Chris Matthews said Wednesday that he can't tell what Howard Fineman's political leaning is.

Such humorously occurred at the end of a "Hardball" segment shortly after the host had no problem identifying his other guest as "center-right" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Mark McKinnon, smart guy, center-right. Howard Fineman - can't tell.

HOWARD FINEMAN, HUFFINGTON POST: Thank you. (Laughter)

Earlier in the segment, Matthews asked the Daily Beast's McKinnon, "You're sort of center-right, right?"

McKinnon responded, "I'm a radical centrist, but I'm a proud Republican."

So Matthews knows McKinnon's leanings - someone that according to LexisNexis has been on "Hardball" less than 20 times - but not the former Newsweek employee's that just became the senior editor of the far-left Huffington Post and has been on "Hardball" over 1,000 times?

Or was Matthews uncomfortable outing a fellow MSNBC contributor?

Whatever the reason, Matthews should be an equal opportunity party affiliation exposer or allow all of his guests political anonymity.

Of course, if I had my way, every person offering commentary on these programs should have to identify their leaning much as elected officials do.

Would certainly be a more honest way of reporting the events of the day, dontcha think?