Team Hewitt: Hugh Hewitt, Dean Barnett, Mark Steyn

I've been meaning to introduce stables to the APF for a while now, I proudly present the first of many. In wrestling, a stable is simply defined as "an alliance of like-minded individuals". In political terms there aren't too many solid alliances, only the John McCain/Joe Lieberman/ Lindsey Graham triumvirate come to mind.

Pundits have their own alliances, mostly by virtue of it being a small tight-knit community. I've always wanted to delve into the relationships formed within political media, how it affects their professional conduct. This was partially discussed during the Imus controversy when the "boy's club" were divided into those who stuck by their buddy or threw him under the bus.

First cab off the rank: Team Hewitt
Don't know how Dean Barnett and Mark Steyn will take to being under Hugh. Of course if there's any dissension they could just turn on him and ambush Hugh from behind.

- There is a neat toggle on the bottom left corner, click on it for a surprise.



Read previous Hugh Hewitt Posts here
Read previous Dean Barnett Posts here
Read previous Mark Steyn Posts here

Update: I had the fortune of interviewing Dean Barnett recently. Tune in to for the audio and transcript of our interview. We covered a few things including Dean's early political career, partisanship and John McCain.

Introducing the newest APF Pundit - Mark Steyn

As a special request for reader Kathy who was kind enough to keep me in the loop. The APF proudly introduces Mark Steyn to it's roster of pundits.

Mark Steyn is a contributing writer and columnist for multiple publications around the world. Mark is one the privileged few Rush Limbaugh tags to helm the #1 show in his absence. He is also a weekly guest on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

Go to Mark Steyn's official website. To view the list of publications Mark contributes to, visit his bio and FAQ page.

Mark has authored 4 political books:
1) The Face of the Tiger (Collected essays, 2002)
2) Mark Steyn From Head To Toe: An Anatomical Anthology (2004)
3) Mark Steyn's Passing Parade (Paperback, 2006)
4) America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It (2008)

Steyn writes with a dry wit and sarcasm. Evident in the the endorsements he proudly displays on his site, tongue firmly in cheek. His dry writing has got him in hot water recently, after a Human rights complaint against Maclean's magazine which implicated some of Steyn's articles. Mark was awarded the 2006 Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism for his article 'Be glad the flag is worth burning'.

Update:
A banner for 'Free Mark Steyn' advocates to place on their sites, fire an email and i'll gladly provide the code. Read more about the case here.

Politics and Wrestling together at last!

Its been good day for 'American Pundit Fighting'. Dean Barnett who I mentioned in an earlier post, was gracious enough to mention the APF and the 'wrestling analogy' on the air and in his blog. It was interesting audio as Hugh Hewitt and his regulars (Mark Steyn and Bill Kristol) clumsily handled wrestling references and attempts at being hip. There was even a mixing of villain metaphors as Bill Kristol was being put over as "Gangsta" after a piece from the New Republic. Or maybe its just a gimmick change?

But most of the credit goes to an associate of Kristol's on The Weekly Standard, Jonathan V. Last. In the third segment he really brought the wrestling analogy home with his knowledge of the terms and psychology. Dean and Jonathan chatted about and expanded on some of the points i've made on this blog. Dean called on Jonathan's expertise by asking which wrestlers best reflect certain pundits.

Listen and Download Dean Barnett talking wrestling and politics
Read Dean's endorsement of the wrestling analogy on his blog

Oooh Yeah! Chowdah Madness is Running Wild!!
A reader called this terrific blog post to my attention.  In it, the unidentified author noted how Bill Kristol has become punditry’s equivalent of a wrestling “heel”, antagonizing the left like a latter day Nikolai Volkoff insulting a crowd of 1980’s wrestling fans.  I was flattered by the fact that the author noticed that I played the “Mean Gene Okerlund” role while interviewing Kristol, allowing Bill to more effectively antagonize any liberals who happened to be listening.

To learn more about the link between politics and wrestling, follow the links below to acquaint yourself with the APF and its jargon:
- An introductory guide
- Glossary of terms
- APF pundit profiles
- APF Resources
- Where you can listen/watch your favorite pundits
- About the blog