Cal Thomas, a “conservative columnist,” and Bob Beckel, a “liberal Democratic strategist,” debate for USA Today whether “our noisy democracy can handle the right-leaning Fox.” Let’s listen in!

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Ed Schultz feeds a favorite Wingnut Meme: “It is a cultural war that’s taking place in America, you’re exactly right. And it’s being played out over the airwaves of America. And I hope the Democrats now turn to the Fairness Doctrine.” [Radio Equalizer]

CNN hires RedState’s Erick Erickson. Keep him away from John King’s Amazing Screen of Wonder, or he may fondle Florida. [Washington Monthly]

Dan Rather explains his “Obama couldn’t sell watermelons” line, asks Internet to get off his lawn: “I must confess that until recently I had no idea what Twitter was. Even now, I’m not completely sure how it’s best used.” [HuffPo]

Dan Rather to Chris Matthews about Barack Obama: “Listen, he’s a nice person, he’s very articulate, this was going to be used against him but he couldn’t sell watermelons if it, you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic.” [Left Coast Rebel]

Okay, our headline’s getting ahead of the story, but that 7 percent ownership of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp by a Saudi prince has not passed without notice:

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We’ve often mentioned that we find Countdown to be fine dinnertime entertainment. Weekdays at five is a perfect time for light political news. We doubt we could suffer anything like that at eight, but that’s a convenience of living on the Left Coast.

It helps that we don’t take Keith Olbermann seriously enough to bother with criticism. You can see the leading questions a mile away, and we enjoy watching guests try to bat them to the side. The show’s full of fun foul tips.

Which is why we also enjoy folks who do take Olbermann seriously, as if he was somehow important. The attacks fly from both directions — one side treating him at a hotheaded celebrity who needs to be taken down a peg, the other side treating him as a hotheaded traitor who dares question the Neocon Ascendancy.

Folks like Stuart Schwartz of Liberty University and the American Thinker:

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