GQ Writer: 'There Aren't That Many' Liberal Talk Show Hosts

Tuesday August 21, Glenn Beck interviewed Ben Wallace (CNN transcript), who profiled Beck in a September GQ article that asked if Beck is “The Most Annoying Man On TV?” After Wallace told Beck that he thinks the talk show host's annoyance factor ranks up there with Michael Moore, Rosie O'Donnell, Alberto Gonzales and Criss Angel, the only magician to top David Blaine's creepy-factor, the writer really whipped out his liberal media bona fides by claiming that “there aren't that many on the [left] side of the aisle who have talk shows” (emphasis mine):

BECK: Is there anyone on the other side of me that is just as tired of the garbage and politics as I am?

WALLACE: There's no one that comes to mind, but I think that's partly because there aren't that many on the other side of the aisle who have talk shows.

Really? There aren't “that many?” Does Wallace even watch TV, or is his idea of “the other side of the aisle” limited to those to the left of Cynthia McKinney and Tim Robbins? What is he watching?

Beck then noted that maybe Wallace was just unaware of the liberal voices:

BECK: Or at least the ones that you've interviewed...

WALLACE Or that I've interviewed

BECK: ...and that are annoying and that might fit into the most annoying people on TV list. Ben, thank you very much (garbled) and thanks again for a fair article.

I can't believe that a journalist honestly said that "there aren't that many” liberal talk show hosts. There are many on TV, and contrary to what the advocates of the Fairness Doctrine would have you believe, there is still a good supply of liberal voices on the radio as well, and the newer mediums of the Internet and podcasting are really taking off. Was Wallace really this uninformed, or was he aware of the liberal voices and just chose to pretend they don't exist?

On television, liberal talk show hosts are in the majority and some of whom even started out in partisan politics, like “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert who was Democratic Senator Pat Moynihan's chief of staff, “Hardball's” Chris Matthews who was a Carter speechwriter and a top aide to Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O'Neil, PBS' Bill Moyers worked in the Johnson and Kennedy administrations and of course, ABC's “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos was Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign manager and later his communications director.

A quick review finds more left-leaning TV talk show hosts like Keith Olbermann, Alan Colmes, Anderson Cooper, Geraldo Rivera, Bill Maher, Dan Abrams and that doesn't even count Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, and lefty daytime divas like Oprah, Joy Behar and Meredith Viera.

On the radio, Alex Bennett, Jon Elliot, Laura Flanders, Ed Shultz, Stephanie Miller, Bill Press, Rachel Maddow, Randi Rhodes, Mike Malloy, Thom Hartmann, Lionel, Harry Shearer, Sam Seder, the majority of NPR have strong liberal voices.

The above are just some of the liberal hosts in the traditional media and doesn't even include the plethora who are online and podcasting.

Not “that many” liberal talk show hosts? I think Maher, Rivera, Moyers, Rhodes and probably most of the others would take deep, personal offense at this classification, cuz them's fightin' words. Maybe GQ should stick to declaring the hottest fall colors and finding the yummiest man-moisturizer instead of perpetuating the Fairness Doctrine hysteria.

Contact Lynn with tips or even complaints at tvisgoodforyou2 AT yahoo DOT com