LIGHTNING ROUND: IT'S THE MEDIA, STUPID.

• E.J. Dionne makes a great point in his Washington Post column today that isn't exactly revelatory for those of us on the left who have been criticizing the "liberal media" for years now: Repeatedly giving right wingers like Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich (not to mention Pat Buchanan) a prominent platform elevates their often extreme beliefs to the level of moderate discourse. At the same time, Dionne observes, the media ignores "critiques of Obama that come from elected officials on the left." Meanwhile, I find it simply amazing that Dick Cheney has had more media coverage in the past four months than he did for his entire last year in office.
• Michael Wolff has a good piece in Vanity Fair about the sophistication of the Obama press shop and its ability to craft its media message. Robert Gibbs gets special mention for his ability to simultaneous flatter the press while answering few substantive questions.
  
• According to this New York Times piece, it sounds like yesterday's presidential debate between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and challenger Mir Hussein Moussavi was a real knock-down drag-out scuffle: "With the presidential election to be held June 12, Mr. Moussavi was on the offensive during the debate, which was broadcast by state-run television. At one point he accused Mr. Ahmadinejad of moving Iran toward 'dictatorship.' At another, he said that the president’s foreign policy suffered from 'adventurism, illusionism, exhibitionism, extremism and superficiality.'"
• Remainders: The U.S. recession might be bad, but it's worse everywhere else; Ben Nelson feels the heat from Change Congress; SCOTUS + ideology + charts = awesome; another Republican joins the Obama team; somehow, I don't think Tim Pawlenty is quite ready for prime time; and it's Bernie Sanders vs. the U.S. Senate.

--Mori Dinauer