You know how the saying goes…it’s the economy, stupid. Despite the midterm political frenzy which has seemingly taken over the news cycle this year (following the political Obama frenzy that preceded it in various forms) the economy has dominated the so-called newshole this year according to the Pew Research Center.

Everyone knows the August news cycle is a long slog for both newsmakers and news consumers. The now infamous Shark Week was borne from a desire to take advantage of the dog days, and in the last few years August has borne such national controversies as the Town Hall meeting, the Tea Party movement, and lately the ‘Ground Zero Mosque.’ Also, bed bugs, bulls, and dancing robots.

Howard Kurtz hates shark week. Kidding! Howie Kurtz simply does not approve of either Steven Slater nor the adoring coverage he received at the hands of the media. Especially the latter.

A new Gallup poll reveals that American confidence in television news and newspapers has hit a record low: only a quarter of Americans say they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in either. According to Gallup these results continue a trend that began in 2002. Alas, what the poll doesn’t clarify is what Americans do find to be a trustworthy news source.

I’m not even going to bother with the label “this exists” because in a world where one frequently feels like the real news is straight out the The Onion it’s not all that surprising that an actual Onion story would be mistaken for the truth.

I know, it sounds like the premise for a porno flick — and I am sure it will be at some point — but this is an actual story currently running on FoxNews.com.

It remains to be seen whether former President George W. Bush was correct when he asserted that history would vindicate his decision to invade Iraq. It’s going to be many years before History makes up its mind on that one. Recent history, however, is not looking favorably on how the press conducted itself during the Iraq war years, particularly on the subject of torture.

Is President Obama going to manage to get Elena Kagan confirmed to the Supreme Court without addressing her sexuality? Well, not if Andrew Sullivan has anything to do with it. Sullivan attacked Kagan’s sexuality, or the lack of public mention of it, in a series of posts yesterday, with a ferocity that was reminiscent of his determination to find out the true parentage of Trig Palin. It seems to be working.

Over the weekend the National Enquirer published an “exclusive” story claiming President Obama had had an affair in 2004. Drudge ran it as its lede, giving the story a level of attentionit probably shouldn’t have received. When reached for clarification, the National Enquirer is standing by their story.

Predictably, a great many people (read: journalists) were less than thrilled to see the New York Times anoint Politico’s Mike Allen the most influential journalist in Washington. In his WaPo column today Howie Kurtz politely suggests it might be otherwise. Hmm.

Near the tail end of an interview on Charlie Rose last night, Charlie asked Rahm Emanuel “how deep do you think the anger is in the country?” Emanuel had plenty to say on the subject, including that he thinks everyone has a responsibility to act responsibly. However, he did note that Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are playing a role in “exacerbating tensions.”

Sometimes you really have to wonder whether the magazine world deserves the fate that is being dealt to them. After a year of plummeting ad sales and deep cutbacks that saw the shuttering of many a beloved title many magazine, aficionados greeted news of the iPad as the savior to their many problems. And perhaps it still might be, though likely not like this.

Does this finally make it official? In case you’ve missed the months of media coverage on Sarah Palin, the New York Times’ media columnist David Carr has weighed in on the matter and declared her “a one-woman national media empire.” Sound familiar?

In case you were wondering what the cable news channels gets up to while you are on an Easter egg hunt at the park enjoying the weather and consuming chocolate bunnies, here’s a sample. Meet “GOP Mom.” She was on Fox News today making the conservative argument for the legalization of pot.

Frank Rich remarks on the country’s amazing, about-face, perception of President Obama in the aftermath of the health care bill. From Clark Kent to Superman in one leap over a tall bill! But are we seeing what we want to see…or what the media hopes we will click on?

I think it’s also hard to argue that the organization driving most of the national political stories is Politico. Considering the site has such powerful clout it was interesting to hear the founding editors John Harris and Jim VandeHei tell Howie Kurtz on this weekend’s Reliable Sources that they are basically dope suppliers to an audience of political junkies who thrive on the minutiae.

It did seem a tad coincidental. Just days after penning his much talked about ‘Waterloo’ column conservative thinker and former Bush administration official was fired from his $100,000/year job at the AEI. Frum, who was supposed to appear on Countdown last night and canceled, unloaded to Politco’s Mike Allen instead, asserting that it was “donor pressure” following the ‘Waterloo’ post that led to his dismissal.

Does it seem weirdly quiet in the news world today? It’s not just your imagination. The media may be having a collective panic attack over how they will manage to occupy their time now that the health care debate has been settled. So what’s next? Because there will be a next.

The New York Times has sent a memo out to its freelancers reminding them of the paper’s ethic policies. And wow, either the Times continues to think very, (very) highly of itself or, the state of the media industry is such they know they can get away with anything. Or both.

Time‘s Mark Halperin has finally raised his head from the extended Game Change tour to weigh in on the current state of President Obama. In a four point summary published Sunday, Halperin lists four ways in which Obama is repeating the mistakes of George W. Bush. Andrew Sullivan is having none of it. And I mean NONE.

Considering the now years-long deluge of images President Obama has been the subject of you may have missed the fact he has apparently been intentionally avoiding iconic images. Who knew, right? Turns out the president has no use for the Statue of Liberty, among others as a backdrop or iconic back-up.

This is sort of strange. Time‘s national political correspondent Karen Tumulty reports that when she attended President Obama’s health care rally in Pennsylvania earlier today she was not allowed to talk to the public.

Did the New York Times just discover the Internet? The answer is obviously no — even a cursory glance at their excellent website is proof they are head and shoulders above all other mainstream publications when it comes to the Internet. But still. Something about the Zachary Kouwe plagiarism debacle suggests otherwise.

Normally speaking, I happen to think the NYT is generally a step ahead of the game when it comes to online content, so this is puzzling. Apparently the NYT.com many blogs are going to be behind the metered paywall the Times is planning on launching next year. Worse idea than Timeselect?

On yesterday’s Reliable Sources Howie Kurtz highlighted the “egregious rumor-mongering” that followed Gov. David Paterson around these last two weeks. Cue a montage of website screen shots featuring breathless headlines — including Mediaite — to illustrate his point: the Internet is irresponsible, rumor-infested, and evil! To which we say: Oh please.