Democrats & Liberals: Archives

I listened today off of the web stream. Excellent material. Finally we have a radio voice!

Okay, yelling at an interview probably isn’t the right thing to do… but don’t you want to yell at Ralph Nader, too?

I listened to it too. I kind of like Franken, even though I disagree with him about everything, because I enjoy sharp wit, the barbed ironic comment, even when directed against my guys. Wit can be an incredible political weapon, actually (Dewey was done serious damage when he was compared to one of those little tuxedoed men on wedding cakes, and “Where’s the Beef?” is an all-time favorite). The problem is that Franken’s humor is a bit too ironic—a little too elitist in a way that likely reminds many Americans of the smartass kid who always raised his hand first in class and who they wanted to beat up on the playground. He’s likely to be a hit among those who already share his views, but I can’t imagine him pursuading anybody (to be fair, Dennis Miller on the right falls in the same category). That’s why Bush’s folksy humor is a tremendous asset—especially when highlighted against (as we’ll see in the debates) Kerry’s huge ego and pompous decorum.

Rhodes though is a disaster—she might as well be on Karl Rove’s payroll. She just comes across as petty and nasty. If nothing else, I hope to see Democrats laugh and enjoy themselves for a change. I can’t imagine Air America as a serious political force—the dems already have CBS, ABC, NBC and CNN, who are far more subtle and thus more effective in advocating liberal causes.

Enjoyed it for the most part, although some of the humor needs to be rethought (the captive Ann Coulter gag was a little lame). I suspect once they get the kinks out it’ll be a great asset.

Checking in from Chicago and yet another disagreement with Martin!!

Randi Rhodes ROCKS!! Would love to see her go toe to toe with O’Reilly!

AM reception here is kinda iffy, my car radio signal went from white noise to decent. Great start, so far!

If anyone has any connections or pull with Air America, it would be a dream way to end my unemployment!!!

O’Reilly would merely tell her to shut up.

Hell, he even does it when he’s not on his show - anyone here see the verbal fight the two of them had at some publishers convention (was on C-SPAN)?

Whoops, when I said “the two of them” I meant O’Reilly and Franken, not O’Reilly and Rhodes.

Bert, sounds like you’re posting from an automobile. Both hands on the wheel there buddy!

Well, that would be a showdown worthy of the WWF—a cage match between O’Reilly and Rhodes. I wouldn’t mind seeing it either (though I barely even know beyond reputation who O’Reilly even is, not having cable). But as vicerally satisfying as we red-meat eating partisans would find it, nobody else would give a royal damn.

I havent yet heard the Air America, but am planning on doing so. But here is what intrigues me:

Many democrats (or liberals, since I am generalizing here) have said some version of the following: Democrats are smart enough to read, so we dont need a radio station to spoonfeed us information. I’ve always thought that was a rather illogical, arrogant, and downright dumb statement, but Ive heard it from a number of people.

IFFFF that is the mindset of liberals, then why the uproar over now having a liberal channel? Is this an admission that liberals too need to be spoon fed ( Idoubt that).

Ive got no problem with Franken doing this, by the way. In our system of capitalism, if he gets enough listeners, he will stay on the air. My prediction is that it will fail to grab listeners, but we will see. I do think that Rush Limbaugh is a bit of a radio genius….and that’s not to say that I always or ever agree with his viewpoints. But by virtue of the manner in which the industry guages success (number of listeners, years of programming etc), Limbaugh has become one of the most successful talk show hosts ever. Whatever you think of his antics and positions, he certainly pulls in listeners. It will be interesting to see if Franken et al. can do the same.

I have continued listening a bit last evening and also today. The evening show “The Majority Report” with Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder seemed pretty competent, although it was not as funny as I would have expected with Dave Chapelle as a guest.

Today, Al Franken has seemed a bit more comfortable, but there have been more technical glitches. Also, Franken has introduced some bits, like a song parodying Rush Limbaugh called “My Drugs are Red, White, and Blue”. While a bit funny, those bits are somewhat juvenile. Perhaps that’s the entertainment that people consider so good for Rush. Oh well.

I listened today, and boy, Katherine Lanpher was clearly annoyed with Franken, who seemed to be suffering from ADHD, rambling pointlessly, backtracking, making no sense whatsoever at some points. This thing is already a bust.

Joe - Try not to assume all Liberals think like the ones you talk to, and I’ll refrain from getting my description of all ‘dittoheads’ deleted by the Editors.

Now, we Liberals were wrong! There, I said it! We do need to reach out beyond our readership base. We changed our minds. That’s why we launched Air America!

I do admit the O’Franken Factor is off to a shakey start. The show is kinda flat and his sidekick sounds like my old high school librarian. He needs another politically-minded, sharp wit comic to play off. Someone call the Playboy mansion to see what Bill Maher is up to!

Martin - Wishful thinking! This launch is on the cheap and that gives Air America ample time to find an audience. Helps if there is no chimp on the payroll, either.

In contrast, would you say Dennis Miller’s show is a bust?

Well, I woulnd’t not say it, but our side isn’t pinning our hopes on the guy either.

Oh, and one more thing, Martin…

I’ve read that the Air America website has been so overloaded with traffic, they’ve needed to bring the server down several times in the past 2 days. As I speak, it’s offline.

Ahhh….yeah! Good sign.

Air America is so fabulous I cannot believe my ears. We need them on a local station in Denver. I listen via the online link, but what fails around here is my cable connection [not to name companies, but Comcast needs help in the dependability area]. Whether or not I agree with every opinion I hear is so unimportant compared to the wondrousness of having actual facts cited over the air!

I’ve listened to the debue of OFranken and was suprised to hear how unprepared they sounded, like a term paper written the night before. This thing has been in the works for months. Franken had plently of time to do format experiments, audience tests, dry runs, etc. Instead, it sounded like he just showed up that day & started talking. I was dissappointed, and it does not bode well for the future.

I read a couple articles about the practice runs of the O’Franken Factor, so I know they did practice. However, you’re right that they seemed disorganized and amateurish at times. I hope they get the hang of it soon.

Martin, I hope you are insinuating you are pinning your hopes on Rush Hemorrhoid. As a former listener, I find him humorous. To me the best thing is this: it is clear he doesn’t actually believe what he says he believes. Rush is more concerned with selling newsletters, mugs, ties, and furnace filters. Rush has never done anything to put his money where his mouth is (as G. Gordon Liddy has). I hope his listeners have begun to realize this. Hell, he didn’t even vote until he was nearly 30 years old, and he lies. You do know by the way that he didn’t get out of Vietnam because of a football injury, right? Those damn polynoidal cysts.

If you want to catch Air America do it soon. I hear they wont pay their help so they should be off the air soon. What a shame.

Simple business 101: Don’t pay the staff, staff picks up and leaves you high and dry. Al should be a wealthy man by now…so, where’s the checks? There’s plenty of lib money invested, so why aren’t you paying the help for the work they’ve done? Repubican radio works because they have a mix of content and ad revenue. Simple. How many gigs have you worked for free, Al? Plenty of hypocrites to go around, Air America. You say you’re for the “working man” but when the “working man” works for YOU, hey, the check’s in the mail.