Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Novelty Of Liberals On The Teevee

Just want to add one important thing to Glenn's post. It's true that these days Olbermann stands out on MSNBC for his "liberalism," but it's also important to note that his actual expressed liberalism is pretty narrow. He has a dislike and distrust of the Bush administration, which is shared by 70% of the public. He objects to overreach of executive powers, a subject largely ignored by the rest of the media. And... that's it. It's not the nightly "abortion, gay marriage, and give money to poor people" hour. Keith isn't advocating, or even covering, a large set of what I would consider to be "liberal issues." He approaches the daily news with a somewhat liberal sensibility, but that's it.

70% of the country doesn't like George Bush, and one hour per night 5 days per week is about the only time that perspective is on the teevee, except perhaps a few curmudgeonly outbursts by Jack Cafferty and those precious seconds when Pat Buchanan isn't talking over Rachel Maddow.