MSNBC host Ed Schultz, who is moving from prime time to weekends, took a parting shot at Politico in his final 8 p.m. slot Thursday night. He used Politico‘s words to springboard a sentiment that other media writers such as WaPo‘s Erik Wemple have also expressed, which is that Schultz moving to weekends isn’t a step up.

Politico‘s Dylan Byers shoved a cryptic punch into the last few lines of a post on Schultz: “Sources at MSNBC told POLITICO that that was a very generous interpretation of events. Schultz was pushed out to make way for new talent, they said.” Byers wrote that Schultz would no longer host the weekday program as of April. As stated above, his final weekday show was last night.

“I understand that Politico wrote something about the fact that I’m going to a relatively no mans land for cable news programming,” Schultz said snidely at the close of his show. “Really? Well I guess I wouldn’t want it any other way, because we’re going to build those hours to the best hours in cable. This is what The Ed Show has always been about. This is what The Ed Show is always going to be about. The people on the road, the stories, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, those middle class Americans who are fighting for a fair share, their piece of the pie of this great country. That’s what I want to do, that’s what I’m going to do and I’m looking forward to it.”

Schultz’s farewell, which included an emotional tribute to his wife, Wendy, went so long that he was cut off before he could finish. No doubt he’ll have more to say in his brand new 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekend slot.

Quotes of the Day

“It’s all about willpower. … I became a vegetarian. I started working out.” — MSNBC’s Al Sharpton last night on how he shed pounds to Ed Schultz. Schultz began the segment on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie‘s weight issue by telling Sharpton, “You used to be one big dude.”

Writer has “terrifying flashbacks”

“Watching the Buick commercial where the dance instructor pairs the tallest girl with the shortest boy is giving me terrifying flashbacks.” — Megan McArdle, special correspondent for Newsweek/The Daily Beast.

Scarred for life?

“No breast slips…no nipples, no thongs. They’re keeping it clean.”– NYT Communications Asst. Jordan Cohen‘s mom to Jordan regarding the Grammys.

The self-aware blogger 

“I have been venting in about 6 people’s text messages today. I need to sit down and woosah.” — Javonni Brustow, blogger.

TV reporter finds his inner Britney Spears

“Close call at gym. Britney’s ‘Gimme More’ came on. Started shimmying my shoulders. Caught myself before anyone noticed, I, I think.” — ABC7 reporter Stephen Tschida.

Politico reporter gets in Jose Canseco’s virtual grill

Jose Canseco: “Your value is not how good you are it is how you make others better.”

Jake Sherman, Politico: “Is this why you deceived mlb by doing steroids?”

Shhh cabbie!

“I am not in the mood, talkative cab driver.” — The Daily Caller Taylor Bigler.

The Piers & Dana Show and meet the new members of the FishbowlDC Fan Club Board. Read more

Today we have another installment of: “Ask Piranhamous Anything.” And we do mean anything. Send your queries to FishbowlDC@mediabistro.com. This isn’t an advice column — Piranhamous doesn’t know what the hell you should do with your life any more than you do — and worse, he doesn’t care. Try to keep your questions short — we want to keep this fun, simple and insightful.

1. Which journo would you most want to spend the holidays with?

Dear God, do I have to? I’m fairly certain Hell would be filled with more cheer. But since I’m obligated to answer, I’ll put it to you this way – depends on the holiday.

Hanukkah – Chris Hayes, Ezra Klein, Dave Weigel and the rest of the Boy Banders. Some are Jewish, some aren’t, but that doesn’t matter because I’d imagine it would be an 8-day bender. Come to think of it, any 8-day stretch with them is probably a bender, and it would be a lot like hanging out at a hipster bar after all the hipsters moved on because the wannabes started outnumbering them. And I value my IQ points too much to emerge myself in that much MSNBC so I’ll just limit it to one MSNBCer and revise my remarks to Al Sharpton. This may seem like an odd choice but I think picking up all the remarks he mutters under his breath each of the 8-days would be amusing.

Christmas – Bill O’Reilly. Aside from the embarrassing gang on Fox & Friends, no one has done more to defend Christmas from idiots who seem only to engage in their “War on Christmas” to get publicity for their fringe group no one has ever heard of before or will hear from again than Bill. And I imagine the whole day will be spent tackling anyone who tries to TP a pine tree since he never stops.

Kwanza – Lawrence O’Donnell and Ed Schultz. Why would I pick the two whitest men on the planet next to Sean Hannity to spend a little-known, radical separatist black holiday with?  Because I think they’d try to celebrate it to prove they’re multi-cultural and would have no idea how to do it. Can you imagine anything more amusing than watching them trying on Dashikis and trying to mean it? I can’t.

Boxing Day – Howie Kurtz: For no particular reason.

Or course this is all moot, or at least most of it, since the world is ending on Dec. 21^st. So I’d just like to say thank you to the Mayans for saving me from this Hell.

2. Do you have high hopes that Jeff Zucker will really shake things up at CNN? 

Am I supposed to? I don’t have high hopes that the guy who sucked up NBC and re-unleashed Katie Couric on the world will be able to patch the hole in that Titanic. He’d have a better shot, and I’d probably actually care, if he were one of the Zuckers who brought us the movie “Airplane!” But he’s not, so I don’t.

Read about reporters sleeping with their sources… Read more

Today we have another installment of: “Ask Piranhamous Anything.” And we do mean anything. Send your queries to FishbowlDC@mediabistro.com. This isn’t an advice column — Piranhamous doesn’t know what the hell you should do with your life any more than you do — and worse, he doesn’t care. Try to keep your questions short — we want to keep this fun, simple and insightful.

1. How do you think the media in general has handled Mitt Romney winning the debate?

Like a kid walking in on their dad having sex with Santa Claus. I would have been concerned for the health of Chris Matthews, were I concerned at all about the health of Chris Matthews. MSNBC was like watching a room full of people who bet their life savings on a Mike Tyson win in the Buster Douglas fight. Looking on the bright side, it was some of the best comedy on any NBC network in a decade.

2. Do you think right-wing media is finally warming to Romney? Or is he just the best alternative for them?

You’re confusing issues. With the exception of pseudo-conservatives like David Frum and David Brooks, the right-wing has been behind Romney from the get-go. Just because their desire to beat President Obama burns with the heat of a thousands suns doesn’t mean the desire for a Romney victory doesn’t burn with the heat of 999 of them.

3. What did you think of Chris Matthews’ meltdown about Obama’s poor debate performance and his suggestion that Obama watch his show to prep for his next debate?

His leg was thrill-free and it was hilarious to watch. Saturday Night Live did a great job of mocking him over the weekend. But Chris wasn’t alone. His fraternal twin Ed Schultz was equally upset, as were identical twins Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes. The only MSNBCer who handled himself with any semblance of self-respect that night was Al Sharpton, who went right back to “Resisting We Much” without missing a beat.

Author, journalist and lawsuit, er, cigar aficionado Richard Miniter recently converted his Facebook profile to a fan page. The move came after Miniter failed in October to lure more than a handful of “fans” to the separate fan page he originally tried to start for himself. (He claimed it was because he has just too many friends, even though the Facebook max for friends is 5,000 and he’s not anywhere close to having to worry about that.)

Strange how Miniter — who Betsy describes as someone who “makes enemies with most anyone he meets and even wound up in court on domestic violence charges that eventually cleared” — can’t find fans without making “friends.”

But that’s hardly the most pathetic part of Miniter’s recent changes.

He has a new book out that contains the pointless revelation that President Obama allegedly delayed the bin Laden raid a few times at the suggestion of his adviser Valerie Jarrett. Had the raid not happened and not been a complete success that saw bin Laden killed and no Navy SEALs lost, this “scoop” might matter. As it stands, it’s just kind of lame.

But he’s got to sell books and a big part of being successful in Washington is giving the impression that: A) you already are and B) you don’t really need it. To that end, Miniter posted on his “fan” page a picture of him signing copies of his new book. For most people, simply posting a photo with a caption that describes what’s happening would be enough, but Miniter isn’t most people.

The caption he provided manages to take his self-promotion from pathetic to bigoted.

He captioned it saying his brother took the shot and that his brother “digs these candid photos.” For a candid photo, it’s rather strange to see the book’s cover so prominently featured. Like perhaps a staged picture might look.

But aside from the photo, which looks about as comfortable as a size 30″ belt on Ed Schultz, his caption doesn’t stop there. He continues, “My view of photos: If you’re not a girl, a car, a gun or Japanese, you shouldn’t be in a photo more than twice a year.”

For a guy who shouldn’t be making even remotely sexist cracks about women given his past, that seems a little unnecessary. But the really offensive part is the racial stereotype about Japanese people. They love taking pictures, get it? Those crazy Asians! How sad.

Morning Quotes

MSNBC’s Schultz goes fishing

FOn Thursday night’s program, host Ed Schultz discussed jobs, tax breaks, and Rosengate and then concluded his interview with V.P. Biden by asking him a question everyone was waiting for — what does the Veep think of his show? What was Biden going to say, it’s awful?  Schultz had a hint of what the answer might be. Biden began the interview with a chummy compliment. “It’s great to be here,” Biden said. “Yes, I’m a fan.”

SCHULTZ: You like “The Ed Show?”
BIDEN: I like “The Ed Show” a lot. Man, I watch you and I tell you what, we come from, figuratively speaking, the same neighborhood, man.
SCHULTZ: Yes, we do.

Reader calls Llewellyn a ‘white knight’

“Much gratitude to Llewellyn King for taking up our cause. He is the white knight in the black forest of neglect and ignorance.” — A FBDC commenter on “White House Chronicle” host Llewellyn King taking on the cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

FNC’s Ed Henry to miss Cartagena

When asked by CNN Special Events’ Jeff Kepne if he’d be going on the President’s trip to Cartagena this weekend, FNC Chief White House Correspondent Ed Henry replied, “No, son has a big birthday that weekend. Will miss ya.”

What not to say in the newsroom if you want friends…

“Dreaded segue: ‘I couldn’t help but overhear…’” — NYT‘s Mark Leibovich.

Meghan McCain’s ‘grueling’ travel schedule

“Walla Walla to Seattle, 2 hour layover Seattle to Phoenix, 2 hour layover, redeye to JFK – I fear to think what I will look like when I land. This is officially one of the more grueling travel schedules I’ve had in a longgg time! I’m gonna need some Bloody Mary’s… #nomoreairports.” — MSNBC Contributor and The Daily Beast‘s Meghan McCain.

Journo’s plane struck by lightening

“Flight canceled. Plane was struck by lightning. I still think we coulda made it.” — Reuters‘ Sam Youngman.

ABC’s ‘Scandal’ touches chords

“Watching #ScandalABC brings back memories of the life I used to lead in my 20s and 30s here in DC. Young, lawyer, Capitol Hill, Politics!” — Sophia Nelson, author of Black Woman Redefined and an Opinion Columnist for GRIO, Essence and others, on the new ABC Washington-centric drama, ‘Scandal,’ starring Kerry Washington.

Rob Lowe to D.C.

“Headed to DC to speak at the Horatio Alger Association awards. Scholarships for disadvantaged, best and brightest kids.” — Actor Rob Lowe.

Words of Wisdom?

“If these inane political kerfuffles didn’t exist, the media would have to invent them. Oh wait.” — Reason‘s Peter Suderman.

What I don’t understand: Reporters who think Rosen story is a phony issue, but think Limbaugh’s comments on Fluke were serious & newsworthy.” — The Weekly Standard‘s John McCormack.

Dicking Around…“If we all keep having fake wars about wars that aren’t wars at all and calling them wars we’re going to break this thing.” — CBS Political Director John Dickerson.

“Now if two women were to mud-wrestle to settle a dispute over certain comments, would that be considered work?” — New York Daily News Opinion Editor Josh Greenman. (Lovely, Josh. Mud wrestling analogy – really?)

So touching…“Last month, etch a sketch got really popular Here’s hoping that today everyone thanks a stay at home mom like mine for their sacrifices.” — GOP operative and former flack to House Maj. Leader Erik Cantor Brad Dayspring. And look how well Dayspring turned out!

“Cheer up, Democrats. This looks bad, but I’m sure Bill Maher will discuss Ann Romney, her health etc., with class and grace this Friday.” — National Review Online‘s Jim Geraghty.

Age Watch

In the aftermath of Rosengate, the “war on women” deescalated into nasty superficial insults online. But there were compliments in the mix.  “It’s unreal that Ann Romney is 63-years-old. Wow.” — Breitbart.com‘s Dana Loesch. And in another Loesch special, she points out that Mitt Romney “handles” his wife well….”If Mitt Romney could handle the media as well as his wife, I wouldn’t worry about the general as much. Truthfully, I’m impressed.”

The Self-Appointed Copy Editor

“This might also be a good time to gently remind people that it’s “adviser” not “advisor.” #apstyleismylife” — GOP politico Ellen Carmichael.

Considering Media Research Center President Brent Bozell last month called for the resignations of MSNBC’s Al Sharpton and Ed Schultz, it’s hardly eyebrow raising that today he rejected NBC’s apology regarding George Zimmerman‘s 9-11 call. At this point you’d think he’d insist that MSNBC President Phil Griffin take part in a dunking contest and you can guess who’d be in the tank.

Last night, NBC issued a two sentence explanation on the NBC apology regarding Zimmer. Bozell says that this is as dishonest as the original piece, and issued his own reaction.

“We reject this fraudulent apology,” said Bozell in a statement today.  “We’re not surprised. After all, NBC ‘investigated’ itself. We again call on Comcast, not NBC, to investigate this matter — thoroughly, honestly, and professionally.”

Bozell asserts that NBC has lost its credibility as a news organization.  “That final question is the most important. With this farce of an ‘apology’ NBC has lost its credibility — completely.”

We’re not the only ones who get called sluts for presenting ideas and opinions.

TWT‘s Paige Winfield Cunningham reports today that Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke was “stunned” when conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh called her a “prostitute” earlier in the week for daring to think that health care plans ought to cover her contraceptive costs.

Excerpts:

Because the Jesuit university won’t pay for contraception in student health plans, Ms. Fluke said she had to pay as much as $1,000 a year out-of-pocket and said she has friends with ovarian cysts who encountered serious complications because they couldn’t afford to buy birth control pills.

From Rush…“So Miss Fluke, and the rest of you feminazis, here’s the deal,” he said. “If we are going to pay for your contraceptives — and thus pay for you to have sex — we want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch.”

Fluke spoke to MSNBC’s Ed Schultz on the matter. She appeared on his program to share her reaction about the incident. She said she was “stunned, but then very quickly outraged.” On the outpouring of support she’s received, Fluke told Schultz “[I’m] not going to be silenced by this.” Watch here. She also told the network’s Andrea Mitchell about her phone call with President Obama. She said he “encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of American women. And what was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud, and that meant a lot because Rush Limbaugh questioned whether or not my family would be proud of me. So I just appreciated that very much.”

All of this, of course, brings back fond memories of Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman.”

The chatter has turned increasingly loud among Washington reporters that Mediaite‘s White House correspondent Tommy Christopher desperately wants to be invited on one of those fun-loving, free-wheeling panel-like shows on MSNBC. Shows like “Up with Chris Hayes,” or “NOW with Alex Wagner” and to an extent Ed Schultz‘ “The Ed Show.”

“Tommy Christopher is clearly abusing his Mediaite platform to pimp himself out and try to get booked on MSNBC,” The Daily Caller‘s Jeff Poor told FBDC in an email. “What’s pathetic is that it is as if he didn’t think anyone would notice.”

Christopher told us that “of course” he wants to do TV hits because “any sane person would.” As for Poor’s comments: “[He] has an obvious personal ax to grind. That individual has TC Derangement Syndrome, and based on his past homophobic remarks and history at virulently anti-gay MRC, it probably has to do with my unqualified support for LGBT rights. Poor is only punching up at me to raise his own profile. More power to him.”

Colby Hall, founding editor of Mediaite who now works at Clear Channel, shared a similar sentiment. “Jeff Poor is a classic example of an Internet troll who can only attract attention by slagging the hard work of others,” he told us. “At least Poor’s online behavior fits the billing that comes from his family name. Or maybe that’s an example of self-fulfilling prophecy.” (Poor said it is actually Hall who  “trolls” NYT‘s Brian Stelter, “accusing him of stealing scoops.”)

Putting that bitchfest aside for a moment, Christopher writes on a host of topics for Mediaite. But most recently he has dedicated his prose to long, syrupy, features on Hayes and Schultz. They were broken into three parts each.

Here’s how Christopher described Schultz in a profile: “very friendly, open, gregarious,” “warm and easy, and free of the prima donna vibe you might expect from a liberal cable news star.”

In his profile of “Up,” Christopher, who constantly tweets about Hayes’ “uppers” fan club like he’s a member, gave the type of faux-reluctant compliment a man gives his fiance: “True to its title, [the show] forces a growing number of people to get Up With Chris Hayes.” While the piece on “Up” is spaced into three parts, it’s a mind numbing eight pages long. Muah, muah, muah!

When describing one episode of Wagner’s “NOW” he wrote, “I haven’t had many opportunities to catch my former White House colleague’s show, but if this crackling, funny panel segment is any indication, I’ll start making a point to.” XoXo, Tommy Christopher.

We’re fascinated with Christopher’s fascination with MSNBC, so we posed questions to him about it. The good news is, when Christopher gets bit, he bites back.

The questions…

See Christopher’s thoughts on Olbermann being an “asshole” to him and about Hayes hypothetically throwing feces at his cameraman (his words, not ours).

Read more

The year 2011 was the year the 7-second TV delay failed miserably, that members of Congress behaved badly and Weiner headlines became something of an art form. Today we’ve pooled our wisdom into another annoying year-end list, although we hope ours will hold your interest. We’ve picked the moments that stood out most in our minds and the journalists who made them happen. Here’s to you CNN’s Wolf Blitzer for gracefully using the word “underwear” on television and to you, TIME‘s Mark Halperin, for being baited into calling the President “a dick” live on “Morning Joe.” Ed Schultz also gets points (at least for the purposes of this list) for calling conservative Laura Ingraham a “slut.” And to CBS’s Lara Logan, there are not adequate words to describe her courage.

10. Bret Baier’s journalistic jihad on GOP Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

In November, Fox News anchor Bret Baier sat down with GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. It was a hard-hitting interview that saw Romney bristle at several of the questions. When Baier brought up Romney’s penchant for flip-flopping, Romney scolds Baier like a mommy with a 5-year-old and says, “We’re going to have to be better informed about my views on issues.” To Baier’s credit, he continued pounding Romney who kept twisting and turning in his seat. The interview certainly didn’t help Romney. That marked the beginning of a surge for second-tier candidates to make runs at Romney’s frontrunner status. Baier went on The O’Reilly Factor the following day and boasted that after the interview, Romney approached him and called some of the questions “uncalled for” and “overly aggressive.” Calling Bret Baier, a “boy scout” according to Mike Allen, “overly aggressive” is like calling Andrew Breitbart a “serious journalist.” For Baier, let’s stop at fair and mostly balanced and call it a day. — Peter Ogburn

9. The Talented Mr. Nelson Lewis

Nobody is ever going to accuse Washington of being an honest place to work, but Nelson Lewis took things to a whole new level. For starters, Lewis, a former producer for Laura Ingraham‘s radio show, tried to pull off impersonating Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), an old family friend. Police arrested him for “illegal possession of a congressional lapel pin.” If that’s not humiliating enough, NYP‘s Page Six reported that Lewis claimed to be related to former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis. He even went as far as creating a fake email account from Lewis to vouch for him. It didn’t take long for the fake world to come tumbling down around him and he was left with no other option but to admit he had a lying problem. According to Page Six, Lewis checked himself into a treatment center at the beginning of this year to address his problem, which he blamed almost entirely on his former employer, Ingraham! He was led to all this lying because, according to Nelson, “she emasculated me.” Psst….there are whisperings that Lewis is working on a weekly TV program here in Washington. Stay tuned. – Peter Ogburn

8. Politico Reporter Kendra Marr Forced to Resign for Plagiarism

This year saw highs and lows for former Politico Pro transportation reporter Kendra Marr. On one hand, she got engaged in April. On the other, she was essentially fired for insufficiently attributing information to the NYT and other publications in her stories. FishbowlDC broke the story of Marr’s misdeeds in October. At the time, her colleagues said newsroom culture was in large part to blame for Marr’s sloppiness. Politico founders John Harris and Jim VandeHei referred to Marr as “a valued colleague and friend” in a memo explaining what happened. WaPo media reporter Erik Wemple empathized with Marr, writing, “When you combine Politico Pro’s pressure for originality with Politico Regular’s factory conditions, you get a force powerful enough to corrupt an otherwise good journalist.” In a recent follow-up, Wemple broke news of a new mentoring program at Politico meant to cultivate young reporters; a system that would have likely benefited Marr. Marr has essentially disappeared. Her Twitter account is still active, but she hasn’t tweeted to her 2,600 followers since the day the story of her indiscretions broke on Oct. 13. We couldn’t find a Facebook account under her name. Her LinkedIn page says she still works at Politico. Her former colleagues aren’t talking. And, perhaps most biting, the initial Google suggestion you get when searching her name is “Kendra Marr plagiarism.” — Eddie Scarry

7. Al Sharpton Lands His Own Show

If the “thrill” running up the leg of Chris Matthews ever had a child, it would be this. Never before in the history of the English language has the line, “Resist we much” been uttered, and we were all the better for it. But with that butchered line, the Reverend Al Sharpton became a television icon. “PoliticsNation,” as it is now called, was in its infancy on MSNBC, replacing the unnamed Cenk Uygur show in the 6 p.m. slot. Uygur never found an audience, it just wasn’t good, it was boring. Off he drifted into obscurity and in stepped the Reverend. Sharpton’s early shows were rough but spirited. It was as though he was allergic to words on the teleprompter. But no flub went viral, they were just laughed at by politicos. Until, that is, on August 9, 2011 when he uttered the now famous line “Resist we much.” The lines are worth reading, but it won’t help you understand what he was trying to say any more than watching the video. Here it is: “Tonight is the measure of whether the country begins in the state of Wisconsin, a national drive to push back or whether we have more to go to build a movement of resistance… BUT RESIST WE MUCH, WE MUST, AND WE WILL MUCH, ABOUT THAT, BE COMMITTED…” Sharpton, who has somehow escaped his incendiary and race-baiting past, eventually found his on-air footing…sort of. He still has a strange relationship with the teleprompter like someone from southern California has with walking on ice, but he’s getting there. His guests adore him in a deeply entertained way few other cable TV hosts can claim. He’s even scored better ratings than the unnamed Uygur show he replaced, but he has a ways to go. Sharpton, who dropped 100 pounds, has vowed never to criticize President Obama, isn’t exactly interested in conveying news as much as advancing an agenda. That makes his show more of a pep rally for progressives than a news program, but at least it has relegated the bloopers (mostly) to facts and not delivery. Still, Al’s attitude and activism fit nicely into MSNBC’s line-up. Take that for what it’s worth. — Piranhamous

6. Bad Boys: Ed Schultz, Mark Halperin, David Shuster all do Dumb Things

Among MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, TIME‘s Mark Halperin and Current TV’s David Shuster, it’s tough to proclaim who behaved like the biggest idiot this year. While Schultz called conservative radio personality Laura Ingraham “a slut” and got suspended for it, Halperin called the President “kind of a dick” on live TV and Shuster tried to crash an MSNBC party during White House Correspondents’ Assoc. Dinner weekend.  Shuster might have once been invited to such a soirée, but the former MSNBCer was suspended and ultimately let go after saying then-Sen. Hillary Clinton had pimped out her daughter, Chelsea, during her presidential campaign. The network also frowned on his sending a demo tape to CNN for a potential job. Schultz had to perform a humbling and awkward on-air mea culpa. Halperin, it turns out, was goaded into saying the slight by Mika and Joe, who practically drowned viewers in mindless apologies after it happened. When you watch the footage, it’s clear that nerdy Halperin was dying to be part of the in crowd, which perhaps makes his the dumbest act of all. At least Schultz’s insult was as genuine as it was crass and inappropriate. Shuster? One can almost chuckle at his failed party crashing. He’s clearly no Salahi. But he swore up and down that he’d been invited. Somehow party organizers missed that detail such as the one overheard on her walkie talkie saying, “Make sure he doesn’t get in here.” – Betsy Rothstein

5. Wolf Grills a Weiner

This past summer, in the days before former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) was forced to admit that he had carried on several online relationships of a sexual nature, D.C. journos were having a field day trying to make sense of the Weiner Caper. You’ll remember that Weiner accidentally tweeted a picture of (ahem) enlarged boxer shorts. But, who was it? Weiner initially claimed that it was nothing more than a “prank.” He then spent the next several days flailing wildly trying to explain away the offending picture. Which brings us to this exquisite moment from CNN Wolf Blitzer.

There it is. Blitzer flashing a money shot to a U.S. congressman asking him, “You would know if these were your underpants?” Worse than that, Weiner acted as though he didn’t KNOW if those were his undies. There is not a man alive that wouldn’t recognize his own member. It was only days later that Weiner admitted the picture was of him. (And yes, those were his underpants.) — Peter Ogburn

Luke Grills a Weiner of His Own

An Honorable Mention goes to NBC Congressional Reporter Luke Russert. In the haze of the Weiner scandal, Russert proved that he could pull his own weiner weight at the network. He also obtained a bizarre sit down with Rep. Weiner to chat about the picture of someone’s “below the waist area.” Russert appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to recap his interview and — oops — MSNBC played the wrong package about Weiner’s package and left out the actual interview portion. When they corrected the mistake, we were treated to the first moment that Weiner admitted that he “could not say with certitude” that the picture wasn’t of him.We were also treated to one of those rare relatively unscripted moments when Luke burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all. — Peter Ogburn

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

4. Power blogger Ben Smith resigns from Politico

In early November, Politico canned its On Media blog and relaunched Ben Smith’s blog, refocusing it on the intersection of politics and media. A new reporter, Dylan Byers, was even hired to help with Ben Smith‘s new-ish project.One month later, Smith announced he’s leaving Politico to be the editor of BuzzFeed. The move caught everyone by surprise for sure. After all, Smith made his name the last seven years reporting on political news, not BuzzFeed material like dogs dressed as pigs and “Shit Girls Say.” But, as he wrote in the announcement on his blog, “…I won’t stop writing or thinking about politics. In fact I’ll continue to write once weekly for POLITICO…” And he told Howard Kurtz on CNN’s Reliable Sources, “In politics, as in other areas, we’re going to hire some great reporters and turn them loose.” We shot Smith several questions. He wouldn’t answer all of them (like whether anyone was pissed that he’s leaving Politico just after his blog was relaunched), but he did tell us his official start date at BuzzFeed is Jan. 1. He said it’ll be the first time he’s back to working in an actual office in a while (“I currently work in a shared office space in Brooklyn, which I love, but also always enjoyed working out of the newsroom when I was in Washington or, pre-Politico, in New York.”) And he’s thinking of switching out his current Twitter profile picture — the official Politico cartoon of him — for “one of those Ben from BuzzFeed memes.” We’ve picked one for him. See here. Congratulations to Smith — we wish him well in his transition. — Eddie Scarry

3. Andrew Breitbart’s “Balls of Steel”

Remember “Abs of Steel”? The workout tape most famous for setting the Guinness World Record for VHS tape with the most dust collected without ever having been played? Well forget it, we have a new “of steel” winner this year – Andrew Breitbart and his “Balls of Steel.” Breitbart shell-shocked the media by hijacking the Manhattan press conference at which now former Rep. Weiner was set to resign. Every news junkie waited patiently for Weiner to show up to the presser he called, but he was running late. Breitbart, who coincidentally was in the neighborhood, heard about it and went to the hotel. Reporters mobbed him, as he was the man who broke the original “sexting” story. When WCBS reporter Marcia Kramer told him he should go to the still unoccupied podium, what happened next was among the most surreal moments in politics of the year. The cherry on top was when Weiner eventually showed up and apologized to Breitbart for implying Andrew had “hacked” his Twitter account. It was something Salon’s Joan Walsh and too many TV personalities have yet to do for insinuating the same thing. In the end, Weiner was out, Breitbart was in and most of the media, who had ignored the story for as long as they could, had egg on their collective face. Breitbart “crashing” Weiner’s press conference was one of the ballsiest, unforgettable moments of the year. While the world probably could have lived without Opie & Anthony leaking the “money-shot” picture from Breitbart’s cell phone, more than those images were seared into our memories from that story. Bravo, Breitbart. — Piranhamous

2. Greta Goes Apesh&t on Tucker

When a longtime friendship goes sour online, it’s something to watch. When it happens on live TV, you’re on pins and needles. If you’ve ever spent time with Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson, you know he’s first to laugh, crack jokes and understand another person’s point of view even if he abhors it. After The Daily Caller published a story in the fall reporting lewd comments Mike Tyson had made on a radio show — he referred to a sex act with the former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as “a womb shifter” — FNC’s Greta Van Susteren went ballistic and called Carlson “a pig.” Wait a second — wasn’t Tyson the pig? To be sure, Greta is nuts for Palin. The former Gov. attended the White House Correspondents’ Assoc. Dinner parties as her guest and has appeared on her show multiple times. On her Gretawire blog, the host blathered on about Carlson’s sexism. She put a dent in their friendship by attacking him personally. She questioned how he ran the story with a wife and daughters. She said his female employees must be upset. She insisted that his publication must be doing so poorly for him to publish the story. Ultimately she invited him on her program, and he accepted. This is when a seriously pissed off Carlson showed up and coolly put Greta in her place. But not without a showdown. There were no smiles. No jokes. The friendship is not in enemy territory, but it’s certainly not as warm as it once was. – Betsy Rothstein

1. Lara Logan Offers an Interview to 60 Minutes

Of all the moments of 2011, by far the bravest came when CBS’s Lara Logan gave an on-air interview to CBS’s Scott Pelley of “60 Minutes.” She boldly went on TV in early May and spoke of the attack and rape that happened to her in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. “It looks like a party,” she said, slowly describing the scene for Pelley. …”It was impossible to not get caught up in the moment.” But soon there was a savage mob scene and things spiraled out of control. “For an extended period of time, they raped me with their hands,” she said. “Suddenly, before I even know what’s happening, I feel hands grabbing my breasts, grabbing my crotch, grabbing me from behind.” Logan didn’t think she’d survive it. Eventually she was saved by Egyptian women in the square who closed ranks around her until she reached safety. Watch a clip of the “60 Minutes” segment with Logan here. But get the tissues. You’re going to need them. — Betsy Rothstein