Wednesday Crib Sheet: 'Reverend' Sharpton, CNN Ratings Up, 'The View' Wants a GOP Debate

– Sharpton: Republicans Can’t ‘Use Christianity’ Then Vote Against Welfare. Shameful that a self-styled “reverend” doesn’t get that shirking off charity to government removes the voluntary care for our neighbors needed for edification. Of course, Sharpton has never been a real man of God.

– CNN ratings are up; network now in second place.

– Al-Jazeera is now available in Chicago. Related:

Why It’s Time for Rep. Peter King (R-NY) to Investigate Al-Jazeera

Another Al-Jazeera Journalist Suspected of Terror Ties

U.S. Officials Suspected Al-Jazeera Ties to Al-Qaeda

Al-Jazeera Opens Doors to Hamas and CAIR

– Newsweek and the Daily Beast lost $30 million last year under Tina Brown’s excellent editorship and are still circling the drain. I’m sure it was completely unrelated to covers like this:

– “The View” wants to host a daytime GOP presidential primary debate. Yes, you read that correctly.

But this election cycle, producers for the ABC show are wading even deeper into political waters with hopes of hosting a daytime presidential debate. A spokesman for “The View” confirmed that requests have been sent to Republican campaigns but declined to speak further about any interest so far. The debate would take place during the show’s 11 a.m. EST time slot.

While “The View” has had luck booking political figures in the past, the producers may run into trouble getting Republican candidates to sign on for a debate given the number of recent primetime contests and plans for another seven debates before the end of the year. Next week, both CNBC and CBS News are hosting debates.

A) No one would watch, especially since other, more credible newsgroups are already hosting debates.

B) It would burn through public interest. You want smart debates, not a slew of poorly-moderated debates which focus on issues unimportant to voters.

C) No one would take it seriously. No one will take Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, Joy Behar, or Elisabeth Hasselbeck seriously as moderators, period, the end. It’s like asking PeTA to judge a bar-be-cue contest.