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Is Leon Gray (WWTQ 680 AM Memphis) an apostate?
Leon Gray provides local reporting and commentary for Air America's Memphis affiliate WWTQ. He's also in a bit of hot water:
...There's a fairly humongous amount of fuming and snorting in party circles over the local Air America radio host's apostasy on certain matters – most relating to the Faith and Morals side of the political dividing line. What Gray has done in recent weeks has challenged both the party orthodoxy and the progressive consensus on all of the following: Intelligent Design (he's an advocate for it); gay rights (he has proclaimed, essentially, that gays have "forced" the rest of society to tolerate an equality that he sees as relating to lifestyle choice rather than irreversible being), and faith-based prerogatives in general, including publicly licensed prayer and doctrinal religious activity...
While Comrade David Cocke (no jokes please, he's the former local Democratic Party chairman) defends Gray, it is clear that Gray's statements, activities, and associations are consistent with being an Enemy of Air America. For the good of the Party and the People, he must at least be sent to Lebanon (the one in Tennessee) to atone for his crimes.
Posted in AlsoRans at 08:03 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
Al Franken book reviewed in New York Times!
This site offers congratulations to Al Franken for getting his new book reviewed in the New York Times: "Step Aside, Talking Heads. It's Time for Bigger Fish." It's been at least a couple weeks since Air America or one of their talkers has been pimped spotlighted in that publication, and I was beginning to wonder what happened.
In other news, the NYT doesn't appear to have ever mentioned Bill O'Reilly except: a) in a negative sense in Frank Rich's column, and b) in the Top 10 Books list. Their search appears a bit wonky, so if anyone is able to find anything to the contrary, please leave a cite (name, author, date, link) in the comments.
Here's a sample of Richie Rich:
The perfect bookend to Ms. Stewart is Bill O'Reilly, another fabulously wealthy American entertainer who has burnished his humble roots to flog his product line. In his first book he wrote that he had grown up in lower middle-class Levittown, N.Y. — only to be corrected by Newsday, which reported that Mr. No Spin Zone grew up in Westbury, a middle-class suburb near Levittown. Mr. O'Reilly went ballistic over being stripped of his blue collar. He defends his original poor-mouthing by saying that his family's house was built by Levitt and that his parents lived so modestly that they had to buy used cars. It's touching, really.
Bear in mind this is from 11/23/03, almost two years ago. Here's Al Franken with the same O'Reilly smear.
Now, that's what I call sweet: Al Franken regurgitating a Frank Rich smear two years later, and as it turns out they're both lying and/or just plain wrong.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 12:24 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Sheldon Drobny on PlameGate; who dropped my link?
The co-founder of Air America Radio apparently didn't get what he wanted for Fitzmas, and offers up "Fitzgerald Threw a Softball".If I might ask your indulgence, could you read his first paragraph as indicated below?
[Read in Tommy Flanagan style] Besides my co-founding Air America Radio, I have another day job. I have helped prosecute and defend white collar crime offenses for 38 years including experience with Mr. Fitzgerald's office in my home town Chicago on current political prosecutions. [Read in overly-melodramatic style] Those of us locally in the know here do not agree that Mr. Fitzgerald is as independent as the press has made him out to be. [cue flourish of ominous music] Let me explain.It ends like this:
Those of us who know about prosecutors and Grand Jury investigations would tell you that Fitzgerald, using a baseball metaphor, threw the Bush cabal a softball. And using a football metaphor, he just plain fumbled.In the middle, there is no support for his claim that Fitzgerald isn't as independent as claimed. We're just left with his word for it.
And, as for the Flanagan reference, reading this you might think Drobny is a member of the bar. In actual fact, he appears to be a CPA.
No doubt in your life you've met many people who engage in a bit of qualification inflation or outright attempts to deceive. "I helped Mel Gibson with his last movie", upon closer inspection, turns out to be said by someone who drives a catering truck and the like.
In fact, someone has been kind enough to point this out in comments, providing a link not just to Drobny's Wikipedia article, but to this very site.
And, over at DailyKos, "Terre" reprints this comment in an attempt to clear up this matter. As a side-effect, that causes a bit of consternation from him/her and fellow "liberals":
- Not sure what that second link they posted is about though.I'm in the dark about this too. Who could have dropped my link over at HuffPost?
- But why the link to the flaming anti-Frankel and AA site?
- I didn't quite get that either but didn't want to cut their comment in half. My only point was that Mr. Drobny is no lawyer - at least I couldn't find anything after Googling it.
UPDATE: The DUmmies offer... a rebuttal to his editorial. To them, it's still Fitzmas Eve. And, they're still dreaming of a red Fitzmas.
UPDATE 2: Drobny offers an update - and admits he's not an attorney - in "Fitzgerald's Lost Opportunity". Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket.
Posted in Sheldon Drobny at 01:37 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Al Sharpton on new "African- American- centered" network
No, the Rev. Al won't be appearing on AAR. But, you'll recall that Al Sharpton was in the car driven by an AAR Phoenix co-host when he was arrested for speeding while driving Al away from Cindy Sheehan's protest in Crawford. That co-host is the father of Jarrett B. Maupin II, a MiniRev.From the current news:
Baltimore-based Radio One, the nation's seventh-largest radio company, and Reach Media, which owns and syndicates the highly successful ''Tom Joyner Morning Show," aim to roll out the network after the first of the year. Radio One owns a controlling interest in Reach Media...Just for fun, couldn't they get the Right Reverend on Air America? C'mon, maybe they could conduct "Survivor AAR" to choose which one of their losers he'd replace.
As the centerpiece of the new programming, Sharpton is expected to be topical, if not entirely political. ''Life is political," said Liggins. ''Rush Limbaugh is political. Howard Stern has been political. That's the nature of the human existence. We won't focus exclusively on politics. We'll deal with the human existence of African-Americans in the broader landscape of America." Sharpton's show is scheduled to air weekdays from 1 to 4 p.m...
Posted in AlsoRans at 04:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Franken caught in anti - O'Reilly lie, smear
The Newsday article "Franken takes on O'Reilly" buries the lede. Namely, Al Franken tried to smear Bill O'Reilly and got caught in a lie.Sure, he has a book to sell and a radio show to promote, but Al Franken had more urgent reasons to bring his live broadcast to the Book Revue in Huntington Friday.
Namely: investigating where on Long Island arch-nemesis Bill O'Reilly grew up. Were O'Reilly's roots in blue-collar Levittown as the Fox television star insists? Or was he a product of the comparatively ritzy Westbury?
"What is this hall of mirrors known as O'Reilly's childhood?" Franken purred into his microphone, beginning his radio program before a crowd of 200 listeners.
Yes, what an asshole indeed. But, wait, more asshole-like behavior ensued:
Franken then quoted a subsequent Washington Post article in which O'Reilly's mother said the family was from Westbury.
"This would make him what we call ... " Franken began.
"A liar!" the crowd replied.
...But when Franken interviewed Hofstra professor and Levittown expert Barbara Kelly on the air, he learned there was no lie to uncover.
O'Reilly, Kelly declared, had grown up in Levittown, in an area that overlapped with the outskirts of Westbury.
"Well," Franken said, a hint of disappointment in his voice, "maybe he's just kind of ... , could that be it?"
Posted in StuartSmalley at 05:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Harkin trying to legislate "progressive" radio onto air
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) is trying to push through legislation that would require programming on American Forces Radio to be "fair and balanced". This is an outgrowth of the supposed pre-cancellation of Big Dumb Ed, and as that links says this is the second try for Harkin with this attempt to legislate "progressive" talkers onto AFRN.
He wants to create an Office of the Ombudsman.:
The ombudsman would be appointed by the Secretary of Defense and be completely independent of DoD staff, reporting directly to the Secretary and to Congress. The ombudsman would make suggestions to AFR management regarding ways to correct imbalances and present an annual report to the Secretary of Defense and Congress on whether AFR is satisfying its mandate to provide fair and balanced political programming.
This is similar to attempts to bring back the Fairness Doctrine, a constant theme from Air America and their supporters: here, here.
Not scared enough? Media Matters hails this move, and:
...about 90 House Democrats sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld asking for a timetable on when liberal radio programs might start airing on the military’s international network, saying the current offerings lack political balance.
When you start hearing about the "Memory Hole" and IngSoc, run.
Posted in Ed Schultz at 12:50 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Al Franken is not a man; anti-Protestantism; Intelligent Design believer?
Interrogatories for Al Franken are here. Unfortunately, it's just a newspaper Q&A.
However, it does contain this: "I did go to temple, [but] I was confirmed, not bar mitzvahed." I know what "Confirmation" means in Catholicism, but I don't know what it means in this context. Since he hasn't been bar mitzvahed, doesn't that mean that Al Franken is not yet a man?
And, this:
[My dad] was like our Founding Fathers – he was a deist, he believed there was God in nature. We'd talk about it if we were fishing or something, if we were sitting alone. Dad would say the world's too beautiful not to have something behind it.*cough* Intelligent Design *cough*
And, this little slice of anti-Protestantism:
QUESTION: You wound up going to the Blake School in Minneapolis, known as an elite Protestant high school.In other news, Stuart is still moving back to Minneapolis and still considering a Senate run. In case he gets elected, he admits he'll have to "sacrifice" his "comic edge" to "some degree". All together now: what else have you been doing for the past few decades?
ANSWER: The school started as a school for Protestant boys at the turn of the 20th century. They started letting in Jews in the 1950s to keep the SAT scores up.
I've said that before in public as a joke. And then in 2001, Blake had its centennial. They assigned the history teacher to do a history of the school. She calls me up and says, "You know that joke you do? It's truer than you can possibly imagine."
She had gotten notes from board meetings, and in the '50s, Ivy League schools were turning into meritocracies. Blake was discovering that it was getting harder to get its graduates into Ivy League schools because they were kind of dumb – they were just from these old families. They said, "In order to keep our reputation as one of the top country day schools, we've got to get kids who can get into these Ivy League schools. How are we going to do that?" And somebody went, "Jews!"
...ANSWER: What I'm getting at is the strategy worked. (Laughs.) Nevertheless, we did have chapel where we sang Protestant hymns.
Around about now, you're probably looking at these questions and wondering whether Franken and the interviewer know each other or are even related. That remains to be seen. However, the same questioner offered this interview from Boston Magazine in 2003.
In the current junior badminton practice, Mr. Smalley gets in some swipes against Bill O'Reilly and our own Beloved Leader, and makes this highly misleading claim:
Since we started, we've at least doubled our audience. I have about 1.25 million listeners on an average week on radio, and then streaming [via the Internet], another 100,000 or so. I think that means something.Rush has indeed gone down. However, he's still trouncing Air America.
[The conservative talk show hosts] have a huge, 17- or 18-year jump on us. But Limbaugh, who's on at the same time as me, has gone down. And that's good.
And, of course, amid all this discussion of morals, Al Franken is not asked to explain his role in the Air America scandal. I guess we'll have to wait for the Senate campaign.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 10:07 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
A new low for the Huffington Post?
Al Franken graces them with some of his "humor" regarding the "Flame" case. It's been five months since "Senator Al" (as he's called by a few commenters) posted there, yet there's no word in the post or even the comments on what's transpired in Al's life since then.
You know, that minor matter with the guy who lied about them having more money than they did, how he was a crook, that whole thing.
Please go over there and ask Al some questions in the comments. No need to worry: he can't physically assault you through your computer screen.
The comments do have this interesting bit of info:
"I listened to Maddow this morning, and I see you guys were paying for her to broadcast from D.C."
What's that about? I thought their deal with Sirius allowed them to broadcast from Sirius' DC studio anytime they wanted. They have to pay for that?
Posted in StuartSmalley at 10:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Rush Limbaugh trouncing Al Fraken, Springer, Schultz
"Randi Sucks" draws our attention to this:
According to the Arbitron Summer 2005 ratings survey for New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, Mr. Rush Limbaugh beat liberal talkers in the ratings game. In New York, Mr. Limbaugh's Persons 12+ audience is more than three times larger than Mr. Franken's audience. Heard Monday through Friday on WABC-AM from noon-3 p.m., The Rush Limbaugh Show scored, among Persons 12+, a 4.8 share with an average quarter-hour audience of 159,400 listeners. Mr. Al Franken, who airs at the same time on WLIB-AM, has a Persons 12+ share of 1.4 with an average quarter-hour audience of 47,800 listeners. Mr. Jerry Springer also airs on WLIB-AM and has a Person 12+ share of 1.0 with an average quarter-hour audience of 30,100.
Below are their rankings among all AM and FM programming for Persons 12+ in New York:
Host Share Avg. Quarter Hour Rank (all AM/FM
(Persons 12+) (Persons 12+) programming-persons 12+)
Rush Limbaugh 4.8 159,400 3
Al Franken 1.4 47,800 23
Jerry Springer 1.0 30,100 27
In Los Angeles, The Rush Limbaugh Show is heard Monday through Friday on KFI-AM from 9 a.m.-noon and scored a Persons 12+ share of 4.8 with an average quarter-hour audience of 112,700 listeners. Mr. Franken, who airs at the same time on KTLK-AM, scored among Persons 12+ a 1.3 share with an average quarter-hour audience of 29,500 listeners. Mr. Limbaugh ranks #1 in his daypart for Persons 12+ and draws 3.5 times the listeners of Mr. Franken.
In addition to Mr. Limbaugh and Mr. Franken, here are the numbers for liberal talker Mr. Ed Shultz, who broadcasts at a different time:
Host Share Avg. Quarter Hour Rank (all AM/FM
(Persons 12+) (Persons 12+) programming-persons 12+)
Rush Limbaugh 4.8 112,700 1
Al Franken 1.3 29,500 28
Ed Shultz 0.9 22,900 33
Heard Monday through Friday on WLS-AM in Chicago from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., The Rush Limbaugh Show scored a Persons 12+ share of 5.9 with an average quarter-hour audience of 96,300 listeners. Mr. Franken, who airs at the same time on WCPT-AM, scored among Persons 12+, a 0.9 share with an average quarter-hour audience of 14,900 listeners. Mr. Limbaugh ranked #1 in his daypart and draws 6.5 times the listeners of Mr. Franken.
In addition to Mr. Limbaugh and Mr. Franken, here are the numbers for other liberal talkers in Chicago, who broadcast at a different time:
Host Share Avg. Quarter Hour Rank (all AM/FM
(Persons 12+) (Persons 12+) programming-persons 12+)
Rush Limbaugh 5.9 96,300 1
Al Franken 0.9 14,900 29
Ed Shultz 0.9 14,300 31
Jerry Springer 0.4 6,500 42
OPCEN 12 AUTH 23 OP SQUEAKY BIRD BIRD GO GO 183 4932
Posted in StuartSmalley at 04:47 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Neal Boortz gets his Air America tote bag
Bad boy radio host Neal Boortz donated $100 to Air America Radio's Associates program, and received his very own tote bag.
Note the slogan. Now, where do you think they got that from?
We love our country the first Socialist country in the world. We love its great plains, forests, and mountains, its lakes and seas, its rivers, large and small, its collective farms, its towns and cities. We love our beautiful Moscow, the capital of the USSR.
Our country is one great family of Soviet peoples, which are free from exploiters -- from capitalists and land-owners. This great family of free Soviet peoples is building a new life, is building Communism.
Millions of Soviet men and women are working from day to day on the earth and in the earth, on the seas and rivers, under the water and in the air, in the hot South and in the cold North. They are all working together to make our life still better. They are all building Communism.
Posted in Meta at 08:07 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Morning Sedition to go way of Edsel?
Will the morning show almost no one listens to soon be expired? Will it soon no longer be in a functional state? Is Marc Maron trying to give us a head's up?On Morning Sedition Marc Maronm was making allusions to his uncertain future and at one point was saying "I may not be able to afford (something) anymore."So, I turn it to you. Is there something up? Will he give up his top-ranked radio gig to take his trademarked "Maronated" "humor" to each Jewish Community Center in the U.S.? Will he join Randi Rhodes' vaudeville show? Perhaps he could play Teller to Franken's Penn. Or, he could write a book that needs to be shipped early next year.
Is something cooking there? Just wondering if anything has been said or if something is up regarding the future of the show. I don't get to listen everyday, so maybe it's just an inside joke. Anyone know?
Posted in AlsoRans at 04:02 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
There is no "campaign against Air America"
Eric Alterman - who stayed at the St. Regis Resort in Aspen earlier this year - now offers us a wee slice of paranoia in "The Campaign Against Air America". First, he offers excerpts from attempts to get the truth about the network's financial position and ratings. However, those stretch back several months. It's not like there's a constant, concerted effort, this site and others are just trying to get the truth.Then, he weaves a reply from his "friend" Danny Goldberg - also the CEO of AAR - into his narrative. However, Goldberg's reply is quite similar to the open letter that he posted at AAR's site and at the HuffPost. He even goes into the long-discredited meme that Air America Radio's Associates program is similar to the premium offerings from Limbaugh et al.
Finally, we get to some new spin from their CEO:
On a nationwide basis the most recent Arbitron ratings Spring 2005 book showed that our affiliates reach over three million people per week, each of whom listens for an average of several hours a week. This is more than triple the amount of people who were listening when measured one year earlier in the Spring, 2004 book.I know and you know that there's got to be something wrong with that. Perhaps someone will point it out in comments.
According to the most recent Arbitron Report, Summer 2005 Metro:
* Mon-Sun 6a12m, AQH, Share and Cume have all increased for both Persons 12+ and Adults 25-54.
* For Adults 25-54, WLIB's target audience, AQH is up 29%, Share increased 40% (from 1.0 to 1.4) and Cume increased 9%; for Persons 12+, AQH is up 6%, Share is up 20% and Cume is up 11%.
* WLIB ranks #2 in A25-54 TSL MSu6a12m (10h30m per week) among NY Talk stations, a 20% increase since the Spring 2005 book.
Now compare them to O'Reilly on WOR, also Arbitron Summer 2005:
* The ratings for the Bill O'Reilly radio show in New York were worse in the demo of A25-54 than those on Air America that he described as "catastrophic." [OPCEN 12 49]
* In the key 25-54 demographic which talk radio offers to advertisers, the Summer 2005 Arbitron ratings showed that Monday-Friday from 2-4 PM when O'Reilly is on WOR-AM and which at Air America's 1190 WLIB-AM contains the last hour of "The Al Franken Show" and the first hour of "The Randi Rhodes Show," [OP SQUAWKING BIRD GO AUTH 5] that O'Reilly had a 0.6 share and Air America a 1.8 share. O'Reilly had a cumulative audience of 45,800 and Air America had a cumulative audience of 95,700. [OPERATIVES 832 10922]
I also object to the idea that there's some coordinated campaign. No one is working together, but we are all trying to get the truth.
Posted in Meta at 04:26 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
Al Franken: The Truth (With Jokes)
Watch his promo video for this new book at the following link directly to the video file: WMV file. Alternatively, see "Air America: Al's quiet on the eastern front".
For the best of both worlds, click the following picture then buy something else from them:
If you haven't read the book, feel free to leave a review in the comments. Alternatively, try this bumper sticker:
Or, this:
Posted in StuartSmalley at 11:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Prepping Al Franken for "the question"
Here's Al's new daily affirmation: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darnit if anyone asks me about the Air America scandal I'll bob and weave and make not-really-actionable charges and smears the best I can!"
You can see that being put to use on his Letterman appearance. More on that here, here, and here.
And, you can see it in action in another recent interview:
We had a shock right at the beginning when the guy [which guy? c'mon, Al, give us a name] who first ran Air America sort of led everyone to believe there was more financing than there was. He led us to believe that we had three years of capital to go through before we had to make a profit, which is what new businesses usually have to do. We didn't have three years, we had three weeks. So after three weeks we lost Los Angeles, we lost Chicago. It was very dicey there. Basically, we barely hung on. Now it's much better, but it slowed things down. It was hard, obviously, to get affiliates to our network if they thought the network wasn't going to be around another day. But now we have 70 affiliates, about 63 percent of the country.
Needless to say, "63% of the country" is quite a bit misleading. For instance, their San Antonio station is actually 50 miles from that city; the half of San Antone that can hear it is in the "fringe" listening area. And, their "Chicago" station is likewise 50 miles away from Chitown.
There are more cows than people in those station's prime listening areas. So, that "63%" includes a whole lot of open prairie. But, that figure would not be misleading as long as you stated that you had included the bovine population when making the calculation.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 05:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
You don't listen to the Rachel Maddow Show
So, is there any reason why you would listen to the 22-minute interview a far-leftie site did with her? (Of course, if you're her listener or her alternate-days listener, please do.)
Posted in AlsoRans at 06:02 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Laura Flanders training Iraqi yakkerettes
Our friends in North Korea inform us that a few talk jockettes are helping their Iraqi counterparts learn the ropes. Prospective yakkerettes from Iraq have come to the U.S. to spend a few weeks training in the radio game. Their teachers include: Monica Crowley of WABC and MSNBC, Joan Hamburg of WOR, and Laura Flanders of Air America.
This is sponsored by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting:
IWPR, an international organization supported by major western development agencies and private foundations, has been training print journalists in Iraq since 2003. The non-profit agency only recently started working with Iraq's radio personalities and news people as well.
Previously: "Laura Flanders: surrender now!"
Posted in AlsoRans at 10:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
General Wesley Clark orders: Put Ed Schultz on AFRN!
We have been informed that the former General and political candidate who's also involved in some way with a disaster management firm offers his strong support to fellow crypto-VRWC member Ed Schultz at this page:
Last year, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced a resolution that was unanimously passed by the Senate, urging Secretary Rumsfeld and Armed Forces Radio to ensure more political balance in programming... We must let our voices be heard and exercise leadership to help ensure that the spirit of Senator Harkin's resolution -- and the spirit of fairness -- are at play on taxpayer financed programming.
At the link, you can send an email to your representatives. I have trouble believing that they would screen each email sent, and I urge you not to abuse this feature by sending an email telling them to keep Big Ed off AFRN.
The email form letter does have a bit more detail on this whole sad affair:
Then, at the end of September, Manny Levy, Chief of the Radio Division of the American Forces Network Broadcast Center, advised the distributor of Ed Schultz's nationally syndicated radio program, Jones Radio, that: "AFN Radio has squared away everything on our end to begin carrying the first hour of 'The Ed Schultz Show' each day, beginning Monday, October 17, 2005."
I'm guessing he's the "staff member who got ahead of the decision-making process" mentioned here.
Posted in Ed Schultz at 11:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Air America's WWRC ratings: off the charts!
The fourteenth and final paragraph of this article largely about Howard Stern informs us:
Air America, the liberal talk network carried on WWRC-AM (1260) [out of Rockville MD], went from bad to nonexistent. After WWRC recorded a mere fraction of a rating point in the spring [in the Washington DC market] with syndicated shows from the likes of lefty talkers Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo and Stephanie Miller, Arbitron couldn't detect a measurable listenership for the station this time around.
If you go here and search for that market, this is what the last row - the one with WWRC - looks like:
* * 0.4 *
They can't even register a pulse in the place where Barbara Boxer, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, and John Conyers spread their "liberalism". Now, that's sad.
Previously:
Air America falls off charts in Philly (shortly followed by their cancellation)
Air America Radio ratings Spring '05: off the charts!
Air America Charleston WLTQ-AM ratings: off the charts!
Posted in Meta at 11:48 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
Air America Radio accepts ads from Communist-linked group
What sort of "patriotic" "liberals" would accept ads from a group with open, self-admitted, unabashed ties to the Revolutionary Communist Party? Why, Air America Radio of course.Pause, and let that sink in. The radio network featuring Jerry Springer (former mayor, future something or other), Mike Malloy, Al Franken (who wants to be a U.S. Senator), Janeane Garofalo, and Randi Rhodes is accepting ads from a group with ties to the Revolutionary Communist Party.
The group in question is World Can't Wait, and their ad is described here: rwor.org/a/019/debra-sweet-world-cant-wait.htm . That last link is to the RCP's homepage here in Amerika. One of WCW's spokeswomen and "initiators" is Sunsara Taylor, who's also a supporter of the RCP. As pointed out at DK, their domain name is registered to Clark Kissinger, another "initiator" of WCW. Among many other highlights of his resume (dissident.info) is this: "Supported Bob Avakian's work to build a real communist party in the U.S."
The group's link is dropped here.
And, from WCW's faq (worldcantwait.org/faq/):
Q: But aren't there communists in World Can't Wait?They aren't all Commies! So, it's perfectly acceptable that Air America Radio is accepting ads from a Communist-linked group.
Yeah, there are. Supporters of the Revolutionary Communist Party helped initiate it. They're in it because they think it's absolutely urgent to get rid of this regime, that it would both lift a huge burden from the world and would also give people a sense of their own potential power, and they think all that would open up avenues to get to the society they want. Same as a whole lot of other people in World Can't Wait which, by the way, includes Greens, Christians, Republicans, anarchists, Muslims, Jews, feminists, Democrats, pacifists, and people who claim no affiliation who also think it's urgent to drive out the Bush Regime and who also think it can help lead to bigger changes that they want in society, coming from their own viewpoints.
(Via this)
Posted in Meta at 05:39 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Ed Schultz nixed from Armed Forces Radio
The Ed Schultz Show was scheduled to begin airing an hour a day on Armed Forces Radio. However, this morning the Pentagon called and said that because officials were going to be out of town and they hadn't received authorization, Big Ed's debut was cancelled. The show's future on that network is up in the air. (Note the nofollow tag on that link).
The person breaking this news was spokeswoman Allison Barber, who you might recall from her preparing the troops who recently asked questions of Our Leader. She's going out of town, and Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita is out of town as well. He was to have approved this.
Needless to say, this has caused massive speculation among the liberal blogosphere. Most seem to believe that this is yet another COINTELPRO-style action by the VRWC supporters who they claim are secretly behind the Big Ed phenomenon. They mistakenly believe that the VRWC is using this to give Ed street credibility and make it look like he's being oppressed by The Man.
They are, of course, wrong. In fact, here's Ed showing his progressive credentials by marching with other comrades in ANSWER's recent action.
OPCEN 439,27: BRAVO CHARLIE 36, AUTH 14
UPDATE: There's an interview with Big Ed starting here.
UPDATE 2: Stars and Stripes from 10/19: "Talk show host Ed Schultz nixed by AFN":
"They knew exactly what kind of program they were getting," he said. "This looks like a get-back to me. They don't want any other voices on the air." ...But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Schultz's views and recent comments played no factor in the decision... "What we have here is a staff member who got ahead of the decision-making process," he said. "We're in the process of looking at additional programming, but there have been no decisions yet."
This generates the 10/21 letter "More diversity in AFN":
I avoid AFN programming due to its tired format and lack of diversity. I miss radio celebrities such as Michael Savage for his conviction and courage to say what he thinks, and the fact he apologizes to no man for calling it like it is... While I know it’s impossible to please everybody, neoconservative celebrities such as Rush Limbaugh irk me, and Paul Harvey's "News and Story" puts me to sleep. Please, let's get more diversity.
Posted in Ed Schultz at 11:46 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Air America's war on septuagenarians
As you'll recall, Air America Radio's sinking flagship WLIB was originally the voice of the Caribbean community in NYC, until it was abruptly silenced. Then, they replaced Our Earl on WDOD.Now, in yet another blow to humanity, they're replacing Big Band music on KCTC in Sacramento, and the local septuagenarians are up in arms:
Their beloved nostalgia radio station, KCTC 1320 AM, is dropping its big-band and crooner format sometime before Nov. 1 to become Sacramento's Air America talk-radio affiliate. When it does, it will silence local airwaves of the music that these guys and others of a certain age grew up listening to.That's OK, I'm sure he'll enjoy the dulcet screech of Randi Rhodes.
"They're turning our music off!" groused Bob Hill, 79...
This confirms previous speculation on this topic: Air America Sacramento: moving from KSAC to KCTC?
Posted in Meta at 05:40 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Mike Malloy's realness not disputed
The DUmmies ask, "Is Mike Malloy for real". Yes, most of us would put a question mark after that, but it's the thought that counts. Some thoughts:- I nominate him to immediately replace Springer!On the other side:
- They should bump Springer to Franken's time slot and leave Mike in the AM
- He said the other night, on the air, in response to a caller, that soon his scheduling on XM is going to change. He didn't elaborate, but I am guessing the contract XM has with Colmes is about up, or will be changed, so Mike can be carried live. YAY!!
- Most brilliant Talk Show Host in the US
- I'm still deciding how I feel about the left's version of hate radio.
- I'm all for speaking truth to power, but does Mike really have to say he hates these people?
- I suspect a lot of that "anger" is an act.
Posted in MikeWho at 05:19 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Randi Rhodes, Air America sued for defamation; SLAPP suit?
From Wednesday's "Randi Rhodes being sued by CACI [alleged torture contractors]":She just said this on her show. They are dragging her into Federal Court for material she used in late August. She seems confident she can get around this and read a legalistic satement on her show - indicating that she uses extensive sources.More on this here. A little later in the DK thread comes this alleged transcript:
She can use the discovery phase to expose all sorts of embarassing into on CACI but this can be disasterous very both her and Air America. Stay tuned! [Update] A bit more info: CACI was closely associated with the ABU Ghraib scandal and it has been suggested by many that their employees were involved in torture They are asking 10 million in punitive damages for defamation...
"On this show, on August 25th and 26th, I discussed with you (our listeners) many issues relating to operations in the ongoing war in Iraq. And on the 25th of August, I read you materials about the treatment of prisoners in Iraq, including excerpts from Marjorie Cohn's interview with Army Reserve Brigadeer General Janis Karpinski, who is now retired as a Colonel, and you might remember that Janis Karpinski was in charge of the Abu Ghraib prison, where prisoners were tortured and mistreated by American soldiers. And in the course of my show, I may have mentioned CACI, a corporation, and on the 26th I talked about the war, and I had an interview with Cindy Sheehan. Remember that? Well, about a month after those broadcasts, CACI PT and CACI International, two multimillion-dollar companies started a lawsuit against me and Piquant, which is the company that owns Air America. In the lawsuit, which they started in federal court in Virginia, CACI PT and CACI International claim we committed defamation per se because I allegedly made 'a number of false and defamatory statements about CACI' on my show, on August 25th and 26th.Note that CACI sent a threatening letter to an antiwar.com partner.
"CACI PT claims to be a corporation that 'specializes in intelligence solutions and has provided intelligence services, including interrogators, to the United States military in Iraq, pursuant to contracts with the United States.' CACI International, Inc. claims to be 'an international corporation providing high technology and professional services, specializing in systems integration, managed network solutions, and information assurance.' According to CACI International's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that are posted on CACI's website, the company has about 1.6 billion dollars in revenues in fiscal year 2005. Now you can read more about these companies on their website, caci.com, if you like. These two CACI companies allege that Piquant and I defamed them when I made alleged statements about their work for the US government. They claim that I should pay no less than one million dollars in compensatory damages and no less than ten million dollars in punitive damages. Their lawyers in the suit are Steptoe & Johnson, a major Washington, DC law firm.
"As with all of the shows that I do for you, I prepare thoroughly before I get on the air, and for those shows in August, when I spoke about the events in Iraq, I relied on several sources, including reliable published materials, and I made many of these sources available to you on the website for my show, therandirhodesshow.com, and they are still available at that address. [I believe she's referring to this page, that links to a Guardian, CorpWatch, Truthout article mentioning CACI] I spoke about these things and these events because they're important in the political life of this country. I believe they were newsworthy because of their importance to the war and the future of Iraq and because they involve disgraceful abuses of power. Nonetheless, in their lawsuit, CACI challenges my right to speak out on matters of public interest.
"So I'm fighting back. I'm going to dispute their allegations. I have an unfettered right to free speech protected by the First Amendment. This right includes my right to speak as I did on my show in August, and I believe there is no merit to CACI's allegations against me and Piquant. Moreover, among the many defenses to a defamation claim is the defense that truth is a complete defense. So I look forward to the progress of this lawsuit in which, during the discovery process, I anticipate that CACI will have to provide me with all information they have that disputes anything I said about CACI during my August 25th and 26th shows. And when that information is released, I believe that I, this company Piquant, and the truth will prevail. So now you know."
So, what did Randi say? Did she lie? Did she not say enough "allegedly"s or "reportedly"s?
Is this a SLAPP suit (strategic lawsuit against public participation)?
Like it says above, discovery in this case might be a bitch. And, Rhodes and Piquant will probably be able to get some high-profile assistance with this. Of course, it might not even get that far.
JANUARY 2007 UPDATE: Judge: Defamation suit against bankrupt Air America can proceed
Posted in RandiRhodes at 10:50 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Halloween Seattle-style: Al Franken to visit October 31
It's Trick, Treat, or... Scandal! as Al Franken visits KPTK AM1090 in Seattle on October 31st:
9am-Noon at Seattle Town Hall. Tickets are on sale now through Brown Paper Tickets. To purchase call 800-838-3006 or click here to buy them on the web. General admission tickets are $25. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Ronald McDonald Holiday Cruise, giving children suffering from cancer and their families a brighter Christmas holiday. For more information on this charity click here.
A "portion" of the proceeds? I have no doubt that you're thinking the same thing that I'm thinking.
Of course, if Al Franken were smart he'd allocate $5 of every $25 to pay for a full and complete pre- and post-auditing of all monies donated.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 04:38 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Is Air America falling apart?
Janeane Garofalo is here in Cali filming the West Wing and taking time off from her radio gig on AAR. Meanwhile, Al Franken just lost his co-host. While I've alluded to this before, it needs to be asked again: is Air America Radio falling apart? You know how you get excited about something, then that day comes when you kinda lose interest and it's not so shiny anymore and you start looking for something new? Could that be happening to AAR?
The DUmmies discuss here. Smarties discuss in the comments.
Posted in Janeane at 10:07 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Will DirecTV broadcast Air America?
As previously discussed, XM Satellite Radio is now the official source for AAR.
Late last month, XM struck a deal with DirecTV, another satellite company that broadcasts televisionally:
DirecTV is the nation's leading satellite service with more than 14 million customers. Starting on Nov. 15, they will receive 72 of XM's music and talk channels, including the adult-oriented "High Voltage" channel, which features shock jocks Opie & Anthony, fired from WNEW in New York for broadcasting a couple claiming to have sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral.
In order to prevent Air America being one of those 72 channels, I suggest starting a letter writing campaign to XM pimping all the other possible channels. Alternatively, we could start a petitiononline thing threatening to boycott XM and DirecTV if they do choose AAR.
Leave your best strategery in the comments.
Posted in Meta at 05:54 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
The Randi Rhodes, Janet Parshall catfight
Have you ever wanted to crank Randi Rhodes up to 11? Now, you can do it. Download this 10 Meg or so video of her appearance on CSPAN (located on this page).
Then, turn the volume way, way up. It's like the radio Randi, but illustrated with hand gestures.
What they discussed wasn't all that interesting because it was basically a shouting match between the Air America hostess and fellow radio personality Janet Parshall. Surprisingly enough, the last didn't know that our own "American" president had lifted the Davis-Bacon Act for the Gulf Coast as well as three south Florida counties. That means that instead of being paid as little as $9 an hour, those doing construction work there can be paid as little as the minimum wage.
Those companies with fixed-price contracts are going to make a killing on this, but they all plan on returning all the money they save on salaries to the federal government. (Just kidding!)
In the foodfight, Randi kept trying to get Parshall to discuss this matter, but, since the latter didn't know about it it was a bit pointless.
Parshall tried to discuss the Louis Farrakhan conspiracy theory that was discussed by two minor AAR hosts. Rhodes pointed out that it wasn't her that discussed that idea. We know that Rachel Maddow and Chuck D didn't dismiss this when it was brought up on Tucker Carlson's show; whether Randi has never discussed it is not known.
In any case, if you're able to, for instance, pipe the video into a big screen TV with mega-speakers or something you can enjoy a Clockwork Orange-style experience as you watch the TV version of Air America's screechiest host.
There's a screenshot here, and the DUmmies discuss it here.
UPDATE: Originally, this post had a rare internal inconsistency: I said the Farrakhan theory was discussed on AAR, then I said it was discussed on Carlson's show. In fact, AFAIK, it was only discussed on that TV show. If anyone heard it being discussed on AAR itself, please leave a comment with the date and time. I deeply regret any misunderstandings my mistake has caused, and this update was made voluntarily and not under duress of any kind. I will shortly reveal the names of my conspirators in this criminal act against The People. Do cvidanya!
Posted in RandiRhodes at 10:08 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Knight-Ridder: talk radio undergoing a shift
That's what they say, not me:There are signs that the Republicans could be losing some of their overwhelming edge, however. Ratings for Limbaugh and Hannity slipped this spring in some markets. Liberals such as Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller and Al Franken are carving out their own radio niche. And Democrats argue that they have an edge on the Internet, where explosive growth could dwarf the political impact of radio.K-R conducted an interview with Al Franken. Unfortunately, their tape ran out before they could ask him about the AAR scandal. Or something:
Some of that could be just wishful thinking by Democrats. The slip in ratings, for example, could be a normal drop in political interest after an election year. They also could be untrue - radio ratings are difficult to measure. And even if Limbaugh and Hannity have fewer listeners than they did in the past, they still have millions more than liberal talk show hosts.
"We're not there yet... My numbers are going up, and theirs are going down. But if I have a million and half people listening to me, that's still just one-tenth of Rush's audience... [Rush is] very talented, I'll give him that... He's a good storyteller. He's good at framing an issue, whether honest or not. ... He's very good at kicking dust up in the air so you don't see the crap on the ground. It's an evil talent. But he's talented."Unfortunately, K-R includes this bit of truth at the end:
Limbaugh still has about 14.75 million listeners, according to Talkers Magazine. Hannity has about 13 million.
Even the most successful liberal hosts, such as Schultz, Miller and Franken, don't come close yet. None made the top 30 talk radio shows as ranked by Talkers Magazine.
Posted in Meta at 05:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bring the Guy James Show to Air America!
I have absolutely no idea who Guy James is, but he has his own Show on WINK 1240AM and WNOG 1270 AM (what? where?) and his own website. And, if the DUmmies like him, I know he must be "good".Regarding his site, it's one of those "keep scrolling, there's much more" kinda things. Just when you think he's exhausted all the possible memes, themes, buttons, banners, and bows, he comes up with more. The picture of Bush and Brownie, the Karl Rove discussion, the slagging off on Bill O'Reilly, the Homeland Security joke banner, etc. etc. etc. Keep scrolling, there's more! If there's a "liberal" banner he forgot, by all means do let him know.
James even has a petition to AAR demanding that he be given a job. Unfortunately, I think a few of the signatories are fake:
205. Skinner: Get back to DU and give me the money or I'll ban all of you!
204. One Blue Sky: Will he talk about chemtrails? If so the he knows his stuff.
203. Andy Stephenson: I'm only $10 away from proving Guy is the real deal
202. Cindy Sheehan: Don't forget me, I need another 15 minutes. Look at me!
Posted in AlsoRans at 09:22 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
157 Air America listeners located!
The DUmmies ask, "How do you feel about Air America Radio?" 133 say "It's great. I listen a lot", while 24 chime in with "It's good."
On the other side, 18 have no or a negative opinion.
A DUmmie offers the comment, "I like AAR just because I'm glad our side finally has a voice!" Yes, isn't that great?
Meanwhile, the thread "Okay, so I cried at the end of Franken's show" reports on Katherine Lanpher leaving and has a 1000+ poster asking, "Where is she going? What's going on with Air America? I'm having doubts about its long term future."
That poster might want to read "What do you when you're afraid?" for some helpful hints. Liberalism: political philosophy or just clinical depression?
Note that Al Franken had to leave during the last hour of the show to go attend a conference or something, but he apparently gave a rousing send-off before he left.
Posted in Meta at 06:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Experts: Air America finances questioned
Dimitri Vassilaros, as I've said before, is a complete idiot when it comes to biking, but he has at least been looking into Air America's financial condition.From "Stylin', but empty, totes":
..."[AAR] held fundraisers in Washington, in senators' living rooms," said radio consultant Holland Cooke, news/talk specialist at McVay Media of Cleveland. The radio consultancy claims to be the largest in the industry, foreign or domestic.Maybe the HuffPost, current.tv, and Air America could all join together in one big "liberal" support group.
"Al Franken has spoken at industry conferences," Mr. Cooke said. "He jokes what a woefully run business Air America has been, that the folks pulling the levers are more zealots than capitalists."
The [AAR] Web site overflows with information about hosts, issues and at least eight pictures of stylin' tote bags. Yet it has no sales information for potential advertisers.
My calls to the sales department and the network's spokeswoman were not returned.
"The ownership group denies they are having financial problems, but it appears they might be," speculated talk radio expert John Mainelli of Mainelli Consulting in New York City.
Mr. Mainelli bases his theory on the request for donations and because the network now is selling blocks of airtime on weekends to so-called non-agenda shows paid for by whomever.
"They will not reveal what their financial status is," said Mainelli, who also writes about the media for the New York Post and trade publications. "I also asked how much they hoped to raise but they have been tight-lipped about finances in general."
Posted in Meta at 06:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The WDOD - Air America debate continues
Earlier this week, WDOD AM 1310 Chattanooga switched from adult standards to Air America Radio. According to Danny Howard, Director of Programming and Operations:
"Our programming will feature a refreshing, spirited alternative to the overabundance of ultra conservative programs within the market."
They've got Bill Press, followed by an hour of local morning programming, followed by Stephanie Miller, then by the AAR allstars: Franken, Rhodes, Janeane, and... Mike Malloy.
Thinking ahead, station "officials" also inform us:
"The opinions and comments of the hosts and or callers of AM 1310 'The Voice' WDOD-AM do not necessarily represent the staff and management of WDOD Radio."
Needless to say, this has sparked a fierce debate in the pages of the Chattanoogan.
Be prepared to cringe when you hear Randi Rhodes screech for the first time in her Fran Drescher-ish voice, mixing equal parts sedition, tinfoil conspiracyism, and hateful death wishes (her producers once concocted a piece hinting at assassination). Then a dash of shock radio, as her favorite song is apparently a tune that talks about bouncing one's... well, a prominent portion of the female anatomy.
A "liberal" thinks we need some learnin':
One cannot turn on the radio during the day without being exposed to an unending barrage of hate-filled propaganda from the so-called compassionate conservatives....an oxymoron, if there ever was one. (look it up)
Another letter here, and a local insults his fellows here:
No longer will we have to listen to the local neo-con, right-wingers and one big redneck of the other FM talk format who all approve of the war of occupation in Iraq and whose children all are of the age to join the military, but strangely, are still civilians not wishing to put their life on the line for Dubya's lies.
I count six loony liberal references in that, can you find more? And, regarding the level of discourse:
Rush Limbaugh and Air America have won. We have sunk to their level.
Posted in Meta at 05:37 AM | Comments (11)
Jerry Springer disavows Air America, knowledge of scandal
On Sept. 29, a caller to the Jerry Springer show managed to ask him about the Air America scandal, and here's what the former Trash TV host said:
Okay, uh, honestly. Uh, on some of the stations around the country, I'm on Air America. On some of the stations around the country, I'm not on Air America. So, uh, I, you know, I can't answer that because the truth is I don't know. Once I find something out about it, I'm willing to address it. I'm not dodging it all. Uh, but, you know, again, most of the people listening to me are not listening to me on Air America, so I can't deal with that...
Apparently Springer is on 44 stations, and all but 14 are AAR affiliates. It's OK, in the same situation anyone would not want to be associated with that network.
Posted in PureClass at 07:48 AM | Comments (1)
Randi Rhodes to hit road with vaudeville show
It seems like everyone at Air America Radio is searching for some other way to showcase their talents. Janeane Garofalo is appearing on the West Wing, Katherine Lanpher just left to write a book, Al Franken is going to be the Pat Paulsen of Minnesota, RFK Jr. is embarassing himself at the HuffPost, and so forth.The latest to stretch their wings is Randi Rhodes, who wants to put on a traveling, vaudeville-style variety show with a political bent. Already, five people are lined up at various venues ready to see if free tickes will become available (also here).
She will emcee and do some stand-up comedy. The latter is something she says she's "scared to death" about, but Rhodes said she is being coached and "getting [her] stage legs together."At this point I have to ask: is this a joke or what?
...The middle segment of the show will feature music. While no acts have been confirmed, Rhodes said they will likely book artists with "a political conscience."
After a set change, the final part of the show will be modeled after Bill Maher's "Politically Incorrect."
Rhodes, a liberal talk show host, said they may even "bring in some Republican pundits and put them in front of my audience and see how they do."I understand the urge to find something to do after Air America crashes and burns, but a traveling political variety show?
Rhodes hopes to take the show to some of the 70 markets where Air America has affiliates. "I don't want people to come watch me do radio because I really can't imagine what's more boring than that," Rhodes said. Instead, she hopes the stage show will "really entertain them in a big way and a different way than they get from me on the radio. I'm so excited to do it."
Posted in RandiRhodes at 03:24 AM | Comments (3)
Al Franken to Mainers: no questions please
On Saturday, Al Franken spoke at the College Democrats state convention held at Bowdoin College in Maine. He uttered most of the expected things during his speech and in an interview afterwards.
For instance, speaking of Our Leader, he says:
"He blew it big time. He's incompetent and corrupt. And he's been that way from the beginning... He's lied to us. And he's stupid."
If elected to the Senate, Stuart intends to seek Bush's impeachment.
Gov. John Baldacci joined the radio star, uttering this never-to-be-forgotten message:
"If we're going to change the world, it's going to begin with you... You are the young leaders."
Showing a complete inability to understand policy, Franken also said:
"I don't get how gay marriage threatens heterosexual marriage... The only threat is divorce."
Then, comes this curious bit:
In an interview with The Maine Campus after the speech, Franken responded to views that his radio show is "hyperbolic twaddle," and at the same time, attacked conservative talk show host Limbaugh.
Who exactly expresses things using that phrase? Is that something O'Reilly said? Or, did the Maine Campus say people were saying that about Al? "How would you respond to all those people who say you're a complete and utter idiot and buffoon, Mr. Franken?"
Then, Al informs them that there's no such thing as the liberal media.
However, the best bit comes from this article:
Many in the audience, regardless of their political views, were disappointed that there was no question-and-answer session following Franken's speech... Frank Chi, co-president of the Bowdoin College Democrats, said, "While we would have loved to have Mr. Franken receive questions from the audience, there was a stipulation in his contract that did not allow for him to do so."
Alternatively, you can be like WLBZ and concentrate on the good things about Al. They title their report "National Radio Personality Visits Maine", and the only thing they report asking him about is his wedding anniversary. I call that the "TV Station Asks Celebrity a Question" technique.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 10:03 PM | Comments (5)
The Janeane Garofalo, West Wing alternate reality
The West Wing TV show is the alternate reality within which America's "liberals" live. The heroes of the show have this warm, comfy, hip, friendly sheen, with which they imbue the screen as they spritely walk from room to room as they fight against the force of evil: Republican candidate Vinick, as played by one of actual reality's forces of evil, Alan Alda.
I watched a few minutes of Janeane Garofalo's guest appearance on the show before I had to stop because I was laughing too hard.
She plays "Louise Thornton" (or was it "Louise Barton"?), plucky campaign strategist who Bob Schrum (Bradley Whitford) brings on board to keep the Smits (Jimmy Santos) campaign "real".
Thornton reputedly has a 200 IQ. However, one of Garofalo's deficiencies couldn't be disguised by lying scriptwriters: she's slightly taller than a Keebler elf. To correct for that, the cameraman shot from the ground up, making the top of her head appear to be only a little shorter than that of her co-stars. Apparently their insurance wouldn't cover a high enough box upon which she could stand.
UPDATE: The DUmmies, as can be expected, weigh in:
-- She was GREAT! And I swear whoever wrote her lines reads DU. She said a lot of things we've been saying right here! -- If I were a lesbian, I'd want to marry Janeane. She kicked total *&%$! Of course, she's even better on AAR when she has no directors, producers or writers, and just shoots from the hip and her vast understanding of politics, the government and human nuttiness.
Even more gender-bending ensues.
AAR tries to stir up some interest, offering an open thread for "West Wing gossip". It has 342 comments, and as far as I could tell none of them were about the show.
UPDATE 2: The ratings are in, and they are not good at all:
This week's episode averaged around 7.7 million viewers — and was soundly thrashed from 8 to 9 p.m. by timeslot winner "Cold Case" on CBS (16.2 million viewers), "Extreme Home Makeover" (ABC) and Fox's "The Simpsons"/"War at Home" combo
Posted in Janeane at 08:21 PM | Comments (1)
