The Usual Suspects: Liberals on Television

Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue had what I considered the most liberal show on television a few years back on MSNBC. When BushCo started the latest Iraq War, Donahue's show was cancelled, even though he had the highest rated show on MSNBC. Certainly a gutless move, and certainly not a liberal policy by his network.

Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers has had a long history of fighting for liberal causes, which he did on his signature show Now with Bill Moyers on public television. When Bill took a well deserved retirement, it was the signal for a Republican appointee, Kenneth Tomlinson, to begin an intrusive, inneffectual inquisition of the CPB looking for liberal slant. Tomlinson has since been replaced because of his questionable practices.

David Brancaccio
Mr. Brancaccio has continued the Now program and continues to examine issues important to Liberals.Reporters like Mr. Brancaccio are called biased if they report at all on such news as Tom Delay's trial.

George Stephanopoulos
George does This Week with George Stephanopoulos every Sunday on ABC. He worked for and helped elect Bill Clinton, so the Right labels him a Liberal. However, my
observation has been that Mr. Stephanopoulos tries so hard to escape such labeling that he often lets Republican spin just go by without comment.

Alan Colmes
His heart is in a Liberal place, but Colmes is a laughinstock and an enabler for Hannity to dominate the discussion while pretending that theirs is an equitable exchange of viewpoints.

Keith Olbermann
Olbermann is probably the most liberal commentator on the air now (there are many to the right of him who have their own shows). An indicator of his effectiveness is that Bill O'Reilly has foisted a petition on the public to remove Keith.

Eleanor Clift
Other shows like The McLaughlin Group have liberal panelists like Clift or O'Donnell, but they are not by any means in control - they are often shouted down by McLaughlin, Blankely, or Buchanan. Fox actually has liberal Neal Gabler regularly on
Fox News Watch. Often the viewing audience is told that someone like Joe Klein will be the Liberal viewpoint, but this is simply false. Klein is likely to regurgitate the current Republican spin or somehow diminish or dilute valid opposition. Digby calls him "a useful Republican idiot." This is the state of the Liberal media on television as I see it. All in all, it's pretty sparse when you're looking for a real Liberal with some spine.