Posted on 05/01/2009 2:57:11 AM PDT by arbooz
It's the end of the road for The Beltway Boys, Fox News Channel's Saturday evening political chat with newsmen Fred Barnes and Mort Kondracke. Whispers hears that the show has run its course. A Fox spokesman confirmed this when contacted for comment. No replacement has been named.
Theirs was a fun mix of the week's politics, a peppy version of some of the other Saturday media political reviews. They talked about "hot stories," the week's big events, and sized up personalities in the "Ups and Downs" segment.
While it's now off the air, those in the know say that Barnes and Kondracke remain hot properties within the Fox family and will stay on to discuss political issues during special broadcasts and Bret Baier's nightly Special Report.
Good riddance. The worst prime time show they have.
I used to watch Beltway Boys, when I had cable. But it was really just a hop, skip, jump through the headlines. Think of “Firing Line” back in the seventies—that was substantive. Or any given twenty-minute rant by Rush, Mark Levin, or Glenn Beck.
Barnes is just a stuttering Rino who is an Idiot
Perhaps Beck will get a better spot. Barnes was OK. Mort consistently stunk.
I liked the show for a time, but anyone who wanted the border secure and our immigration laws enforced were called “bigots” or “xenophobes” by Fred and Mort. My dream was to have the two of them fired, only to be replaced by two illegals.
There HAVE been WORSE SHOWS.......trying to think of one....oh yeah ANYTHING on MSNBC!
Agree...I watched the show 3 times and couldn’t stand it....as about effective as a wet firecracker.
that was substantive. Or any given twenty-minute rant by Rush, Mark Levin, or Glenn Beck.
Whew, had to read that twice.
But, Geraldo “The Fake” still has a job. Instant channel change and an email to FNC to let them know why.
Does Whorealdo have a show?? I barely watch FOX anymore because of all the Liberals on it.
I meant: Firing Line. That was substantive! And so is any given rant by...
The demise of the beltloop boys is long overdue.
Shucks! And to think I was looking forward to watching them becoming men...
Peppy? Peppy is not the word I'd use to describe the Beltway Boys.
Get rid of Huckbaee and Geraldo too.
eeewwwwwwwwww....not a desired visual to start my Friday.
There is damn little difference between them... both are liberal by my standards.
LLS
I’ve never understood why Geraldo has any following besides himself. Far as I can tell he’s a self-serving, narcatistic, dumba$$ with a mustache.
Two libs gone and the whore to go.Does the whore still have a show?
Fred and Mort (both very decent people) are prime examples of how after spending so many years in D.C. a person loses all conception of the reality of life in America.
I quit watching the show during the last election due to Mort stating that Sarah Palin did not have the experience to be V.P.
Yup—they should rename it the Beltway geezers.
ditto
I agree.
They will not be missed.
Next step is to get rid of Whorehaldo.
He is an even bigger waste of time than The Beltway Boys ever were.
When Geraldo comes on I leave. His ego is surpassed only by his ignorance.
Used to love the show, never watch it anymore.
Boring and predictable.
Bring back Drudge - that was a funny show. I loved when he had Coulter on.
I'm glad someone mentioned this. I also agree with the rest of your statement of losing reality but the one thing that comes to my mind is how much of a friend Fred is to Mort as was evident when Mort's wife died.
Now, if Fox would only show Barnes, Kondracke and lil’ Billy Kristol the door on everything else FNC produces, we would be free and clear of these vapid clowns.
Not completely true. He hasn't always had a mustache.
Good point. If you listen to old speeches of Fred, he is not the stuttering centrist you see on the show. He comes across as an articulate conservative. It must be something about the environment and the format that gave him his "Beltway Boys" persona.
It also seems that Mort has had some kind of transition lately - either from his marriage, or due to the election of The One. He has turned into a complete excuser for Obama. He was more rounded in the past.
Barnes lost me a long time ago.
I picked up the very first issue of the Weekly Standard and read his very first editorial. It was a screed arguing that the Allman Brothers Band did not deserve induction into the Rock and Roll hall of fame. His argument was that Bob Seeger and the Silver Bullet Band was more deserving.
No offense to any Bob Seeger fans, and there is nothing, I repeat nothing I have against his “good time” rock and roll style, but as a musician I will argue that Seeger’s style was highly derivative whereas the Allman Brothers innovative style has influenced not only Rock, but Country and and to some extent Jazz.
Their trademark sound of twin lead guitars is now heard throughout popular music.
What I objected to the most however was that Fred’s arguments centered on political arguments, not musical ones.
Sure, the Allman Brothers are liberal, hippie types, and I know they fundraised for Obama, but I don’t choose my musical performers on their political ideology. Besides they never bring their politics to the stage and preach them to the audience, at least during the many shows of theirs that I’ve been to.
By contrast, I did quit attending Carlos Santana’s shows when they got to be nearly 50% music, 50% socialist propaganda screeds. That I won’t put up with.
The last show I saw he was going on about a world free from borders, free from money, yada yada yada. It cost me $75 to stand there and be lectured about greed from some hypocrite, hippie-stoner.
If we have to pass a musical litmus test to be conservatives then count me out.
I’m all for anyone enjoying Montgomery Gentry (ala Sean Hannity) and whoever else floats your boat, but that’s just not my cup of tea.
BTW- I love Rush Limbaugh and share his appreciation for the great Motown stuff that he plays, but some of the other stuff that he’s touted as great songs over the years are crap in my book.
Take his passport at the border — and don’t let him back in. Mexico is where he belongs.
Joe the Plumber would fill that time slot nicely.
they should change the show to Beltway Babes with Julie Banderas and Patti Ann Brown.
I just never could hear the name “Beltway Boys”, without thinking “Bowery Boys”.
That in turn would make me wonder what Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall thought about their careers: starting off as Dead End Kids, and finishing about quarter century later as the world's oldest juvenile delinquents as Bowery Boys...
I always figured Geraldo blackmailed someone to get that spot, or there was someone was strong armed for some other reason.
Nothing else makes sense. Even if they wanted an uber liberal on to make FOX “Fair and Balanced,” why him? There are lots of interesting liberals around.
I would have rather seen E.D. Hill and Kirsten Powers, but you’re on the right track. ALL those beautiful and intelligent women they have, they need a show that features all babes. To combat THE VIEW, if nothing else.
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