Allen: I do, on rare occasions, catch Fox. There are times when I'm surfing around (I have Dish Network) and I go by the '200' neighborhood where the news is. I'm more disappointed in Fox guys like O'Reilly. I mean, I used to watch him but as the level of 'debate' got more and more juvenile - an example being the increased use of the word "pinhead" by Mr. O'Reilly - I just stopped. I can't watch MSNBC for long - and seeing Olberman is an instant threat to me spraining my thumb in trying to change the channel too quickly. CNN? Heck, I used to use Headline News as 'background noise' in the house. But that was many years ago. I tried tuning in recently.. WHAT has HAPPENED to these people?????

For Beck... It's hard for me to decide if it's all an act to get attention and ratings. After all, that's now Job #1 in "TV News" - ratings, By Any Means Necessary. I'm not fond of what's going on in D.C., either. But I don't see practical solutions being proposed. I hear a lot of "NO!" and when some bipartisanship comes up for a good idea... Well, look at the past couple of days and the news concerning the legislation that would have created a deficit review board. 7 Republicans sponsored the bill. As soon as Obama said "good idea", they were gone. They didn't even vote for the bill they sponsored. That tells me they're more interested in the power-politicking GAME than in serving the country. I'm sure Beck and I can agree on that.

About print media - yeah, I know that it slants anywhere from 70-85% liberal. Part of that, IMO, is becuase of the "If it bleeds, it leads" mentality that has been around a LONG time. But that's why I specifically seek out more conservative sources.

On Dan Rather - like I said, I was surprised to find myself saying what I said. But I've watched a few "Dan Rather Reports" on subjects like Afghanistan, black-market organ selling, truck driver training, etc. He's got time to present all sides of a story - which is refreshing when there are MORE than just two sides. I well know his history.

About Limbaugh. I used to listen to him every day on the way home from work. He *used* to be more articulate than anyone on radio. I'll give an example. He explained why he was against abortion. He didn't quote political talking points or Biblical scripture or anything like that. He said it was because he believed it was a continuing process of devaluing human life. He wasn't getting into the "at what point does life commence" argument, it was more of a philosophical objection. Now THAT, even though I disagreed, I could understand and respect. Cut to 15 years later and he now sounds like a guy who believes all his press clippings. ...though I still used his link to the IRS statistics that showed WHO pays MOST to ALL of the taxes in this country. When one has good numbers to back up one's opinion, it's usually A Good Thing.

...and, yeah, I zip through the commercials on my DVR. Of course, that means that the really good ones are all that more memorable when I actually see them