When President Obama names the new Attorneys General across the USA, how long will it take for the conservative talk radio folks to distort the issue (all incoming Presidents do it) and say that the Dems are hypocritical for doing what they condemned Bush for doing just last year?
Rush or Dennis mentioned Friday that a return to the fairness doctrine may be on the Obama agenda. In Australia, radio has a variety of formats and community radio (which is a lot like the radio version of local TV cable access shows) are the norm. Rush will want his listeners to protest the fairness doctrine. It will be twisted into blocking the unfair ratio (90 conservative to 10 liberal) of talk radio as a way of promoting freedom of speech. Is it time for an update column?
Did you see an item on-line this week saying that Republicans are promoting a bill that would eliminate all IRS tax penalty fees?
Which is worse; the journalists in Thirties Germany who could not tell the truth or the American journalists who stifle themselves so as not to antagonize the Bush family? (When George HW Bush spoke about the possibility of Jeb becoming President, did any mainstream journalist say just the phrase “Broward Savings and Loan,” let alone elaborate on why that might be a relevant side-bar story?
On radio in the San Francisco area, in promos, Mike Savage is saying that now that Barack Obama is President, folks should follow the money. He doesn’t indicate if it would be important or of interest to follow where the bank bailout funds went. Is that unfair and unbalanced?
This past week Rush Limbaugh seemed to be quarterbacking the Republican strategy. He wrote an article outlining his version of a good bailout legislative package. Would a column speculating about the possibility that this might be an early part of a Rush for President effort be premature? If Rush is not the Republican “front-runner,” then who is?
Sean Hannity (on Thursday) suggested that the Obama program would be to go toward “European style socialism.” Any thoughts that the Bush banks bailout funds were socialism for capitalism, was not verbalized. Would a column outlining that contention be appropriate for this weekend?
If (conservative moles/trolls please note the use of the subjunctive mood)President Bush & Co. were guilty of war crimes, does the mainstream media silence about “justice,” indicate a move to avoid any allegations of “accessories” because of their poor performance on that story? (Was Robert Brasilach guilty of collaboration or just a misplaced effort to be fair and balanced?)
Should we write a weekend column speculating on the possibility that Murilee Martin ever leaves Alameda and if he does why does he?
What can readers do with pictures of their smiling dogs?
Isn’t “the Bark” magazine looking for such material?
Would folks in the SF Bay area rather see “The Blue Angel” (Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum) than the big football game and all those cool ads? Can that question be expanded into an interesting column?
What is the mathematical probability that any readers of this site would read a column about “the Monty Hall problem”?
What are the odds that Rush would use this Gen. George S. Patton quote:”If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”?
Now our disk jockey will play Seasick Steve’s “Save me.” It’s time for us to ask: Will Karl Rove testify for . . . Jesus? Have a “hallelujah” type week.
Why isn’t there more liberal talk radio?
Comment by grimgold — February 1, 2009 @ 12:10 pm
Liberals like music.
Comment by bittershaman2 — February 1, 2009 @ 1:40 pm
Liberal talk radio personalities are apparently better suited for the Senate.
Comment by Danger Bear — February 1, 2009 @ 4:17 pm
Liberals can form opinions all by themselves.
Comment by bittershaman2 — February 2, 2009 @ 12:27 am
Liberals enjoy 21st century technology.
Comment by Danger Bear — February 2, 2009 @ 5:23 am
Why so little Liberal talk?
Many reasons. Amongst them…
When Clear Channel finally broke down and aired Air America they chose stations with very low wattage. But Rush, he got the best stations and lots of patience from CC until his ratings built up in the beginning. But CC cut programming that didn’t perform if it was Left within a few months.
Program directors tend to be quite Conservative, as in: “Unwilling to try new things.” That’s why some markets have Rush three or four times, Country formats three or four times… despite the fact that having the same programming isn’t a ratings plus. They are responsible to their owners who are risk adverse… except when it comes to KRP flying turkey promo: it may have been fiction but it was an accurate portrayal. Scribe has been in radio; and was in it for many years. He knows.
To be honest, Liberal programmers often really suck at picking on-air talent. All you need to do is check out Lynn Samuels, Alex Bennett, or listen to reruns of Al Franken’s big yawn once he chased away the true on air talent: his fellow female host. Meanwhile the true talents, the Millers, the Malloys, the Hartmanns, the Wards tend to get jilted and only portion of their programs played at best. When Bernie Ward was on the old IE network program directors preempted him for every and any game: I even heard some stations playing reruns of Rush instead of honoring their contracts. Ward was really good: a bare knuckle debater. Scribe’s sure Conservative programmers (they tend to be) found him “offensive.” (But Rush’s “humor” can’t be???)
Picking a Rightie is easy. You pick the meanest, nastiest, rudest, most snotty WWF-like fighter and your market is satisfied: as long as they have a firm hand on the pot to cut out anyone who seriously challenges the host while he insults them and makes rude comments.
It’s lion meets Christian radio.
It sucks.
But it sells.
So would razor blades in apples Halloween time: if we made them legal.
There’s a lot of mental illness out there.
Comment by Ye Olde Scribe — February 4, 2009 @ 8:12 am
Scribe?
You are actually talking to me, a conservative?
You must be very, very bored.
Concerning nasty righies, you are correct in a few instances. M. Savage and Mark Levine come to mind. I agree with their politics and can’t stand either of them.
However, even Alan Combes (spelling) doesn’t seem to make a dent. He’s not terribly nice. But he isn’t making it in talk radio.
Perhaps the key is simple: teach me, entertain me, I’ll listen.
Limbaugh does both of those very well.
Concerning making your Mark with your Savage attack on all those who don’t think they are just mud, you are amusing.
Grimmy
Comment by grimgold — February 4, 2009 @ 3:20 pm
Bear,
“Liberal talk radio personalities are apparently better suited for the Senate.”
Very funny. Thank you.
Grimmy
Comment by grimgold — February 4, 2009 @ 3:22 pm
You want the Prince of Ignorance to teach you?
You want to be a fat obnoxious slob? You want to be the type of loud drugged up bully that you would call the police on every other day if he were your neighbor?
There is nothing funny about Limbaugh and his only entertainment value lies in imagining an exit wound seeping his putrid brain tissue out his temple.
If I had to pick one scourge to rid the world of, I’d keep herpes and AIDS and sell tickets to his stomping. Then burn all the infected boots.
He’s playing all his sponge-brain listeners for suckers. Same goes for all the other Neocon rabble-rousers.
That’s why liberals don’t need radio personalities to order them about. They think for themselves.
Go hang with the rest of your flock.
Comment by bittershaman2 — February 4, 2009 @ 4:34 pm
Now Bitter, now, now, now.
Making all of my ‘flock’ into one entity is being prejudice just like Carl Marx in his referring to people as “the masses”.
You are handily living up to your handle – Bitter – and need to go take a walk and get some fresh air.
Your writing is vivid just like RS’s. For example ‘sponge-brain listeners’.
I look forward to the day when people like you are less hate filled and more interested in proposing solutions to America’s problems.
Can we begin with ways to reduce the size of the fed govt and make it more transparent (read: honest) and more efficient?
Comment by grimgold — February 5, 2009 @ 2:26 pm
Scribe, on second reading, one thing sticks out – ‘your market is satisfied’.
The television Main Scream Media is guilty of the same thing, looking for ratings rather than good programming.
This is one instance in which I heartily disagree with His Most Holiness (he who’s garbage I’m not worthy to take out) the Mighty Rush Limbaugh.
He says all programming should be commercial sponsored and PBS programming should no longer be funded.
He is wrong. Very, very wrong.
This is surprising since he himself is an alternative.
PBS features penetrating programming featuring people such as James Burke and Wayne Dyer, and, of course, great humor.
This as compared to the latest ‘husband kills three wives and ten children, then himself’ news feature on CNBC.
…now where was I going with this….?
Sorry, Grimgold
Comment by grimgold — February 5, 2009 @ 3:02 pm
It’s only polite to communicate with someone in their own language. It would be rude to use respect and reason when dealing with a person who enjoys polarizing hate-speech.
Comment by bittershaman2 — February 5, 2009 @ 6:08 pm
Gee, Bitter seems to me I just got done saying i don’t enjoy hate speech above in comment 7.
“Concerning nasty righies, you are correct in a few instances. M. Savage and Mark Levine come to mind. I agree with their politics and can’t stand either of them.”
Seems you have a fixed idea of who I am and what I’m like. Fine. Be wrong about me.
Grim
Comment by grimgold — February 5, 2009 @ 9:56 pm