Static on the Left

Alter reminded Ailes in a letter that the column was satire, asking if he really believed "that MSNBC -- which apparently can take a joke better than Fox -- would pose as its question-of-the-day: 'Firebombing Brookings: Good Idea or Not?'"

The Non-Crossfire

Tucker Carlson, who makes his MSNBC prime-time debut tonight, says he doesn't plan to book partisans who recite talking points.

"Because the analysis is by definition stilted," says Carlson, who felt locked into a left-right format at CNN's recently deceased "Crossfire." While he is "very conservative," he says, "I am not interested in having the show be an echo chamber for my views." On his 9 p.m. program "The Situation," says Carlson, "there's going to be a lot of disagreement, but no nastiness at all. I don't like that. On my PBS show for a year, I never barked at a single person."

Carlson says the show, which will open with two radio yakkers, conservative Jay Severin and liberal Rachel Maddow, will offer a fast-paced series of stories with a countdown clock.

Soul Man

"The Washington Times yesterday inadvertently published a photograph of D.C. City Administrator Robert C. Bobb misidentified as the late soul singer Marvin Gaye." -- Wednesday's Washington Times.

Bush's Views on Michael Jackson

National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez doesn't think much of Neil Cavuto's Fox interview with Bush:

"DO YOU THINK THAT THE FOCUS ON MICHAEL JACKSON HAS HURT YOU?" Ugh. Neil Cavuto asked that of the president. I know the few times I've met the president I have been in total groupie mode, so I shouldn't talk. But you get an interview with the president and you ask him about Michael Jackson? That dude's been on cable news too long. Next he'll ask the leader of the free world about car chases."

Rude Pundit agrees (and be warned, his language is not G-rated):

"Why Neil Cavuto Ought To Be Buried Alive Under a Stack of Wall Street Journals: Here's how you know you're a worthless [blank] as a 'news' anchor, an American, and a human being: you work for a 'news' network that has been flogging the Michael Jackson trial endlessly, with quite literally hundreds of stories, updates, interviews, and commentaries on whether or not he's the king of poppin' cherries. Hell, today on your network's website is a report on Jackson's goddamn unregistered and/or broken down cars. Throughout it all -- war in Iraq, genocide in the Sudan, constant leaks on the lies of the government -- your 'news' network has made sure to conflate the Jackson trial's worth with every other truly heartbreaking, stomach-churning, important event in the world.