CNN Appearances Show Bob Beckel Ready to Work Again; Here’s His Best Option

mediaite ^ | Aug. 30, 2015 | Joe Concha

[PROCON]

Bob Beckel is a rare breed in the cable news business for one reason: He somehow pulls off the combination of being a genuine, likable curmudgeon. And in doing so, he carved out a nice existence at Fox News, sparring effectively (without filter) with his political adversaries on The Five and doing weekly spots on The O’Reilly Factor.

But then–without notice or comment–the 66-year-old was gone. Not for a few days or weeks, but for four months. First back surgery was reportedly the reason, but eventually it was revealed that Beckel–who has suffered from drug and alcohol addiction in the past–had relapsed again and entered rehab, this time due to prescription drugs. What happened between the network and Beckel is unclear, but Fox’s patience would eventually run out after being without a co-host of one of its most-popular programs for what it felt was too long, and Beckel was relieved of his duties in late June.

Fast forward to this past Friday night, when it was still somewhat of a surprise to see the guy who once ran Walter Mondale’s 1984 presidential campaign back on cable news last night. The venue: CNN. Host: Don Lemon. The topic was, of course, Trump…whom CNN could find any one of 856 contributors and/or guests in the New York area to opine about. But Beckel got the call–or more likely–he pitched CNN on giving him a few at-bats.

[Vision Thing]

On The Five show, Bob often proclaimed Jesus to be his savior, which makes him a Christian.

And Bob is honest in public about his failings and sins.

One mark of a Christian is to confess himself or herself to be a sinner.

Simon Peter admitted he was a sinner.

Paul admitted he was a sinner.

And although Bob is no Simon Peter nor Paul, Bob at least admitted he was a sinner on The Five.