On the eve of Air America's launch, I debated Julianne Malveuax on CNN about the fledgling liberal talk radio network. She thought it a success in the making. I thought it redundant and therefore doomed. Thirty months later, I have won the debate.

Dan: Good to be right, ain't it?

Liberal talk radio fails because ultimately it is trying to convince commuters listening to the radio that it is a good thing liberals decided to protest _____________ that day, which is the reason the roads are fouled up.

One of the reasons it failed is they attempted to manufacture a network. Conservative talk radio isn't a network.
The grand daddy of them all,Rush,had years of radio experience behind him before he hit it big.
Air America just put a bunch of people who were experienced in other fields behind a mike.
Lastly, there's a certain bitterness,bitchieness and outright hostility to their "humor".

Good riddence.

The future is the internet.

Wow, I'm so surprised by the backlash against Air America. I mean just a two days ago we were all talking about what a great conservative comedian Sarah Silverman, I listened to her bit on the Majority Report just the yesterday and it was great. I thought that just the other week in our discussion about how much funnier the right was than the left [http://www.flynnfiles.com/archives/2006_08.php [Aug. 22] we all agreed that she was a rep. comedian par excellence, but why would we celebrate a vehicle for her going off the air? I'm confused. I guess you guys have a better idea of who's on who's side than I do, but well... it doesn't make much sense to this guy. By the way the liberal version of south park might be the short lived comedy (I can’t understand why the liberal media didn't support it) That's My Bush (also by the South Park creators) or even the full length movie Team America (same duo) but I guess that's slightly tangential to this current debate... I guess I’m just wondering if there is an intelligent side to this debate or just merely partisan hacksmanship, most of the bloggers/readers of this site seem to be above that type of bullsh##T.

Umm...That's My Bush premierred right before 9/11.

That's why it was canceled.

Im amazed at this. Mostly because Al Franken is just SO f'ing funny.

I just want to say, and this is really not at all sarcastic, but you--the people that read and write (I'm looking at you Dan) this blog--are some of the smarter republicans I have ever met, I mean this. If I were in an isle I would (literally) reach out across to you guys (well maybe except ben-t) I respect your intelligence and I don't like democrats but I'm way more left than any of you would believe. I think that it time that we throw aside our differences (I'm looking at you hehe) and try to create something that's better. There are a lot of good minds reading this page and frankly some alright ideas coming out of the comments section are way more productive than those coming out of our senate or congress.

I think we're all a lot closer than you might think R.C.. It's the fringe whackos and zealots on either side (mostly on the left) who muddy the waters. For example, just saying that "Bush $uck$" or that Bush is the root of all that's wrong is not the premise of an argument or a reason to search for a solution. Yet, many leftists start political or otherwise daily discussions with exactly those sentiments. As long as many on the left want to remain obstinate contrarians, they will drag their party and their cause down. That’s why Air America failed. There was no middle ground. Just a bunch of ranting, pi$$ed off loony lefties whose audience was incredibly limited and small.

DF....who won the football pool this week? Know it wasn't me, just curious.;-(

Air America? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Can picture Franken alone in his apartment, looking into his mirror....

"Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggonit, people like me!"

RC writes: "I mean just a two days ago we were all talking about what a great conservative comedian Sarah Silverman, I listened to her bit on the Majority Report just the yesterday and it was great. I thought that just the other week in our discussion about how much funnier the right was than the left [http://www.flynnfiles.com/archives/2006_08.php [Aug. 22] we all agreed that she was a rep. comedian par excellence, but why would we celebrate a vehicle for her going off the air? I'm confused. I guess you guys have a better idea of who's on who's side than I do, but well... it doesn't make much sense to this guy."

No one in the thread that you link to characterized Silverman as a Republican or as a conservative. Why did you just make something up?

Here is what I wrote: "But there are comedians--Nick DiPaolo, Sarah Silverman, Jim Norton--whose refusal to steer clear of society's taboos sets them apart from other comedians. It's not that Norton and company are closet conservatives. (Most of their acts would offend most conservatives.) It's just that they mock liberals too, and offend the cultural guardians--who, if you haven't noticed, are no longer clergymen, Rotarians, and PTA moms."

That's My Bush was in mockery of family sitcoms, not Bush. They were going to do it with whoever won, Bush or Gore.

"I would (literally) reach out across to you guys (well maybe except ben-t)" -R.C.

I'm touched.

It's all Bush's fault Air America has sunk.

Dan, I saw that debate and you nailed it. I say treat yourself to a drink (not Tequila) and gloat for a few minutes. Maybe call Julianne and rub it in. Then we'll all wait for the conspiracy talk to surface when the post mortem is performed.

Thanks, Ancient Mariner. Al Franken is saying that if Air America goes into bankruptcy, it doesn't mean it's the end. He illustrated this by saying he's flown on United, and they filed for bankruptcy. But Air America, which doesn't have the history or financial backing of a Chrysler or a United, crashes, I suspect, shortly after it files for bankruptcy.

When I first heard discussions that this radio network was gonna be created that was entirely dedicated to left-wing political views and news I immediately thought it would likely fail, not b/c there is no possible market for liberal talk show hosts or the canard that the "right-wing has a stranglehold on the air waves," but b/c I immediately recognized that their understanding of why Rush Limbaugh and others were successful was deeply flawed. Now, after all this time and economic crises, firings, bad blood, and apparently scams as well, one of the board members finally realizes what I knew in the beginning:

"As for why Air America can't seem to turn a profit, Embrescia says it may have been a mistake to launch an entire left-wing talk radio network in one shot. 'Maybe it should have been one or two programs,' he says."*

No kidding. If they had ever bothered to listen to Limbaugh (I used to in the early 90s) they would have noticed that he had started as a radio host at one small station, gained in popularity in his area, incorporated his program and began peddling it to other radio stations in syndication. As he grew in syndication it brought taggers along, like Hannitty who started in my hometown doing a morning show before Rush came on. That is how the right got into radio, through syndicated shows getting bought by otherwise moderate/liberal networks for a 2 hour block or so a day. And it is how the left would if it hadn't been so egotistically retarded to think that it could create an entire network from scratch and then buy up wavelengths in cities around the country.

Man, I should be a consultant to progressives or something. It makes me wonder if any of these people had ever listened to a "conservative" radio station before.

*Source of quote:
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2006/09/air-america-stiffs-franken.php

Conservative talk radio talks about ideas and makes you think. Liberal talk radio preaches hate and no ideas and doesn't make you think.

No wonder it went under.