On Meet the Press this morning Sen. John McCain weighed in on the McChrystal firing deftly walking the high wire between agreeing with President Barack Obama‘s decision to relieve Gen. McChrystal of his duties while also remaining supportive of McChrystal.

And no it was not hyperbole. While guesting on The O’Reilly Factor tonight, Geraldo Rivera compared writer Michael Hastings (whose article in Rolling Stone published this week effectively brought down General Stanley McChrystal) with al Qaeda terrorists who killed US ally Sheik Massoud two days before the attacks of 9/11, who set back anti-Taliban efforts in Afghanistan.

On Monday, the Kansas City Star reported that a Missouri farmer had painted the side of a 45 foot-long semi-truck trailer with the contentious banner “Are you a Producer or Parasite, Democrats – Party of Parasites” and placed the trailer on his property near busy highway U.S. 71. The farmer, David Jungerman, is protesting people (Democrats, apparently) who don’t pay taxes and instead “always have their hand out for whatever the government will give them.”

Newsflash: Rolling Stone has been doing war reporting – and political reporting, business reporting, news reporting – for decades now. And they’ve got the Ellies to prove it.

On last night’s Factor, regular guest Bernie Goldberg was on to judge the media’s reaction to the Gen. Stanley McChrystal/Rolling Stone scandal, and it was mildly surprising to see both of them defend the magazine, even though the piece’s author, Michael Hastings, is a “card-carrying unabashed lefty.” More surprising, though, was to watch Goldberg turn on talk radio, saying it “depressed him” and that its “hypocrisy” on the matter “is enough to choke a horse.”

While Gen. Stanley McChrystal‘s military insubordination via ancient music mag garnered some sympathy for President Obama in a news cycle where he was already facing two wars, the worst environmental disaster in history, and a surge of opposition in Tuesday’s run-off elections, Fox & Friends’ Gretchen Carlson went one step further and offered the President empathy– because his job is “just like our job.”

President Obama confirmed today that he had accepted Gen. Stanley McChrystal‘s resignation and had chosen Gen. David Petraeus to take his place as commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Obama’s sendoff to McChrystal was notably kind; the President spoke highly of McChrystal’s tenure in Afghanistan and was careful to point out that the decision was not a personal one.

Everyone has been talking about General Stanley McChrystal after the now-infamous Rolling Stone article was released, now resulting in President Obama‘s acceptance of his letter of resignation. Not many, however, have bothered to talk to Michael Hastings, the writer of the controversial story that started this mess – except for John Hockenberry and Celeste Headlee at The Takeaway, who scooped everyone when they interviewed him yesterday morning

For the first half of today’s White House briefing, Robert Gibbs was a bundle of barely retrained disgust and anger, as he fielded questions about Gen. Stanley McChristal‘s disastrous Rolling Stone interview. Since the McChristal horse was in a post-mortem heap by the time he got around to me, I thought I might be able to draw a reaction out of Gibbs with a carefully executed question. While that didn’t quite work out, in retrospect, Gibbs may have signaled a surprise ending to tomorrow’s McChrystal-Obama tete a tete

The Gen. Stanley McChrystal Rolling Stone article story will not end today.

Pres. Obama made a brief statement today in a “press spray,” flanked by Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates, and White House correspondents seem to think the implication was McChrystal will keep his job.

Following the controversial Rolling Stone article that revealed “flippant and dismissive remarks about top Obama administration officials,” Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal‘s civilian press aide has announced his resignation.

The recent criticism by General Stanley McChrystal of the Obama Administration’s policy in Iraq was a very hot topic during today’s White House press briefing. And judging by the grave tone and open responses of Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the General’s future in his current role appears to be uncertain at best. When asked by CBS’ Chip Reid if removing the General from his position was an option, Gibbs’ tersely replied “I would say all options are on the table.”

The Internet is buzzing today with news that President Obama has called on General Stanley McChrystal to head to Washington and explain himself regarding an interview to Rolling Stone in which he harshly criticized how Obama has handled the War in Afghanistan. However, readers looking to take a peek at the story that started all the kerfuffle have to dig way past a photo of Lady Gaga and her locked-and-loaded brassiere to find it.

For reasons that remain unclear General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, gave an interview to Rolling Stone magazine for a piece titled ‘The Runaway General’ in which he criticized the Obama administration’s handling of Iraq. Actually he ripped it to shreds. The article has reportedly “enraged” President Obama who has ordered McChrystal to hightail it back to Washington pronto to explain himself in person.

Following his latest trip to the Gulf this week, and ahead of Wednesday’s “oil summit” with the BP heads, President Obama will be holding another press conference Tuesday night. On Fox News Sunday today Chris Wallace asked Brit Hume whether he thought this latest presser was motivated by PR concerns. Absolutely, said Hume. Also, Obama has been getting a bad rap for no good reason.

Chances are Katie Couric will never have the opportunity to floor President Obama with the infamous Sarah Palin question “what newspapers and magazines (and websites!) did you regularly read?” Answer is plenty. And Obama isn’t afraid to name names. Favorites include Andrew Sullivan, Rolling Stone, and ESPN’s inspirational ‘SportsCenter.’

Yesterday, Matt Taibbi took the sort of scorching rhetoric he usually levels at Tom Friedman and directed it elsewhere on the NYT op-ed page. Namely, David Brooks. Taibbi provided his own ‘translation’ of Brooks’ recent column on Haiti. Translation: It’s ain’t pretty.

Esquire, Fortune, Playboy, Vanity Fair, New York: End the War on Christmas Magazine Covers! Who knows, magazines might even increase those newsstand sell-through numbers that are all doing so terribly if they just get back into the holiday spirit. To make a case, we’ve collected the Top 20 Christmas Magazine Covers of All Time.

As the decade we’ve dubbed The Aughts winds to a close, many magazines are celebrating with giant interactive features that attempt to encapsulate ten years of tragedy, victory, controversy and beyond. But to praise (or denounce, right Time?) the end of the decade with a magazine cover is truly a special sort of honor — and oddly enough, it’s rare. So far, not too many titles have given the early 2000s the newsstand treatment, so we figured for the final edition of Cover Wars this year (and this decade!), we would celebrate those commemorating The Aughts. See you next year, but first, click inside to see the winner!

Congrats are in order for our office-mates Downtown Records. Gnarls Barkley, masters of disguise and Downtown artists, are responsible for making the best song of the decade, according to Rolling Stone. “Crazy”, Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse’s wonderful pop/soul/rock/hip-hop collabo from 2006, tops the magazine’s list of the top 100 songs of the decade. “Crazy” united people in a musically-fragmented decade, “packed a career’s worth of genius ideas into three minutes”, and was loved by everyone “from your mom to your ex-girlfriend’s art professor.”

When Megan Fox told GQ last year that “Olivia Wilde is so sexy she makes me want to strangle a mountain ox with my bare hands,” she made quite a statement. Just about every media source picked up the saucy story, from Perez Hilton to Fox News. Who was this Olivia Wilde chick, and what [...]

Journalists and mediaites might have been a little bitter that they missed out on federal stimulus. But thank god for Megan Fox. Who needs news when we have Megan? Her new movie, “Jennifer’s Body,” premiered this weekend, and everyone with a pen is itching to write about the film’s star. Or, at least, write about writing about the film’s star.

Happy Anniversary Great Recession. A year ago today Lehman Bros. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sent the economy into a tailspin the country is still struggling to cope with. Here’s a look back at the top five media moments from the last twelve months.

On the cover of Glamour’‘s October issue and back in the saddle with No Doubt, Gwen Stefani is positively in your face. Feeling her pink fuzzy grip, we’ve pulled some of Gwen’s best cover work from the last five years. In your face, in your crotch, on the bedroom of your wall in high school — she’s been all over the place on the cover. But which is her best to date?

When the Internet became a viable communications platform in the late 90s, magazine visionary Jann Wenner was eager to play it safe, licensing his brand to Real Networks, a partner more experienced with the online world. Well now that relationship is over, as Rolling Stone has announced plans to take control of their own online destiny. Is it too late to capture relevance in the crowded online music space?