(If you get the Seinfeld reference, good for you.)

Liz Glover chats up Sam Donaldson at the Michael Kelly Awards for Wonkette. Click on the above image to be directed to the video.

May 4 was the 10th week in a row that "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" beat "CBS' "Face the Nation"
According to Nielsen Media Research for Sunday, May 4, 2008, ABC News’ "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" outperformed CBS’ "Face the Nation" among total viewers.

(Earlier)

From the release:

Frances Fragos Townsend, who recently stepped down as President George W. Bush's chief anti-terrorism and homeland security adviser, will join CNN as an on-air contributor providing analysis and insight on national security issues, it was announced by Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S.

Townsend, who has spent more than two decades in the fields of intelligence and criminal justice, has served during the past three administrations, most recently as assistant to Bush for homeland security and counterterrorism. She chaired the Homeland Security Council from May 2004 until January 2008. Prior to that, she was a deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism from 2003 to 2004. She has been at the center of America's effort to fight terrorism through her work in the U.S. Coast Guard, the Justice Department under President Bill Clinton and the George W. Bush White House. ...

Townsend currently serves as a consultant to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and as a member of President Bush's Intelligence Advisory Board, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Aspen Institute Homeland Security Program.

Her early career in law includes service as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y., and with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Before joining the Bush White House, Townsend was the first person to serve as assistant commandant for intelligence for the Coast Guard and spent 13 years at the Justice Department in a variety of senior positions, including chief of staff to the assistant attorney general, director of the Office of International Affairs in the Criminal Division, acting deputy assistant attorney general in the Criminal Division and counsel to the attorney general for intelligence policy.

Townsend graduated cum laude from the American University with a bachelor's degrees in political science and psychology and earned her law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law. She has taught trial advocacy at Harvard Law School and Pace University Law School.

On "Morning Joe":

MATTHEWS: Do you like that, Chucky T?

TODD: Yeah, not so much... I was more excited when I got my email address here at NBC because it was Chuck D ... like Public Enemy.

On "Morning Joe" this morning, Chris Matthews weighed in on Hollywood and celebrity:

MATTHEWS: Do you think it's possible that the buildup of a certain Hollywood celebrity could be completely foisted on the country and nobody, if you get them alone, really likes the person, they're just taught to like them.

WILLIE GEIST: Are you talking about Sarah Jessica Parker?

MATTHEWS: Yeah. ... Why are they movie stars? .... When I see certain movie stars, I get it right away. Gwyneth Paltrow ... Julie Christopher ... But is Brad Pitt really a movie star? ...I can see Russell Crowe, I get it ... Naomi Watts, I get ... Angelina Jolie, I don't get her ... Jennifer Aniston, I get her. ... Grace Kelly I get ...

BUCHANAN: A long time ago, Chris!

MATTHEWS: But those movies are still available!

From CNN.com:

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST (voice over): End game. The media referees declare the Democratic race over and are trying to take the ball away from Hillary Clinton. Are journalists again tilting the outcome toward Barack Obama or just blowing the whistle on a contest that has run its course?

Dueling interviews on the anchors holding the likely nominees accountable.

Out of sight. Myanmar bars most journalists from covering the aftermath of a devastating cyclone. Is that affecting the world's sympathy?

Plus, wedding bell blues. A presidential daughter ties the knot. No journalists allowed.

Read the rest here.

From today's WaPo:

For political junkies, Todd has become all but inescapable. When he isn't shuttling between studios, he is being invoked as an authority by one anchor or another. After a career out of the limelight, the genial 36-year-old is the campaign season's most improbable TV star.

Every organization has someone like "Chuckie T," as his colleagues call him. He is the brainy guy poring over computer printouts, the number cruncher in the back office. But the voracious appetite of cable news has given him a huge megaphone and an outsize role in shaping coverage of the White House race.

Todd admits to worrying about overexposure, saying: "I don't like going on if I don't feel like I have new information or an interesting way to present the information." But he justifies his ubiquity by noting that audiences drift in and out all day.

When he started at NBC a year ago, Todd felt he was struggling. "The hardest part is to explain the minutiae clearly," he says. "Now I can take the minutiae and make it sound like English for laypeople who haven't been following the DNC delegate rules for 20 years." ...

On a cable channel packed with such opinionated personalities as Olbermann and Chris Matthews, Todd stands out by not being flamboyant. While others are getting punch-drunk on polls, New York Times critic Alessandra Stanley observed, Todd is "the designated driver of MSNBC's political coverage."

Also, who knew that a.) Todd plays the French horn? b.) He didn't graduate college? c.) He thinks he has too many chins?

Politico scoops that Peter Baker is headed to the New York Times magazine. You'll recall that Baker's wife, Susan Glasser, hit a rough patch with the paper recently and now works at the paper in a different capacity.

Also, here are some updates on the Washington Post's buyouts, given what FishbowlDC has learned...This is a big week for the paper, as decisions need to be made by May 15.

Ann Gerhart is not taking the buyout.

Gene Weingarten is not taking the buyout.

Assistant Virginia editor Steve Fehr is taking the buyout and will go work for StateLine.org. He wrote in a note:

"So ends 40 years of my family's association with The Washington Post. My aunt, Eve Edstrom, was a Metro and National reporter for The Post for 21 years before she died at age 48 of cancer in 1971. She helped pave the way for many of the women in the newsroom. I am proud that she knew Phil and Kay Graham, and that I had the chance to work for their remarkable son."

The latest:

John Pancake: YES.

Belle Elving: Yes.

Anne Groer: Yes.

Walter Nicholls: YES.

Peter Carlson : YES.

Bill O'Brian: YES.

Tom Ricks: YES.

K.C. Summers: Taking buyout.

Desson Thompson: Out.

Eve Zibart: Yes.

Richard Harrington: Yes.

Tamara Jones: Gone.

Susan Schmidt: Gone.

Tim Page: Gone.

Maralee Schwartz: Gone.

What about you, Posties: You or your neighbors considering the buyout? Let us know:

The following announcement was made today by Michael Jack, President and General Manager of WRC/NBC4.

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Camille Edwards as VP of News for WRC-TV. Her enthusiasm, knowledge, creativity and leadership will help position our news operation for growth in the years to come.

Camille brings a wealth of experience to the job. She joined NBC5 as News Director in October, 2003... before joining NBC5, she was the Assistant News Director at WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, an ABC O&O television station. Prior to Philadelphia Camille was at WLS-TV in Chicago for over four and half years. She started as a weekend producer and was the Executive producer of the 4:30pm and 6pm shows when she left.

Camille started her career as a reporter in Toledo, Ohio, where she made the jump to producing. She moved to Baltimore and was the 6pm producer at WBAL-TV. In 1993, she moved to Chicago as a weekend producer at CBS O&O, WBBM-TV.