The Week reports Rush Limbaugh is threatening to leave Cumulus Media after the company blamed him for declining revenue.

“If Limbaugh walks — his contract ends this year — Cumulus will lose the No. 1 rated talk radio program in the country, probably to rival syndicator Clear Channel. Limbaugh would lose access to 40 radio stations, including his flagship channel, New York’s WABC.”

“All of these things we’ve said about what the
president could do, should do, might have, could have, but the central
thing to keep in mind is his opponents — you talk about taking them out
to dinner, making nice with them — these people, politically, want to
cut his heart out and throw his liver to the dogs.”

— Dan Rather, in an interview on the Chris Matthews Show.

Newt Gingrich confirmed to Time that he’s been talking with CNN about reviving the political talk show “Crossfire.”

Said Gingrich: “People forget but for the first 10 years it was a very serious program. I remember doing it as a junior member — it was a real workout. It was a destination for people to hear both sides discuss serious issues in an entertaining way.”

“Yuk it up media and pols. While America is buried in taxes and a fight for our rights, the permanent political class in DC dresses up and has a prom to make fun of themselves. No need for that, we get the real joke.”

— Sarah Palin, writing on Facebook, about the White House Correspondent’s Dinner last night.

Gawker: “Tomorrow evening, the cream of our nation’s mainstream media celebrities, political celebrities, and celebrity celebrities will put on tuxedos and evening gowns and gather in a ballroom in Washington, DC to mutually give one another handjobs, in a mostly metaphorical sense. This is because the most powerful elements of our nation’s DC press corps are all ‘on the same team’ as the people they cover (politicians) and the people they idolize (celebrities). This is called the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, and it is the single most revolting annual gathering of pseudojournalistic cocksuckery in all the land.”

The Week: “If history is an indicator, talk of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — affectionately known as ‘Nerd Prom’ — is about to set Washington atwitter.”

“And the fact that journalists are willing to own the nerd word (even ironically) speaks volumes about how far nerddom has come in recent decades.”

Sources tell Politico that CNN is in talks with Newt Gingrich and former Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter about hosting a new version of Crossfire.

Now available for pre-order: House of Cards: The Complete First Season.

Jon Stewart wasn’t kind to CNN for its coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing.

[Read more…]

Charles and David Koch, the billionaire industrialists and supporters of libertarian causes, “have mostly avoided media investments,” the New York Times reports.

Now, Koch Industries “is exploring a bid to buy the Tribune Company’s eight regional newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, The Orlando Sentinel and The Hartford Courant.”

He’s hosting a radio show in Philadelphia, the Philly Post reports.

“Local radio station WPHT, for mysterious reasons, has handed its afternoon drive-time radio show over to a man who’s never hosted a radio show, has no ties to Philadelphia save for a few long-ago political consultancy gigs, and whose credibility–for a myriad of reasons–is at an all-time low…”

“I listened to the entire first show on Monday, and while I admit I was skeptical about his chances at success before I listened, after the first day, I’m even more skeptical. And that was before Morris leapt to the conclusion, minutes after the Boston Marathon bombing, that Obama policy must be to blame.”

I’ve turned off the television and will patiently wait for the facts around the Boston bombings to come out. There’s little point in following this story right now and watching endless, uninformed speculation will only drive you crazy.

Former White House press secretary Dana Perino tried rapping on Fox News.

Gawker: “Obviously this is sad and deeply embarrassing for her and for anyone who has the misfortune of watching it, but let’s not forget that the ‘joke’ here (the one Perino is making, not the one you’re laughing it) is ‘LOL, black people.'”

[Read more…]

App of the day: Pocket Congress.

In honor of the legendary film critic Roger Ebert, who died earlier this week, The Fix reprints his reader-generated list of the best political movies of all time.

The two leading vote-getters were The Candidate, the 1972 film starring Robert Redford and 1992′s Bob Roberts with Tim Robbins in the lead role.

The Cloakroom: My top 10 favorite political movies.

TV Newser hears that CNN is looking to bring back Crossfire, the long-running political debate show which was canceled in 2005.

“It isn’t entirely clear what time the program would air, though we hear it would likely be a 30-minute format. During its original run from 1982-2005, Crossfire aired in both the afternoons and primetime, in addition to weekend editions. Aside from a brief 60-minute experiment, was always 30 minutes. CNN declined to comment.”

Speaking in Ohio, legendary journalist Bob Woodward “told an unflattering, but amusing story about sitting next to former Vice President Al Gore at a dinner, saying being with him was taxing,” the Youngstown Vindicator reports.

He added: ‘To be really honest, it’s unpleasant.”

The reporter said Gore “pressed him on why the journalist didn’t go after Bush, who beat Gore in the 2000 presidential election, over the war in Iraq.”

“We own talk radio, and Fox News for the most part.”

— Rush Limbaugh, on his radio show, on the influence of conservatives.