By Wil Forbis
February
16th, 2003
 |
Hannity and Colmes art by Daniel
Gordon.
Click picture for larger version. |
Everybody who knows me knows
that I bemoaned the
loss of television's “Politically Incorrect” with a grief I reserve
for the departure of my most cherished entities, such as family members
or my favorite bathtub mold. “P.I.” was the only show in which people
we're able to present their opinions without watering them down in the
name “civility” (or whatever it is that makes Sam and Cokie about as
exciting as weaving cobwebs out of your own hair.) Whether it was Michael
Moore or Ann Coulter, guests on the show could make their argument,
and then have the show’s host, Bill Maher, or other guests call bullshit
on them. Since “Politically Incorrect’s” demise I've spent many hours
scouring the airwaves for a show of similar verve. A show where real
political debates – like the kind that rage at your corner bar – occur
unimpeded.
The closest thing I’ve found
is Fox’s “Hannity and Colmes.” I’m the first to admit that it’s no “P.I.”
– it lacks the iconoclasm of Bill Maher. But it does have something
I’ve been waiting to see in a political debate show: two people who
hate each other. I speak, of course, of the show's two anchors: Sean
Hannity (on the right) and Alan Colmes (on the left.) Unlike Sam and
Cokie, Matt and Katie or Robin and Howard, Hannity and Colmes make little
effort to disguise the seething rage they feel for each other. Sean
Hannity openly shows his distaste for Colmes by rudely interjecting
his opinions while Alan’s interviewing a liberal guest. Colmes’ rebuttals
are often fumbling and dispassionate, as if he’s letting his intellect
suppress his inner fury, but you don’t have to look hard to see that
he would love to see a giant piledriver come smashing down on his co-host.
“And this is a good thing?”
you ask. “There’s some advantage to seeing two talk show hosts who’d
love to be pitted against each other in mortal combat.” To which, I
say, yes, there is. At least with “H&C” we know where everybody
stands. You don’t have to second guess what biases are shaping each
person’s interpretation of the news. And secondly, it makes great television.
What made “P.I.” entertaining was the angst and the fury, elements “Hannity
and Colmes make no attempt to withhold.
Of course, admitting to watching
a Fox News program automatically sets me up as a target for the many
left wing detractors on the show. In op-ed pieces, online rants and
personal conversations with moi, the Fox Haters accuse Fox viewers of
being brainwashed idiots, much the same way they label Rush Limbaugh’s
dittoheads. They seem to allude that if I let my channel changer get
anywhere near Rupert Murdoch’s network, I’m setting my brain up to receive
the venomous ideas of the far right – ideas my timid cranium will be
helpless to resist. But I have two comments on such allegations. For
one, I’m an intelligent, (and charming, and sexy) guy. I think I can
ward off whatever half-truths Fox dishes out, with the same dexterity
I weed out falsehoods from the left. And secondly, maybe people on the
left could learn a thing or two from Fox.
When I think of the phenomenal
success of Fox News, I’m reminded of a scene from Howard Stern’s film
biopic, “Private Parts.” In the scene, pollsters at the radio station
Stern is working for discover that a sizable chunk of Stern’s listeners
completely detest him, but they keep listening “to see what he’ll say
next.” This same adoration of controversy is part of what attracts
Fox News to its audience. And it’s the fear of controversy that so hinders
traditional left-wing media outlets, like NPR or PBS. Their programs
try so desperately to avoid offense or hysterics that they come across
as the media equivalent of a Sunday driver afraid to go above 35 miles
per hour. Sometimes you’ve gotta switch into high gear!
What’s stopping the left
from coming up with their own Fox News Channel? They’ve certainly got
a plethora of adrenaline fueled talking heads to chose from. I might
even recommend a few. Gay sex columnist Dan
Savage has been a rising star in the world of print, why couldn’t
he jump to TV? (He even had a column on ABC’s web site for a while,
so don’t tell me mainstream America won’t accept him.) Bill Maher may
not be a traditional lefty, but he certainly tilted that way after being
told to watch what he said. (Though even Maher stated that the majority
of those who defended his comments were from the right, proving that
lefties need to be less absolute in their criterion for who they’ll
support.) Online personality Oliver
Willis is begging for a media job. I find Saturday Night Live alumni
Al Franken loathingly self righteous at times, but I don’t doubt his
quick wit. And I have a healthy respect for the zingers of Molly Ivins.
The talent is there, but
many will say that the financial backing isn’t. Perhaps the countless
Hollywood elites should put their money where their mouth is. If Barbra
Streisand, Sean Penn, Ed Norton, Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, Rosie
O'Donnell, Harry and Linda Thomason, etc ad infinitum, can’t support
a cable network between them, then they’re spending too much on fake
fur and Botex injections. For that matter, the millions of kids who
throw away their college education to be faux-poor and work at used
bookstores should realize that they could get real jobs and accomplish
much more for their political movement. (I was in Seattle during the
Internet explosion and watched it turn several progressive leftists
I knew into millionaires. The bastards!) The problem isn’t that the
lefties have been forced out of the democratic media – it’s that they’re
too enslaved to the appearance of integrity to get their hands dirty.
I firmly believe that there’s
room for everybody in the ring. News is created, aggregated and reported
on by people. People are biased. There’s no way to escape it. Embrace it.
Update - Feb 19, 2003.
Well, I'll be damned. A day after I posted this article, the announcement
came through that a venture capital firm was going to back a left leaning radio broadcasting
network. I'm pathetic... I mean prophetic. Stay tuned for my next piece
entitled, "Wil Forbis Inherits a Billion Dollars and Marries Cameron
Diaz!"
