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Why is this dude writing a novel?! There are so many talented authors who cannot get published and who are probably much better at their art and craft. But of course an industry "name" white male gets his all-important voice heard. What a waste of paper.

Your false equivalence between Fox News and MSNBC is absurd. Both are partisan, yes, but calling out the far right for lies and smears and distortions is NOT the same as PUTTING those lies and smears and distortions on air night after night and calling them news. It's amazing that the "center" has moved so far to the right that any left-leaning comment at all is characterized, even by Lopate, as radical. Please -- compare Rachel Maddow or even Olbermann to O'Reilly or, for that matter, to Coulter or Ingraham or Dobbs or Beck, and tell me you think they are opposing points of view. They are not on the same continuum. They are off the chart. It's unfortunate that we do not have an actual debate among serious, thoughtful opposing views, right to left. Perhaps Megen McCain will make a start. But please don't try to "balance" Fox with MSNBC.

This is what I'll never understand -- for all of the hand-wringing about 4th estate and the importance of the press, death of newspapers, etc. you so often do such a bad job. While I like a lot of things about the Newshour, I can't stand watching Jim lob weak, softball questions at "Newsmakers." The reason we all love Jon Stewart so much is that he actually confronts people with "the tape" and holds our officials to account.

Mr. Lopate's comparison with Joyce Carol Oates is a hoot!

The difference is that Oates can actually write. Let's face facts. If Jim Lehrer were not a well-connected, conservative 'journalist', he'd never get one of his 'novels' past a publisher's front door.