Intellectuals

Watching the PBS News Hour, Hardball and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC last night, and enjoying the entire thing, these people impressed me:

Melissa Harris-Lacewell, a professor at Princeton U., who talked politics and race with Ms. Maddow. His intellect impressed.

Antwi Akom, a professor at San Francisco State U., who talked about racial profiling in connection with the Dr. Henry Louis Gates jr. imbroglio (himself racially profiled and arrested). His intellect impressed. He spoke clearly, factually, reasonably.

Barton Gellman, a Washington Post reporter who wrote the book Angler : the Cheney vice presidency, spoke with Ms. Maddow about the current Cheney imbroglio. His exactness and care in answering questions factually, and making sure whatever matters and details they were considering as they discussed Cheney, Scooter Libby and ther pardon that President Bush did not issue to the latter were correct.

Charles P. Pierce, a Boston Globe journalist who wrote the book Idiot America : how stupidity became a virtue in the Land of the Free, and had a contentious exchange with David Shuster while they talked about Liz Cheney and her father. Shuster was looking for an answer to the question of why Ms. Cheney will not simply say that the right-wing-nut contention that Barack Obama is not a native-born US citizen is a silly conspiracy theory (never mind so much barely disguised racism). Pierce cynically riposted that Ms. Cheney is a leader of the Republican Party, as Shuster contended and wondered about, because media outlets provide her a platform to speak her views.