I hate to say this but AAR is going to have to get "nastier"...

[kentuck]

I've been out on the road today and had the "opportunity" to listen to some right-wing radio - Rush and Hannity...I did not take notes but there were many things that needed a response -- but it all sounded like a choir in a circle jerk. These people take politics and pound it into their listeners heads. They are as serious as a heart attack.

Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, and Janeane Garafolo are all great but after listening to the right-wingers today, I think we might have to give them some "mean" vitamins. They are not vicious or mean like the Republicans. They have a humanity. They see politics in a larger perspective than simply, we must win at all costs, in my opinion. After listening to these rightwingers, I must now go and take a shower. I do not know if I have enough soap....

[GumboYaYa]

1. Well, Randi Rhodes just called Bush a murderer

for LIHOP. How much more nasty does it need to be?

[newsguyatl]

17. and just watch...

randi will become the big star of them all, getting the biggest ratings...


i agree with the sentiment of this post. i was talking with a colleague earlier today about how the liberals are too damned intelligent and willing to debate -- than the bullying, rude conservatives.

i think we need to get a little more bully in US if we're gonna succeed in talk radio (or winning back the white house for that matter.)

[americanstranger]

2. But, but, but....

Lots of people around these parts think Randi's too much like them already.

If she gets really mean, it might cause mass fainting spells. ;)

-as

[wyldwolf]

9. as opposed to the mass pouting spells we're already witnessing

[supernova]

3. Uh no,

I don't want to feel like I need a shower after listening to Al or Jeneane. And I don't think it's necessary, either.

There's a lot to be said for educating the public also. We don't have time to simply be reacting to every little bombastic outburst from Radio Free Hate. We need to do some of that to be sure, but that can't be the sole mission of liberal radio.

[Mountainman]

4. AAR is for enlightened people conservative talk is for the immature

unenlightened. They are the ones too lazy to use their own brains. They dial in everyday to find out what Rush has to say then they repeat it and make it their own opinion.

AAR my require some personal thinking on your part. I would rather they teach me something than try to indoctrinate me.

I think they said they were not going to be the liberal Rush Limbaugh.

[sangh0]

5. Not "nastier"

More sensational

[kentuck]

8. Thanks sangh0....

I was searching for the right descriptive term... I am simply amazed at the level that Hannity and Rush preach their propaganda. There is no let up. They pounce on Kennedy, on Chris Dodd, on Robert "KKKK" Byrd, (Hannity's description), John Kerry, of course...and they don't take a break from their attacks. It's constant and high volume. Listening to them, Air America sounds very tame. I really don't think we need to get "nastier"..but I don't know if Air America's response team is appropriate for these propagandists.

[sangh0]

13. It's radio

No visuals. No tactiles. No odors. Nothing but sound.

Radio hosts must talk non-stop and if they drone, their show dies. Think about it. How do you keep an audience when all you have is sound AND you're not a music show DJ?

A: Spectacle

[wryter2000]

6. Hmmm

I think Al screaming "LIIIIIEEEES. LIIIIIAAARRRRSSS" is pretty effective.

[spooky3]

7. Yesterday Al did a WICKEDLY funny impression of Rush.

I realize that they don't want to simply take Rush and friends' material and then react to it (hilariously) too often, but it does make for great fodder.

[gbwarming]

15. They did a killer "accountants without borders" today

former enron auditor set up an accounting NGO that provides $3.67 in accounting service for every dollar donated by using certain offshore 'multiplier' techniques. It was wicked and spot-on about how the enron fraud worked.

I'll take funny over mean any day.

[wyldwolf]

10. Damn straight!

We've already got mild liberal talk (NPR, Pacifica) and we know how wildly successful THEY'VE been!

[KoKo]

11. They are doing just fine. I think you attract "flies with sugar" is the

line. Not all of Rush/Faux listeners are filled with hate like the "wingers" but they had NOTHING else to listen to.

I will stay with the "sugar." And it's a "bitter sugar" but it's better than the bile the RW is regurgitating.

Mean and Nasty has run it's course...except for the zealots and fanatics on the Right.

Let's wait and see how they do before we criticize them on "AA." :shrug:

[Dogmudgeon]

12. Courage!

Air America Radio has established a secure position on the Omaha Beach of the American media. They landed in plain view of the enemy, sustained no casualties, kicked ass, took names, and survived all of their initial goofs and gaffes.

Reinforcements are en route -- the bloodied-but-unbowed general Al Gore, battle-hardened sargeant-major Howard "Mad Dog" Stern, and an entire corps of long-silenced Commentants. Behind them, you will find as unlikely bunch of supporters, strategists and savants as has been assembled -- Bill Clinton, Larry Flynt, Donald Trump, Barbra Streisand, Lorne Michaels, Steven Spielberg, John McCain, Ron Paul, Harry Browne, Lyndon LaRouche, Steve Earle, Sarah Vowell, Richard Clarke, the 9/11 widows, and the Magnificent Nine who sparred and risked all until John Kerry emerged as the standard-bearer for the Democratic Party.

(And I humbly apologize to the millions I left out.)

Blood, tears, sweat, and toil -- don't be in too much of a hurry to shower. Democracy is a messy, smelly, icky business, so be proud of your struggle. Better to stink in Liberty than to present oneself squeaky-clean before the Emperor!

And Liberty itself is the best vitamin. It will put hair on your chest and steel in your muscles -- and no child huddled in your arms will fear evil.

Forward!

--bkl

[scarletlib]

14. WOW!

That does lift my spirit.

[gbwarming]

16. Positively Churchiveltian bkl nt

[Cocoa]

18. should they talk about Neil Bush?

and the twins?

If AA wanted to mimic Rush, et al, they would grab hold of the Neil Bush story and pound on the story day after day.

But I'm not sure if that's what they want to do. I enjoy the station the way it is now, a lot, and I don't feel sick about enjoying it.