CNN is still sick with Fox envy -- and it's only getting worse

Tim Goodman in the SF Chronicle--well said: "And now the CNN brain trust -- hard to write that without some snark on top -- has reshuffled its analyst deck and looks to be adding three conservatives. There's a rumor that CNN will soon announce that disgraced pundit Bill Bennett will join the team, though the odds are currently 99-1, which is right in Bennett's wheelhouse, virtuous gambler that he is.

Now, if this proves to be true, someone needs to put a Webcam on Ailes so the world can see him laughing uproariously for hours on end, wheezing, unable to catch his breath, astounded at the seemingly bottomless desperation of Mr. Klein. You may remember that Bennett was secretary of education under Ronald Reagan, then 'drug czar' under Bush version 1.0 and later went on to host a radio show called, not surprisingly, 'Morning in America.'

But that's the glory. Here's the gory: When Bennett's big-time gambling was exposed, it forced libraries everywhere to refile his 'The Book of Virtues' under 'farce.' OK, so that's a joke. Sort of. But Bennett further delved into controversy by saying, ' If you wanted to reduce crime you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down.'

And it gets worse: Fox News didn't renew his contract. If that doesn't say 'you're poison,' nothing does.

So if CNN picks up the very, very sloppy seconds of Fox News by hiring Bennett, it will accomplish the unthinkable: It will make MSNBC's hiring of Rita Cosby, formerly of Fox News, seem less incomprehensibly stupid.

Meanwhile, CNN's Headline News has hired talk-radio host Glenn Beck, who is just to the right of Attila the Hun. The network tried to pass him off as some kind of affable conversationalist. That lasted about four, maybe five seconds, until all k"