Mark, talk radio has been the "voice in the head" of America's psychosis for nearly those 20 years.  There's a reason that right-wing conspiracy was formed, and they're not going to give up power easily, despite the protestations of "Comedian Rush Limbaugh" that he's only kidding.

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Air America's failings stemmed largely from its initial business model, but if it serves as a springboard for Senator Al Franken I'll say it's been at least partly successful.  If he's shouting during the impeachment trials, I'll count it as doubly worth it.

I despise Sean Hannity. By far the worst interviewer I've ever heard.

Some people can not see the window. Until they bloody their nose on it.

These blogs may not be able to turn off the right wing media. That is not my goal for sure. But we can neutralize them.

Take a look around Kern County. Notice the voter registrations. These things don't happen in a vacuum.

My blogs, Randoms blogs, every blog on TBC makes a difference. 

Ask the Sales executives at Bakersfield talk radio.

"Even Liberals did not want o listen to their own rhetoric on the air."

That is not true. Conservatives own or control most of the media today. That is a fact. The purported liberal bias theory in the media sprang up in the late 1960s and early 1970s due to coverage of the Viet Nam War and the coverage of Nixon's fall from power. When Watergate first broke no major media outlet even bothered to cover and dig into the story. It was newspapers like the Detroit Free Press and the Washington Post that ultimately discovered the extent of the cover-up. Radio and television simply followed along for the ride. If there was such a liberal bias, why in forty years time has there only been two Democrats elected as President?

Yes, conservative talk radio is entertainment and opinion. What bothers most of us on the left is that a liberal point of view is no longer allowed on most of  these networks broadcast over public airwaves. It is simply bogus to state that a liberal talk radio personality could not do as well as a conservative on-air personality.

Personally, I believe most of these conservative purveyors of political porn would love to see a Democrat (the more liberal the better) as President. It would give them grist for their run-of-the-mill angry rants against all things they perceive as being un-American. In any case, conservative radio people have plenty of wedge issues they like to pony up and parade in front of gullible frustrated folks looking for something to scapegoat and blame for their personal misery. If you love feeding fat cats who all spout the same talking points stay tuned to their spooge-spot on the dial.

If there were liberal bias in the media, John Edwards would be the Democratic frontrunner.

i recently blogged about the radio conservatives whining.  i'm not a liberal so there is no hypocrisy =)

just last night, sean literally shouted through a liberal guest who pointed out that the conservatives had failed to get their candidate the presidential nomination.  admittedly, that was on TV, not on the radio, but the point remains the same.

while I am glad that you do not take his utterances seriously, i do not think that you can win your point that no one takes him or these other speakers seriously.  the sad truth is that some do.  fortunately, not too many or the republican nomination might have gone very differently.  the less clout that these partisan blowhards have, the better.

lol.

I find nothing entertaining about Rush Limbaugh and his ilk, except for when they're called on for their lies at Media Matters. Hiding behind the "entertainer" label is ludicrous. Conservative interests began to buy up media outlets and to get FCC rules changed to achieve and maintain power. If you can't see that...there's little hope for us as a democratic republic.

How come Bakersfield doesn't have a 24-hour news station? There are stations that call themselves news stations but call in talk shows are not news. Just think it would be nice to turn on the radio and be informed what's going on without having to listen to conspiracy theories and commercial endorsements for an hour.

I get the entertainment value of their shows, but there is a segment of the community who actually believe what these guys are saying.

The local idiot Jaz just spews hate toward any non white, non christian people and folks call in and co-signs what he says. He is the most ill prepared "host" I have ever heard. He literally sits and reads things off of his website waiting for his few regular callers to park their houses and call him.

He is a throwback to when Kern was a different place. It's still got a ways to go regarding race relations, but it has definitely changed for the better.He's stale and old and shouldn't be around much longer.

What I don't understand is why any local/state politician or business person would give him the time of day, let alone talk on the air with him. Advertisers too for that matter.

Go figure.

Entertainment value.

Drives me to laugh or cry.

Not beat myself with a whip.

Mark, I agree that these folks don't have the influence they once did.  The Republican Party has risen up against the far right that got Bush elected and supports that whole agenda.  Or more probably what we've seen is that the party has had to shift back towards the middle for the sake of survival and the far-right radio people's real influence is now revealed to be as weak as the Communist party is on the left.

As for Air America they are still around.  http://www.airamerica.com/  There is also NovaM, Jones and a few other national networks. 

By the way, you said people listen to Rush et al for rational intellegent discussion.  I listen to Limbaugh and Jaz because it makes me laugh and laugh and laugh.  Limbaugh and Jaz were AWESOME on Super Tuesday.  Especially Rush's "Who Wants McCain?" song.  I wish I'd recorded them so I could enjoy those shows forever.  Parts of Jaz' show are hard to listen to, like when he refers to black people as "vermin", but I love hearing him trying to justify tax cuts for the rich because we don't want yacthmakers and limo drivers to go out of business.