Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich may have risked his nascent lead by referencing a “humane” immigration policy at last night’s debate. On MSNBC’s Martin Bashir show this afternoon, Democratic strategist Karen Finney slowed the Newt “Humane Train” by noting that “he is a little like a sociopath. On the one hand, he is talking about humanity and the compassion. And he is saying little kids should go scrub toilets so they get work experience.”

During this summer’s debt ceiling debate, Rush Limbaugh famously became one of the loudest voices urging the Republican Congress not to compromise. Today in the Washington Post, Peter Berkowitz wrote a column combating this idea that specifically quotes from Limbaugh. On his radio show, Limbaugh hit back. He hit back against the column as well as the idea of moderation as a whole, asking “What is it about Conservatism that we’re supposed to moderate in the face of the most radical and destructive administration in modern American history?”

It doesn’t happen all too often, but, whenever news outlets accidentally use the same picture on their cover, it’s always pretty funny. Today, The New York Times and the Washington Post both decided to fill their front page with that the exact photo of a flooded New Jersey street. This kind of thing (which happens every once in a while) must suck for the papers. It really sucks for whomever owns the truck.

The only person it doesn’t suck for? The photographer. Ka-ching!

Barely an hour after a (now-downgraded 5.8) earthquake hit the East Coast, the internet began congratulating its own sparkling wit by publishing Top Earthquake Tweets lists. While this is a decidedly narcissistic exercise, some of them are actually pretty funny. As a public service, we’ve culled through the lists to present some of our favorites, plus a few tweets that didn’t make the lists. We’ll let you decide which group had the funniest tweets.

First Lady Michelle Obama made slow summer news Monday by visiting the newly-opened Washington, DC Shake Shack. Since the coverage focused not on the jolt such a visit could give business, or the reactions of locals, but on the First Lady’s calorie count, you might think this story was pushed by the usual conservative media [...]

FishbowlDC gossip and media reporter Betsy Rothstein is, to put it mildly, a polarizing figure in Washington, DC. Despised by some for her role in Dave Weigel‘s Journolist-fueled career reorganization, dismissed by others as a petty gossip, she also enjoys a stealth legion of admirers who appreciate her hard work and Keyser Soze-like omnipresence. When word spread of my interview with Rothstein, “Team Betsy” emerged from the woodwork to weigh in, and the common theme was quickly evident: Betsy Rothstein is fearless.

For those wondering where the mainstream media is in covering the brouhaha over Wonkette’s birthday attack on Trig Palin (since deleted), CNN’s Reliable Sources answered the call Sunday morning. Host Howard Kurtz gave a quick recounting of the offensive post (and perhaps too much credit for an apology), and while the panel unequivocally disapproved, the [...]

As The New York Times reported, it was a banner year for G.E.–$14.2 billion in worldwide profits last year, including $5.1 billion in the United States, and a federal tax bill of exactly zero dollars. Pretty interesting story, and it’s sparked a lot of debate (even a Twitter feud between G.E. and The Times), but somehow it didn’t quite fit the bill when the folks at NBC News sat down to pick stories for the network’s flagship newscast, NBC Nightly News.

The Washington Post‘s Dana Milbank is considering a self-imposed hiatus from all things Sarah Palin after being concerned that he’s written no less than 42 columns on the former governor since 2008, when Sen. John McCain picked her to be his presidential running mate. Psshhh. We’ve written 42 articles on Palin in a day.

Are you opinionated and outspoken? Have you grown tired of scanning the Op-Ed pages of major newspapers and thinking to yourself, “Man, I could write better than this clown”? Do you have a secret yearning to appear on a reality TV competition? If so, the Washington Post is looking for you.

The reason conflicts of interest are disclosed isn’t to give carte blanche for writing about things in which you have a vested economic interest – it’s to assure that, in the event a conflict is inescapable and may color a reader’s view of the piece, it isn’t ignored. Check Washington Post op-ed bylines carefully — authors may be closer to their subjects than they appear.

A column in the Washington Post this Sunday is the latest in Dan Rather‘s campaign to get President Obama to convene “White House commission on public media” — an important step towards legitimizing the debate about the future of the news. But do we really need more government in our news?