Wonkette

The Politico’s Democratic blogger Ben Smith is now simply “The Politico,” if this front page is any indication. Jesus, I know I’ve linked to him twice already today. And just who the hell does this “Carrie Budoff Brown” think she is, keeping a whole byline for herself? [Politico]

Hey look, John McCain had an acid flashback to his days in the Mexican Hanoi Hilton and yelled at poor human condition-chronicler Elisabeth Bumiller of the NYT. Why? Because she asked about his conversation with John Kerry in 2004 to become his running mate. About halfway through the video, you can hear Cindy McCain throw a gin tumbler at the plane’s wall, just before McCain’s aides were able to feed her her Xanax/Oxycontin cocktail coated in strawberry cream cheese. [via The Caucus]

Never in his life has Barack Obama needed a cigarette more. What with Tony Rezko being on trial, his advisers telling Canada that his NAFTA support is a lie, and the media asking him questions about all of this stuff, Barry is getting mighty testy and could sob any minute. Is Barack the new Hillary? The evidence is leaning that way today, as he too is chiding the media for being mean to him. MORE »

New Washington Times editor John Solomon was brought in recently to legitimize the paper’s operations and bring back the cutting journalism of its Golden Days. This should be a very, very easy task. Solomon got off to a good start yesterday when the paper reported that the military-industrial complex is worried about Obama’s inexperience at declaring wars. We hope these brilliant investigate reports continue, for America’s safety. On a more symbolic level, however, Solomon has changed aspects of the Times‘ style guide to reflect modern society’s general dislike of racism, sexism and homophobia. How soft have these Moonies gone? MORE »

I went to find important political information regarding the Michigan race on The Page, the news-aggregation website led by horserace political journalism guru Mark Halperin. Instead I found his “PageCast” which just has him in a robe. This clearly bodes well for Ron Paul in the Michigan, the Penis State. [The Page]

Bill Kristol, the new conservative crown jewel of the New York Times‘ opinion squad, responded over the weekend to the criticism surrounding his hire. He said it was “amusing” to watch liberal bloggers — hey, we’re more or less that! — have their “heads explode.” Indeed, nothing casually amuses Bill Kristol more than heads exploding, particularly brown ones. Slightly more surprising, however, was the holier-than-thou defense by NYT opinion editor Andrew Rosenthal. My stars, what a self-righteous, harmless-but-slappy little man! He’s just like Frank Rich, but with a few extra tablespoons of Wrong. MORE »

HuffPo reported late yesterday afternoon that William Kristol — the glib neocon editor of the Weekly Standard and founder of the Project for the New American Century, in addition to his active work the last seven years helping the Bush Administration work out the particulars of destroying the world — will be a columnist for the New York Times in 2008. It’s not that the current op-ed columnists are any great shakes, but if you’re looking for a litany of reasons to cancel that print subscription you’re still stubbornly holding onto, I recommend this, this and this, for starters. Just wanted to pass the news along in case you haven’t banged your head against the wall today. [HuffPo]

The Center for Media and Public Affairs, a self-described “nonpartisan” research outlet with George Mason University, has released a study showing that the media has attacked Hillary the most this election season (duh) and has been really, really nice to Obama (DUH). CMPA’s results also show that Fox News provided the most balanced election coverage. Don’t freak just yet! It’s because Fox News aired less negative stories on Republicans than the three major networks. Why does CMPA need to kiss Fox’s ass so much? Probs because its president and founder, Dr. S. Robert Lichter is, you know, a contributor to Fox News. [CPMA]

The Los Angeles Times knows what led to the CIA’s destruction of those torture tapes! If you’re wondering why you didn’t read about this, it might be because they broke it like late-morning on Monday — the day before Christmas. Hey, smooth move, guys! I’m sure eeeverybody saw it! Next time, you may want to point your team of crack reporters toward a calendar.

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After the White House released a statement lambasting the New York Times for a freaking sub-headline, the NYT has decided to play the bigger man by changing it online and issuing a correction. The controversial headline — “White House Role Was Wider Than It Said” — has been replaced with “Bush Lawyers Discussed Fate of Tapes.” As the Times‘ DC editor told Politico, however, “If they want to quibble with the deck, they have a legitimate point. But nobody is raising any questions with what the story is about, and what the story said.” Indeed, and now probably twice as many people have read the damning story. So Dana Perino continues to be a dumbshit, and the world is as it was. [Politico]