Now that I'm retired I have more time to monitor the various talking head programs, including Lou Dobbs, Kudlow and Company, O'Reilly Factor, Scarborough Country, Hardball, Larry King, Mad Money, Countdown, Hannity & Colmes, and Tucker Carlson. They run the gamut from extremely conservative to moderately liberal:
1. Sean Hannity: extreme conservative; one of the few to defend Ann Coulter, who insulted four women who lost their husbands on 9/11. His liberal co-host Alan Colmes is rather weak and has difficulty keeping up with Hannity who is quick on his feet. Hannity is high on the obnoxious scale but attempts humor on occasion. A Hillary Clinton hater.
2. Larry Kudlow: Conservative of the old school, as opposed to the new breed of social conservative, who backs elimination of estate tax, and allowing illegal immigration to continue because it benefits large corporations who can hold down wages. Talks about "class warfare" a lot - a hot bottom for the ultra rich who think they are being picked on by the liberal elite media and/or the liberal politicians who want to redistribute their wealth to the less worthy.
3. Bill O'Reilly - Social conservative, who claims to be for the "folks", yet hardly ever talks about issues that really impact the "folks". He constantly talks about the liberal media elites and the "flame thrower" liberals, yet claims to be middle of the road; however he is always talking about the "godless" liberals. Most middle of the roaders I know could care less about most of the social issues of the extreme right. He did chastice Ann Coulter the other night though for her intemperate comments. O'Reilly is the most obnoxious of the entire group, and tends to cut his guests off when they waver from what he what to hear from them which is a parroting of his own views. The program also tends to cover a lot of trivial issues, which are sensationalized such as Duke rape case. Hillary Clinton hater.
4. Tucker Carlson - Social conservative, but does a good job of at least listening to the other side in point-counterpoint style. Also has a sense of humor - he even wears a bow tie.
5. Joe Scarborough - Social conservative, but it open to arguments from moderates/liberals. Also took on Ann Coulter. A former U.S. Representative who have a good grasp of how Washington works.
6. Jim Cramer - Not sure where he stands but I think he is a conservative fiscally and a social liberal. Now that he is no longer part of Kudlow team, he avoids politics and focuses strictly on Wall Street events.
7. Lou Dobbs - Moderate. His views tend to mirror what I perceive to be mainstream American views. Views Nafta and Outsourcing as big mistakes, as he does offshoring. Wants to get tough on illegal immigration; keep the estate tax, and ridicules the Republican obsession with social conservatives issues like gay marriage and flag burning. Too soft on Ann Coulter though. He is also beating the illegal immigration issue into the ground.
8. Larry King. Social moderate. Good interviewer - very balanced. He has had some excellent shows.
9. Chris Matthews - Moderate. Excellent at grilling guests, both conservative and liberal. His show is much more "no spin" than O'Reilly (which is a lot of spin). Matthews is very articulate and quick on his feet. May be sharpest of the bunch. He has also been very critical of the Bush Adminitration.
10. Keith Olbermann - Liberal. Very funny and can express his emotions well; has been going after O'Reilly recently, and really took Ann Coulter to task. Mr. Olbermann has been attacking the Bush Administration very heavily in the last month.
Of the bunch, I like Lou Dobbs and Chris Matthews the best. They seem to reflect what America is really all about, and cover excellent topics. They have the ability to both praise and criticize the current admintration. Some will only praise Bush, while Larry King won't say much about what his views are - he lets his guests do the talking and then gently probes them to amplify on their answers. The conservative pundits deflect criticism of Bush by constantly bringing up Bill Clinton moral transgressions, as if they were worse than the problems Bush Administration has caused.
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