A radio bump I just heard: "Hi this is Barack Obama, and I am happy to be on Air America."

[onehandle]

Do DUers still hate Air America?

[Ian David]

1. Does Air America still have Lionel? n/t

[bunkerbuster1]

27. Yep.

Of course, I don't hate Lionel nearly as much as most people do. I find him vaguely agreeable at times.

[JuniperLea]

2. Who hated Air America?

What did I miss?

:shrug:

[onehandle]

4. It peaked when Randi Rhodes was fired. nt

[Frank Cannon]

31. Randi Rhodes has been 1000% better since she left Air America

She was downright unlistenable for quite a while prior to her departure. She was obviously very unhappy.

[Ian David]

33. Agreed. She's been much better since she was fired.

She says that she was forced by Air America to interview certain politicians (John Kerry) after first agreeing to which questions she couldn't ask.

[bunkerbuster1]

7. We've all had problems with them from time to time.

Firing Mike Malloy sucked for me.

Still, it's what it is--a terrific talent pool of rational radio talkers.

[onehandle]

11. Malloy's firing and the destruction of some of their best shows were bad.

Poor management aside, they have achieved much.

[FredStembottom]

14. That's true - mine would be the demotion of Sam Seder

Apparently permanent.

But Maddow and Hartmann are gold! Let's not let our peeves prevent us from hearing these two often.

[Egnever]

17. Mine as well Sam rocks the house and I am pissed he hasnt been given a time slot back

in favor of that idiot lionel was likely one of the worst decisions I have ever seen.

I am still holding out hope for a comeback for Sam.

[bunkerbuster1]

23. but...

Sam's apparently running the website, and he does his Maron v. Seder thing, which you really should check out if you haven't already, at:

http://maronvseder.com/

[FredStembottom]

30. It's so odd. He's there kinda like a ghost!

And he will forever be the grand Champion of handling hostile conservative callers. "Do you have diarrhea right now?"

[Ian David]

35. I really want a "Best of Dewey" tape. n/t

[Ian David]

34. They have Maron v Seder on their website that you can download every day. n/t

[FredStembottom]

36. I've been thinking of trying that.........

.... but not really what I wanted. I want Sam on my AM radio in my car or delivery truck.

Oh well.......

[Ian David]

37. The show is pretty good. They're un-censored, too. n/t

[genna]

3. What made them hate Air America?

It switched hands several times, but some of the on-air personalities are pretty left leaning. What would cause the aggravation here?


Are Democrats really a herd of cats?

[Overseas]

28. Too middle of the road. Moderate Democrat. Got rid of good people

when they spoke too wildly. And brought on some sort of liberal people who didn't talk politics much and were kind of annoying, like Lionel.

Mike Malloy -- not sure if he was let go after he interviewed a 9/11-Inside-Job-Theory person, or some other wild thing he did.

Randi Rhodes -- She said "F*** You Hillary" at a standup routine in San Francisco and when that routine was posted on the web by some people who attended several days later, she was fired.

Sam Seder -- He was getting better and better through the years. Too strident and loud at first but then he learned to moderate his tone and was doing really well and that got canceled too.

And this year they brought in the nice but moderate Ron Reagan.

The only folks they have now that I really listen to are Thom Hartmann and Rachel Maddow, and I can get Rachel on TV these days, so it is just Thom.

I have just been sad to see such a great opportunity for free speech squandered on moderate talk. But maybe there's a market for that. Maybe a bunch of moderate folks are listening these days.

[BlooInBloo]

5. I don't think they serve a long-term useful purpose, but I don't hate them.

[onehandle]

6. "a long-term useful purpose" What does that mean? nt

[BlooInBloo]

10. What's the first thing Obama did with his 1st radio address?

[onehandle]

12. Sorry, I don't remember. nt

[JuniperLea]

15. Hehe... that may have proved Bloo's point... eom

[BlooInBloo]

25. He put it on youtube...

An extremely illustrative example of why I see no long-term relevance of Air America, and indeed it's really waste of effort that would be better expended on something that isn't already 3/4 out the door.

But I don't hate them.

[tekisui]

8. I never did.

Progressive talk radio, led by AAR, was a major factor in getting people informed about the crimes for the B*sh misAdministration. They were also critical in the Primaries and General Election.

[onehandle]

9. Yep. nt

[my3boyz]

13. I hate that Greene (apparently head of Air America) guy who basically kissed Hillary's

butt during the primaries. He was extremely negative towards Obama. He was decent towards Barack after the primary ended but I won't forget how snarky he was during the primary.

[Alexander]

29. Mark Green ran for NYC mayor. He's a New Yorker - no surprise he endorsed Clinton.

I do remember Green gave a spirited defense of Obama on Hardball once after Obama won the nomination, handing a right-wing clown his ass after the guy clearly didn't know anything about Neville Chamberlain or "appeasement".

I have heard criticisms of his personality before. That's probably partly why he lost the NYC mayor's race to Bloomberg.

Overall, though, Mark Green is a good progressive.

[leftist.]

16. I miss Morning Sedition!

This doesn't really relate to the thread but I thought I'd throw it in anyway :hi:

[bermudat]

24. Me too. I loved that show.

I was going through my iTunes and came across a podcast from 2005. God, that was rocking.

[bunkerbuster1]

26. I miss it too, terribly. That, to me, embodied the giddy spirit of the original line-up

Mark Maron definitely pushed the envelope a lot of times (remember "liberal lead?") but it was blisteringly funny.

[Frank Cannon]

32. God, I miss it too

Although I'm now enjoying Stephanie Miller in the mornings.

There was some stuff on Morning Sedition that would leave me in tears from laughing, particularly the right-wing character, the crazy preacher, and the dude who read the daily obituaries. Sadly, I don't remember their names, but they were some of the funniest things I've ever heard on the radio.

[tabbycat31]

18. what's wrong with Air America?

the only problem I have with them is that I don't have a local affiliate and have to listen to online and by podcast.

[rocktivity]

19. I wish Obama had spent more time on AirAm/NovaM/Jones Radio

But he were probably "advised" that their listeners are too "extreme" left.

:headbang:
rocknation

[onehandle]

20. I was just glad that he did The Daily Show.

I hope he takes up Colbert's offer.

[rocktivity]

21. Uh oh! What has Colbert challenged Obama to do?

Hula dance and eat poy to prove that he really was born in Hawaii?

:rofl:
rocknation

[onehandle]

22. He set up a "bribe" last week.

There is an issue of Spider-Man coming out where Colbert "wins" the election. Steven is on the cover.

Steven signed the cover and had the illustrator come on stage and sign it too. He is also going to get "Spider-Man" himself to sign it.

If Obama agrees to come on the show, it's his.

Obama is a big Spider-Man fan.