Joan Walsh: Olbermann Needs More Diverse Guests, Michelle Malkin Need Not Apply

Salon editor Joan Walsh, a frequent contributor on MSNBC, finds the network's "Countdown" host to be lacking in the diversity department when it comes to his guests. Of course, her complaint isn't with Olbermann's refusal to feature guests with whom he could have ideological clashes -- something his nemesis Bill O'Reilly has never been afraid to do -- but the fact that his guests are infrequently of the fairer sex.

From Walsh's Twitter feed on Tuesday evening (in reverse chronological order):

.@DARSB1 Actually, I should rephrase: I wish KO had more women on talking about...anything. 8:51 PM Dec 8th from web

[...]

I wish KO had a woman on talking about women's health care, but I'm happy he and Gene Robinson are saying the right things! 8:14 PM Dec 8th from web

That prompted a follower by the user name Jelperman to grouse:

@joanwalsh Does the gender of the guest really matter? Would you prefer Michelle Malkin?  12:37 AM Dec 9th from web in reply to joanwalsh

That prompted Walsh a few hours later to tweet back to Jelperman:

.@Jelperman Easy! I don't like Michelle Malkin talking about women's rights and I don't think Ron Christie is smarter about race than I am! 3:01 AM Dec 9th from web

So Olbermann could stand a more diverse guest roster, but to Walsh that doesn't mean conservative women like Michelle Malkin who would not be "saying the right things" about abortion or ObamaCare, nor does it mean black Republicans like Ron Christie, who has a decidedly different take on the same issues than black liberal Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson.

According to Olbermann Watch, the MSNBC host has had a grand total of zero Republican or conservative guests during the entire month of November.

At least Chris Matthews frequently has conservative pundits and Republican congressmen on his "Hardball" program with whom to spar.