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While discussing with Ed Schultz whether there is going to be a public option in the final health care bill once everything is said and done, Shultz reads off John Boehner's response from the Republicans saying that the Democrat's plan is a "government takeover" of health care. Schakowsky points out that Boehner's statement is of course complete bunk since no one is proposing single payer (sadly IMO) and they've already compromised with Republicans, so they've already got a bipartisan bill. She goes on to make one more really great point on the media's lousy coverage of this debate.

Schakowsky: Let me just say one other thing Ed about the news media. When myths are, or lies are told, it is not just he said she said. I like what you said. It is not true. It is simply a lie that this is a government takeover and I think that it really ought to be up to the media too, not to just report well this is what the Republican said then this is what the Democrat said and this is what the President said. They're telling lies! And I think they need to be called on it.

Amen sister.

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While discussing the number of Republicans that President Obama has brought into his administration, Matt Dowd claims that the Republicans falling apart means that they have not had a chance to get their message out.

Dowd: I agree it's a smart move. I also think it has a much bigger, profound effect. As the Republicans are in disarray and they can't seem to settle on any leader, any issue, are becoming a minority party in this country, really and truly a minority party at this time, that is not what the American politics needs.

We need two vibrant political parties that are able to present competing visions and then fight it out over with the American public. Right now we have one vibrant party that is very strong and one party that is in total disarray as I say, and so there's not this conflict of ideas that is able for the American public so sort of see out there so they can pick and choose from it. That's a huge problem.

Apparently Mr. Dowd doesn't watch much American television if he thinks the Republicans have not had more than a sufficient chance to get their ideas out to the public.

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The Progressive Change Campaign Committee asked a few New York comedians, including bloggers Lee Camp and Baratunde Thurston, to deliver to CNBC headquarters a petition with 20,000 signatures asking them to clean up their act and actually try to hold Wall Street accountable, instead of acting as the delivery system for their own public relations efforts.

HuffPo's Sam Stein:

Since the launch of FixCNBC.com, the network has, in fact, made several programming changes. Former DNC Chair Howard Dean was brought on as a regular commentator, and Huffington Post editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington guest hosted CNBC's morning show Squawk Box last week.

"Too often, groups put up online 'petitions' that aren't tied to any larger campaign," Green said of the FixCNBC.com letter. "We wanted to make sure CNBC truly received the message that people want them to do journalism that holds Wall Street accountable. And now we'll focus the energy of over 20,000 people on electing bold progressives to Congress -- candidates who will hold Wall Street accountable."

FixCNBC.com is still accepting signatures...if you haven't signed it yet, please join our campaign. And if you're able in this troubled economy, ActBlue is taking donations to make sure that CNBC hears our voices.

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In the Russert days of Meet the Press, the Bush administration knew that it was the best venue for them to "catapult the propaganda" without taking those pesky follow-up questions or provide context. New host David Gregory didn't appear to be much of an improvement--at least when the administration in power were Republicans. Of course, now that the White House is inhabited with Democrats, Gregory seems to have found a journalistic need to question federal plans, even if it means reaching back to Republican talking points that were thoroughly debunked...by NBC colleague Keith Olbermann.

Gregory asked Senior White House Advisor David Axelrod about the part of the stimulus bill that will allegedly give the government the right to dictate medical practices to doctors, a outright fabrication conceived by Betsy McCaughey and furthered in the mainstream media by Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh. Heather did a post on Olbermann's dismantling of this particularly disingenuous slur against the stimulus bill at Video Cafe.

But even after his own network shows the falsity of the charge, Gregory still asks Axelrod to defend it...Hmmm...where is Gregory getting his sourcing for such a pathetic attempt at being a journalist? Drudge and Limbaugh? David, do you realize what this says about your credibility?

By the way, Betsy McCaughey has gone on record challenging Olbermann to debate her. While that isn't his typical format, I would so love to see that...