The great tragedy of our local conservative yakmouth-gone-big Hugh Hewitt is that there is intellect in him. Yeah, he always seems to walk lockstep with wackos (see: Nixon, Romney, Palin), but the guy is well-read, fund-raises often for good non-political causes and isn't ultimately noxious. Silly, sí, but not noxious--especially when compared with his talk-show brethren.

Yesterday was further proof of that. On his blog, Hewitt characterized President Barack Obama's speech as "a fine beginning" and, for the small snippet that I heard his show on KRLA-AM 870, actually disagreed with a loon who hated Obama! Compare that with the following:

*Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin couldn't stop whining about the Rev. Joseph Lowery's bad-ass benediction
*The John and Ken Show was reduced to making fun of black women mispronounce words in expressing their joy about a black man in the White House (in their defense, they also ridiculed a dad who pulled his children from school so they wouldn't hear Obama's speech, and a 24-year-old listener who insisted he has nothing to do with slavery, so what's up with black people being so bitter about the past?)
*Bill O'Reilly yelling at callers as usual
*KABC-AM 790's Mark Levin--the worst excuse for a radio show I've ever heard, even worse than my waste of an hour--playing Ronald Reagan clips like a junkie getting their comforting fix.
*KFI's Kennedy and Suits Show--the second-worst excuse for a radio show in Southern California--whining about how the media will give Obama a one-year honeymoon (funniest moment, though, was when a caller predicted their show would be gone within a year. If God truly is merciful, that will happen)