It might also surprise Newsbusters to know that libeeral watchdog Media Matters has an even thicker “dossier” on Carney, and that Redstate’s Erick Erickson is among Carney’s biggest fans.

As former Time magazine reporter Jay Carney emerges from the Office of the Vice President into the glaring spotlight of White House Press Secretary, there will undoubtedly be an effort to capitalize on the right’s contempt for mainstream journalism by demonizing Carney, and his former colleagues, in one fell swoop.

Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh provided the blueprint for this effort back in 2006, when he offhandedly slammed Carney and his wife, ABC News National Correspondent Claire Shipman, as “slave-owner and husband.” (h/t Media Matters)

The announcement of Jay Carney as successor to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has ended weeks of speculation, but raises questions about how Carney will take to his new post, and it to him. In exclusive comments to Mediaite, members of the White House Press Corps expressed optimism about Carney’s tenure, and identified possible challenges for the new Press Secretary, including his own status as a former journalist, his relative distance from the Obama administration’s inner circle, and his boyish good looks.

The Obama White House sent Robert Gibbs to brief reporters on the evolving situation in Egypt, but at least one member of the White House press corps was curious why President Obama himself hadn’t come to face the cameras. “Why is the president not standing where you’re standing right now,” asked CBS’ Chip Reid. Gibbs, who spent most of the briefing sticking to a very narrow set of talking points, responded that the White House–and the president–were “monitoring a very fluid situation.”