In CNN Hire, the Leftist Mask of 'Tolerance' Slips, Revealing the Skull Beneath the Skin

The response from the left over CNN’s hiring of Erick Erickson as a political contributor has been typically over-the-top. From Salon (What was CNN Thinking?) to Huffington Post (It’s Enough to Make You Throw-up) to our pals at Media Matters for America (Erickson’s History of Violent Incendiary, Sexist and Racially Charged Commentary), the intolerance for opposing viewpoints is really a breathtaking sight to behold.

Erickson, Editor-in-chief at Redstate.com, also serves as a City Council Member in Macon, GA. His conservative viewpoint and his high-profile on one of the more well-read blogs in America, as well as his small-town perspective is what caught CNN’s eye. Erick’s a perfect fit for John King, USA, because not only is he an agenda-setter whose words are closely watched in Washington but as a person who still lives in small-town America, Erick is in touch with the very people John hopes to reach,” CNN’s political director Sam Feist said in an announcement.

As soon as the announcement was made, #dumpCNN Tweets began surfacing on Twitter. Media Matters posted a series of statements Erickson has made over the years on his blog and on Twitter. Apparently, Erickson suggested that the Vice President’s heart should be ripped out, and once he said that Democrats lie and want to see the American people dead. Oh no… wait… that wasn’t Erickson, it was Ed Schultz talking about Vice-President Cheney and Republicans! And Shultz is not just a political contributor, he has his own show! I missed MMFA’s outrage over that hire.

But my point here is not to call for Schultz to be fired (that will happen soon enough considering local cable access channels are drawing more viewers than he is). No, the point is to illustrate that incendiary, outrageous and satirically humorous commentary is “de rigueur” in the blogosphere, the Twitterverse and even on cable news.

But the boring, pantywaist schoolmarms on the left can’t abide by such atrocious language. Especially when it’s directed at their team. Like the moronic mayor of River City, Iowa in The Music Man, they appear to be bumbling around without any kind of retort to people like Erickson other than to say “Watch your phraseology!”

But, we shouldn’t be surprised by the MMFA reaction. They were similarly outraged when CNN hired that incendiary firebrand kook Bill Bennett four years ago. You see, the only conservative commentators MMFA would approve of, are liberal ones, like David Gergen.

I think that the bigger story here is the tacit admission CNN is making with this hire. They are clearly recognizing that carrying Gergen and David Frum is not enough to camouflage their leftward lean. They’ve tried to appear above the fray and pretend that they have no ideology compared to MSNBC and Fox News.

However, a look at their anchors, reporters and political analysts shows a very strong hostility toward the right. (Do we really need to hear Anderson Cooper talk about “Tea Bagging” again?) CNN is making a clear statement with this hire: “We know that there are voices out there who have not had a place on our network, and we are trying to fix that.”

How else do you explain that they hired not just a Republican, not just a conservative, but the most offensive person to the leftist-elite media establishment: A religious, conservative, Republican blogger? Let’s hope they withstand the snubs at the Washington, D.C., cocktail parties and they stand by their man. And, let’s hope he’s not just an isolated hire.