There's an old joke about how the pundit spectrum in corporate media debates goes from GE all the way to GM. On Sunday's Meet the Press, viewers got a chance to see that joke come to life.

On the panel was conservative former GE CEO Jack Welch, conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks and NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell. The left end of the spectrum must have been former Democratic Rep. Harold Ford Jr., best known for his time leading the center-right Democratic Leadership Council. Nowadays Ford is a TV pundit (the "liberal" who advises Democrats to move further right) and works as a managing director at Morgan Stanley--a move from his previous gig at Bank of America.

As for the actual debate, Welch praised Herman Cain's tax plan, called for more domestic oil drilling and complained about the White House's anti-business regulatory policies. Ford, as the TV liberal, pointed out that the administration thankfully did not pursue progressive policy goals like card check, and that the White House deserves credit for reining in some EPA regulation. Ford also included a slam of Occupy Wall Street:

We Democrats can't criticize Republicans for catering to the Tea Party and not say to our Democratic Party you got to look beyond Occupy and be willing to do what's in the best interest of the country.

Given his current job, this is not surprising--though NBC viewers may have wanted to know that the "liberal" in the debate has been working for several banks. Or maybe David Brooks was the liberal here...

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald gives ample space (6/12/09) to New York Times chief Arthur Sulzberger Jr. to proclaim he had "no alternative other than to proceed with the wage reduction" of 23 percent at the Boston Globe, because the Globe union's "Guild leaders made [agreement] impossible," and even quotes the Newspaper Guild president admitting "mistakes were made." But the telling part comes in a quote showing even the most corporate of figures aghast at NYT Co. conduct:

Retired General Electric CEO Jack Welch "tweeted" on Twitter yesterday and blasted the Times Co.'s "brutish" treatment of Globe workers. Welch said the Times "certainly would be crucifying any company with labor practices like theirs."

When your lefty media criticism is coming from a notoriously hardnosed media owner like Welch, you know we're in trouble. Listen to FAIR's radio show CounterSpin: "Jonathan Tasini on the Boston Globe/GM" (6/12/09).