By Brad Friedman on 9/15/2004, 9:54pm PT  

I'm not sure what to make of this. But for some reason, it seems notable. From LA Weekly...

Jay Leno says, “I'm not conservative. I've never voted that way in my life.” He “really worries” what a Dubya victory in November will do to the makeup of the Supreme Court. He believes “the wool was pulled over our eyes” with the Iraq war. He thinks the White House began using terrorism “as a crutch” after 9/11. He feels that during the campaign Kerry should “make Bush look as stupid as possible.” He believes “the media is in the pocket of the government, and they don't do their job” so “you have people like Michael Moore who do it for them.” He has on his joke-writing staff a number of former professional speechwriters for Democratic candidates. “No Republicans.” When it comes to Bush, he doesn't think his politics are much different from Letterman's. “Does he show his dislike maybe a little more than I do? Probably.” Leno used to read Mother Jones magazine.

Funny, he doesn't sound like a Liberal when I accidentally see him on TV. Then again, neither does anyone in the Mainstream Media, but that doesn't stop the Right from telling us they are again and again.

He's certainly a smart guy, and astute enough to say in the interview about Fox News: "It's fascinating that they can go a whole year without mentioning Osama bin Laden. You're aware this is a Republican thing."

Okay...So perhaps he just overcompensates (like the Media) for his liberal tendencies. Perhaps the truth about both him and the media is found somewhere in this exchange:

WEEKLY: The media seems to only present the Republican spin and to not present the other side of what's going on.

LENO: I believe the media is in the pocket of the government, and they don't do their job. They have people like Michael Moore who do it for them.

Not to be snide, I think Leno's a very decent fellow, but perhaps he's in that same pocket, though perhaps more for the corporations (he does alot of private corporate gigs) who are his bread and butter, rather than the government. He denies it in the interview, but something's not adding up. And perhaps that's why Letterman and The Daily Show are doing Leno's job for him.

Credit nonetheless to him for sitting down and answering the questions.

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