We respond to Playgirl

This is really an homage to Jim Pinkerton of Fox News Watch (and Newsday) whose dejected reaction to Playgirl's "10 Sexiest Newscasters" sparked a wave of sympathy in the Quid Nimis production room. The Playgirl list:

• 1. Keith Olbermann
• 2. Sean Hannity
• 3. Anderson Cooper
• 4. Shepherd Smith
• 5. Andy Rooney/Bill Hemmer
• 6. Matt Lauer
• 7. Peter Jennings
• 8. Tom Brokaw/Brian Williams
• 9. Brit Hume
• 10. Lester Holt

To make it a bit more interesting and competitive, Quid Nimis' list expanded eligibility to include hosts and regular commentators and guys under the age of 70. The results were tabulated as follows:

• 1. Brit Hume
• 2. Sean Hannity
• 3. The Generals (Vallely, McInerny, et al.)
• 4. Tony Blankley
• 5. Jim Pinkerton
• 6. Bill Sammon
• 7. Eric Burns
• 8. Charles Krauthammer
• 9. Rich Galen
• 10. Tucker Carlson

Then we decided to look at all of the possible candidates and adjust the weighting to achieve diversity. This required us to modify our original question ("Who does it for you?") to "If he/she became conservative and/ or you liked girls, you know, that way,who would do it for you?" In other words, the Lawrence O'Donnell Affirmative Action Adjustment.

• 1. Brit Hume
• 2. Laura Ingraham
• 3. Sean Hannity
• 4. Michelle Malkin
• 5. the Generals
• 6. Tony Blankley
• 7. Jim Pinkerton
• 8. Susan Estrich
• 9. Neal Gabler
• 10. Bill Sammon

Hmm... as you can see, we handily met our completely arbitrary diversity quota of 35%. Quid Nimis does not, however, want to contend for next year's "Best SciFi Blog" award. The following results are the final Quid Nimis electoral college tally:
10. Sean Hannity
9. Jim Angle
8. Brit Hume
7. Eric Burns
6. The Generals
5. Bill Sammon: a superior and energetic reporter, very nice to see him in front of the camera.
4. Rich Galen: witty and insightful, likewise easy on the eyes. Would have rated higher but for the scooter.
3. Charles Krauthammer: authority and depth in spades; wonderful voice, both literally and metaphorically.
2. Jim Pinkerton: As a way of giving Jim a boost in the standings, we thought of eliminating Andy Rooney as a contender altogether by employing the automatic eyebrow disqualifier (if you can braid them, forget it). We knew that Jim would not feel as good about himself if he thought that his achievement was due to some unfair advantage, so we let the chips fall. As it was, Andy only got the "eeeewwwww!!!" vote and never cracked the top 453. Nice going, Jim!
1. Tony Blankley: For the purposes of the Official Quid Nimis "Sexiest Commentator" poll, Tony Blankley is like Don Rumsfeld: he has a constituency of one. He is the nexus of passionate advocacy, principled loyalty, and sartorial flair. During the Dark Days before the election, Tony bore up through L.O'D.'s ravings and called him on his misbehavior. While liberal gals go all gooey for a guy that bites his lip and says, "I feel your pain," conservative women pant for a man who says (in reponse to a question about George Bush) "I expect him to do the ethical thing." Oh baby, oh baby.