If there’s one thing this election season has been lacking, it’s screen time devoted to the megalomaniacal ranting of a tiresome one-time television character. Thankfully, this morning Bloomberg News published an interview with the actor Jeff Daniels in which he reprises his character Will McAvoy from the deceased HBO broadcast news drama The Newsroom.

Last week, Hadas Gold and Joe Pompeo of Politico reported that Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and billionaire owner of Bloomberg LP, told a mildly funny joke when he paid a recent visit to his company’s bureau in Washington, D.C.:

Hillary Clinton’s supporters often argue that mainstream political reporters are incapable of covering her positively—or even fairly. While it may be true that the political press doesn’t always write exactly what Clinton would like, emails recently obtained by Gawker offer a case study in how her prodigious and sophisticated press operation manipulates reporters into amplifying her desired message—in this case, down to the very word that The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder used to describe an important policy speech.

Jim VandeHei, co-founder of The Politico, will leave the Washington-based news operation after the 2016 election. He will take with him Mike Allen, The Politico’s reporter-mascot, who says today that the two plan to start “a new venture that will change the world one more time.”

Former State Department official and longtime Hillary Clinton operative Philippe Reines has repeatedly stated that his email practices at State were aboveboard—even though he was caught lying about using a personal email address to conduct official government business. But new emails obtained by Gawker show that on at least one occasion, Reines discussed skirting the federal open-records law known as the Freedom of Information Act. According to the emails, he told two reporters,“I want to avoid FOIA.” Reines’ attorney dismisses the comment as a joke—but if it was, it was of the funny-because-it’s-true variety.

What this nation needs is a pair of overcompensated white male centrists who will bring us more horse race-style political journalism.

U.S. Secretary of Education and Chief Presidential Basketball Guy Arne Duncan endorsed marriage equality on Monday morning, telling Mark Halperin on Morning Joe that "yes," he believes gay men and women should be allowed to marry. (Not each other: you know what I mean, though.)

Yesterday on Way Too Early with Willie Geist, boldly wrong journopundit Mark Halperin phoned in an appearance from the lavatory of a Delta airplane.

Mark Halperin was suspended indefinitely by MSNBC yesterday for calling President Obama "a dick" during a live episode of Morning Joe. Schadenfreude at its finest! As Jon Stewart pointed out on last night's Daily Show, though, Halperin's actual comment—which Stewart called "one of the greatest things I've ever seen in my life"—paled in comparison to the awkward, Willie Geist-supervised apology that followed it.

Mark Halperin, the always-wrong journopundit who serves as a frequent MSNBC talking head, was on Morning Joe this morning—where, naturally, he was whining about how mean the president was to the simpering DC press corps during his press conference yesterday. "Are we on the seven second delay? I wanted to characterize how I thought the president behaved," said Halperin, setting up what you knew would be one whopper of a funny joke.

Time's Mark Halperin has it "confirmed by sources" that the anonymous author behind O: A Presidential Novel is Mark Salter, the former right hand man to John McCain. He's been hiding in Maine, writing this thing!

Click to viewElizabeth Edwards, the long-suffering wife of crinkly-faced twit John Edwards, died today after a long battle with breast cancer. So get ready for D.C. establishment types who hated her when she was alive to pretend they admired and liked her!

John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, the despicable duo behind Game Change, the Politico-porn version of the 2008 campaign, have landed a $5 million deal to tell the story of the 2012 election, which is still in the future.

Gross itchy scabs Mark Halperin and John Heileman want to sell books by setting up Steve Schmidt and Sarah Palin in a cage match, argues Wonkette founding editor and Gawker Media alumna Ana Marie Cox on her Air America Radio blog.

Why won't Mark Halperin and John Heilemann tell us who Bill Clinton was sleeping with? This may sound like a plea from a shameless scandal-merchant for more grist, but it is actually an honest question: what makes that information privileged?

Odious hack Mark Halperin (and fine New York Magazine political reporter John Heilmann) wrote a book about the 2008 campaign! Did you read one of its many scoops, today? Probably, because the same information was cut-and-pasted everywhere.

Time's Mark Halperin: still the worst.

Sarah Palin has bestowed the immeasurable honor of Going Rogue's first read to the Associated Press. (Greta van Susteren cried into her pillow, we hear.) Between that and a handful of leaks, here are the juiciest tidbits and omissions. (Updated)

Time political analyst Mark Halperin has a list of "9 Pieces of 'Analysis' About Sarah Palin's Decision That Are Flat-Out Totally Wrong. This is Halperin we're talking about, so you know that they are all indisputably right. [Wonkette]

Time's Mark Halperin says Obama is "dominating," and has come up with a patented list of "16 Reasons Why Barack Obama Is Exceptionally Good At His Job." Here's one: He doesn't listen to Mark Halperin.