Something seems terribly wrong at Newsweek; they’ve actually written something people might actually want to read: a fascinating look at the most lucrative echelons of punditry and political commentators, ranking them by estimates of pretax income from September 2009 to September 2010, based on available data collected by a research firm, examining revenue from television and radio contracts, book advances and royalties, speaking fees, government pensions, and consulting income.

(Since it’s fund-raising week, perhaps I should note that none of NRO’s staffers are on the list.)

Some of it’s what you would expect — Rush, Sean, and Glenn Beck have all had great years — but would you expect Fareed Zakaria to bring in $3.1 million, a bit more than Alan Greenspan? For Chris Matthews, estimated at $4.5 million, to out-earn the book royalty money of President Obama? Mark Halperin at $2.5 million, more than Al Gore? Jon Meachum at $2 million, more than Dick Cheney? Rachel Maddow at $2 million? Roland Martin at $1.1 million?

(Newsweek notes that former editor Meachum disputes their figure, but declined to provide further information.)

One of the highest left-of-center figures on the list? Keith Olbermann, ranking 9th, with an estimated income of $7.5 million in one year. In light of that, the brief rumor that he was willing to quit over this recent brouhaha over the donations seems supremely unlikely.