MSNBC has brought on noted idiot Meghan McCain as a political analyst, boosting their legacy stable of dolts spawned by famous political figures by a factor of two.

Color of Change, the activist group whose highly effective advertiser boycott against Glenn Beck was the beginning of the end of his tenure at Fox News, is calling on MSNBC to fire Pat Buchanan.

Nixonian cretin Patrick Buchanan is such a jolly old coot on MSNBC—he's even got an adorable Odd Couple routine with lesbian leftie Rachel Maddow—that it's easy to forget that he's a White Power proponent who thinks it's "natural and normal" to prefer members of your own race to black folks. Luckily, he writes virulently racist books now and again to remind us.

Coffee marketers and morning-show hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are writing a memoir. Together. Because the fact that you see them on the TV together means that you want to read about them both at the same time! If you'd like to read about them separately, pick up Brzezinski's 2009 already written memoir All Things at Once and Scarborough's 2004 "part memoir, part political treatise" Rome Wasn't Burnt in a Day. Maybe this new one will have awesome sex scenes, or something.

In your drizzly Wednesday media column: a prime time shakeup at MSNBC, key staffers laid off at the Village Voice, Reuters' editor writes a crappy memo, The Daily does something right, and Gary Knell's upcoming ass kissing campaign.

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

In your torpid Tuesday media column: Bill O'Reilly has another idiot book coming out, MSNBC is doing poorly, Salon.com relaunches, James Murdoch's flack quits, and speculation on Time Inc's next CEO.

Aging television presenter Joe Scarborough is so desperate for you to know that he's cool and plays guitar and likes Elvis Costello that he decided to defile the memories of all those who died on 9/11 and in its subsequent wars with this horrible fucking song that will make you crack your teeth open with rage if you listen to it. Serving as a foot soldier for Newt Gingrich and rushing to the defense of an abortion doctor's murderer are no longer the worst things Scarborough has ever done. Playing rock star with dead people is.

NBC News' chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell took to the airwaves today to announce on MSNBC that she's been diagnosed with breast cancer. But doctors caught it early, she said, and she has "a terrific prognosis." She'd like you to get screened for breast cancer, which seems like a reasonable request, if you are a lady.

Cable news should never try to do comedy, even if a state of emergency has been declared. Here's MSNBC contributor Touré comparing Hurricane Irene to a bad date on Dylan Ratigan this afternoon. She's a "total bitch"—get it?

Newly minted MSNBC anchor Al Sharpton took to the airwaves on Tuesday evening to say that the outcome of Wisconsin's recall elections would indicate whether Americans on the whole are ready to "push back" against the evils of government. And then he spouted off a bunch jumbled words that made no sense, and yet at the same time it may have been the most entertaining thing he's ever said on live television. Video of Sharpton's flub is above.

Since our economy is going to hell in a handbasket, why not distract yourself from the economic doom that is now upon us with this clip of Rep. Barney Frank letting out what sounded like a giant fart tonight while chatting with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC? As you'll see, his hips most definitely don't lie.

Al Sharpton will almost certainly be the host for MSNBC's recently opened-up 6 p.m. time slot, reports The New York Times, which describes the hiring as "imminent." He's actually been "guest-hosting" in that slot for the last three weeks, if you are among the apparent millions who tune in; previously, the spot was occupied by Cenk Uygur, who left claiming he'd been told by MSNBC president Phil Griffin that "people in Washington... did not like [his] tone." (Griffin says he told Uygur to adjust his body language.) Our choice for the 6 p.m. slot would have been a constant replay of Mark Halperin saying the word "dick," but we're not in charge. [NYT, photo via AP]

Daily Beast and Newsweek commander Tina Brown was an utter embarrassment on Morning Joe today. It wasn't because she was talking about her horrific Zombie Princess Di cover again. It was that she failed to do the most rudimentary thing before going on live television: shut off her cell phone.

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.

In your beautiful Wednesday media column: MSNBC's doing fine without Olbermann, network news is on the rise, a crazy NY Daily News rumor, the AP plays footsie with North Korea, David Cho to Grantland, and a Village Voice strike update.

MSNBC's Ed Schultz offered an extended apology to radio host Laura Ingraham on Wednesday, a day after calling her a "right-wing slut" on his own radio show. Schultz said he was beginning an "indefinite" leave, though MSNBC had earlier announced that he'd be suspended without pay for one week. In the course of his on-air statement, Schultz told his audience that he's tried to reach out to Ingraham to apologize. He also promised he'd never use the world "slut" again. [WaPo]

Ed Schultz, the fake, lefty Rush Limbaugh whom MSNBC trots out for an hour each night to botch debased versions of Democratic talking points, had some nasty words for right-wing babbler Laura Ingraham on his radio show yesterday. While Ingraham is certainly an unsavory character, did Schultz really need to resort to the descriptor "slut," twice, over some ephemeral Obama-drinks-beer-in-Ireland nontroversy?

Michael Steele, the former one-term Republican lieutenant governor of Maryland, has a new job on television! No, not at Fox News. That network has abandoned him ever since his tenure as head of the Republican National Committee only netted their party 63 seats in the House of Representatives last year. Instead, Steele will be picking up his analyst checks at MSNBC, home of the cable news Left.

When MSNBC rolled out its new slogan "Lean Forward" last year, it was a transparent attempt to beat Fox News at its own game. (That game, for the record: news as partisan propaganda.) This is the only idea that MSNBC has. You can be sure of it, because Jeff Zucker denies it.