Great Moments in Political Punditry

(Every week political pundits grace us with gaffes, hyperbole, violation of logic and just plain untruths. Every week we try to catch them because we are smart alecks.)

Bill O'Reilly makes potentially illegal threats.
In this intense screed, O'Reilly calls out right-wing radio hosts for being Kool-Aid drinking idiots, and then blames the current economic crisis on President Bush. But before anyone thinks O'Reilly is on the path to left-wing punditry, he unloads on Democrat finance chairs Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd. In O'Reilly's inimitable fashion, he threatens to physically beat them and break their fingers for their role in America's financial fiasco.

After the jump, Chris Mathews fails to acknowledge his own daughter on TV and the Wall Street Journal overestimates by $1,287 trillion.

Chris Matthews keeps it all in the family.
Of all the placard-waving yahoos amassed behind Chris Matthews as he broadcast live from last week's debate in Mississippi, the blond bomber decided to interview his own daughter, but neglect to disclose their relationship. This constitutes a weird conflict of interest, made even more baffling by the fact Matthews must have thought no one would notice.

The Wall Street Journal's Brett Arends may be exaggerating the carnage.
These are confusing economic times. It doesn't help to turn on the television or read the paper and see Wall Street talking heads claim that something called the LIBOR rate has to get under control or America will descend into Mad Max-like chaos by the weekend. In this spirit, financial columnist Brett Arends recommends his readers start hoarding cash and canned goods, but gets a bit carried away with how bad things are. All of which leads to this telling correction:



"Fox and Friends" Host Steve Doocy is almost too clever for his own good.
To prove a point about the perverse nature of "gotcha" journalism, Steve Doocy asks John McCain a purposely ridiculous "gotcha" question. At first McCain doesn't realize what Doocy is trying to do, and looks completely "gotten." The Arizona senator figures it out, makes a funny and the entire studio laughs the kind over-the-top faux-laughter that is a staple of the thought-provoking journalism found on morning talk shows.