Alan Colmes Didn't Do Himself Any Favors

The I-man was afflicted with a swollen tongue this morning, the result of a new medication he’s taking. Or, as Alan Colmes observed, this could be God’s way of sending some sort of message.

Swollen tongue or not, Imus had no excuse for getting Colmes on late this morning, and wondered if other hosts display the same lack of discipline. 

“O’Reilly is like clockwork; here, it’s always late,” said Colmes, who wasn’t mad. “In fact, I was actually booked for Friday. I’ve been here all weekend.”

Formerly the left-wing foil to Sean Hannity on Hannity & Colmes, Colmes now hosts his own radio show. He is not happy with Tea Party organizers equating their recent displays of anger to that voiced by the Left when George W. Bush was President.

“There were a few nutjobs who called Bush a Nazi, but they didn’t run around day after day with Hitler signs screaming, ‘I’m taking my country back,’” said Colmes, who then wondered, “Who are they taking the country back from? The Native Americans?”

The Tea Partiers, Colmes asserted, should stop “running around like nuts,” and instead focus their energy on electing people they think are better suited to run the country. Interestingly, a recent New York Times/CBS poll indicated that the rage exhibited by members of the Tea Party movement does not necessarily jive with their standings in life.

“Tea Partiers are richer than we think, they’re more educated than we think,” said Colmes. “They’re also angrier than we think. What they resent the most is that their tax dollars go to help poor people.”

What’s more, just one percent of the Tea Party people are black, leading Colmes to conclude, “This is a bunch of angry, white guys for the most part. What are they angry about? That they lost an election.”

Why Colmes felt the need to inject race into the discussion was beyond the I-Man, who steered the conversation toward the familiar territory of trying to get Colmes to turn on his former partner Hannity.

“We did 12 years, it was a great partnership, we had great numbers, it was time to move on,” said Colmes, obviously tired of talking about this. “I figured we had a Democratic House and Senate, and Obama in the White House. My work was done.”

Clearly not, because he still appears on The O’Reilly Factor and with other Fox hosts like Megyn Kelly. And, unfortunately, with the I-Man, who loves Colmes, despite his insistence that RNC Chairman Michael Steele is being propped up by the Republicans as their answer to Obama.

“Thanks so much for having me,” said Colmes. “This has been really great for my career.”

-Julie Kanfer