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Even Air America blogger Nancy Scola fled, replaced by Sam Seder
Air America Radio apparently can't even hold on to their in-house blogger despite her being someone that no one has ever heard of. Specifically, Nancy Scola (nancyscola.com) whose last post was back on November 2, 2007 (link). Whether she fell, was pushed, or is simply taking some time off for reeducation while awaiting potential rehabilitation isn't known.
What is known is that her replacement is the ever-entertaining Sam Seder, previously co-host with Janeane Garofalo on AAR's Majority Report.
I urge everyone to sign up and leave a comment wishing him luck in this endeavor.
Posted in AlsoRans at 11:14 AM
Air America has another new owner; Stephen Green flees sinking ship
Billionaire New York City real estate investor Stephen Green - current owner of Air America Radio and brother to current AAR president Mark Green - will be stepping down as chair of the AAR board in March to be replaced by former AAR investor Charlie Kireker. Green invested $4.25 million and AAR subsequently lost several million more, with profitability expected - per Mark Green - sometime in 2009.
As for why the current team would leave the network on the brink of profitability, Green noted that his brother's true passion was not in media but in real estate. "The Kireker group is new money, energy and new confidence in the growing of Air America. Steve was happy to be a bridge from phase one when we had financial difficulties to phase three when it is poised for takeoff..."
I might have lost count, but I think this would be AAR's 37th owner. Previous owners have included Sheldon Drobny, the S. Smalley Cayman Islands Offshore Trust PLC, Barbra Streisand, Triumph the Wonder Dog (presumably acting only as a front for certain Japanese interests), the Sultan of Brunei, and the Chinese Army.
Posted in Meta at 09:59 AM
Unheard-of Air America host is #23 on Talkers "Heavy Hundred 2008"
For what it's worth, Talkers Magazine has released their "Heavy Hundred 2008", a list of the talk jocks ranked by ratings and/or influence and/or something or other. The highest ranked Air America Radio "personality" on the list is someone that 99.9% of the country has never heard of: Thom Hartmann. The highest ranked libtalker is "Big Dumb Possibly Drunken" Ed Schultz at #8. He was at #5 last year.
Moving on down the list, Stephanie Miller is at 28, Lionel is at 31, and Randi Rhodes is at 40, a severe drop from her position last year at 13. But, at least she beat out dozens of people who even more people have never heard of.
Posted in AlsoRans at 12:42 PM
BTN 48-AF: "Dirt on Al Franken". TLs, SLs note
This is BTN 48-AF for TLs and SLs in Region 7. AP: 92-AF-MN-GO. Operation Harshwords.Unfortunately for Franken, I don't think most Minnesotans are going to respond well to his unprecedented history of extreme and mean-spirited name calling. In his many writings and media appearances, Franken has called Republicans every name in the book, including "shameless [expletive deleted]," "right-wing mother[expletive deleted]" and "[expletive deleted] morons." Franken has also referred to former Secretary of State James Baker as a "lying scumbag" and mocked World War II veteran Bob Dole over his war wounds by likening him to the one-armed murderer in the movie, "The Fugitive." In addition, Franken has expressed "hate" for President Bush and joked about executing members of his administration...Note also college student mocking, veteran mocking.
...Even Democrats have taken note of Franken's penchant for slash and burn politics, negative personal attacks and tendency to go too far with his strident rhetoric. DFL State Sen. Tom Bakk has called Franken "too negative." Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Mike Ciresi has noted that, "Al Franken has made a living calling people names."
Former Democratic State Senate Leader Allan Spear has said, "I just think there are a lot of things Al Franken has said over the years that are going to sound harsh and they're going to sound in some cases outrageous."
Spear is right on that score. While Franken's well-heeled supporters in Hollywood and Manhattan embrace his scorched earth attacks on Republicans as "human filth" and "nutcases," I am confident most Minnesotans will reject such name calling....
Posted in StuartSmalley at 12:36 PM
Janeane Garofalo on "crackers", "redneck nation"
Like fine, aged battery acid, Air America Radio has released an "interview" (i.e., screed) with troubled ex-cutie Janeane Garofalo which was apparently conducted while she was still screeching on their network.
While it's difficult to put an exact date on it, in the clip she's got her blonde, slightly-attractive-lesbian look and it looks like she has less tattoos than she has now, so I assume it's at least a couple years old.
Her Gandhi-esque comments begin with complaints about "crackers" and how much of the U.S. is a "redneck nation" and then she discusses how some in the media are "geishas" who "service" the president.
I stopped watching after a bit when it got too depressing. She's just a sweet, wholesome, smart, lovable girl-next-door... gone horribly, pathetically wrong.
Posted in Janeane at 01:23 PM
Randi Rhodes: Mitt Romney supporters will go on "killing rampage"
Randi Rhodes sure isn't falling down on the job. On Super Tuesday, she aired yet another "parody", this time an ad from the group "Republicans for Mitt Romney or Mass Suicide":
...[Announcer] If John McCain is the nominee, well, we are going to kill everybody, then turn the guns on ourselves. So choose wisely this election day. This has been a paid ad for Republicans for Mitt Romney, or (gun cocking sound effect) mass suicide.
Posted in RandiRhodes at 04:48 PM
Al Franken Identity Politics Reply Form.doc
Al Franken has answered the Minnesota Stonewall DFL Questionaire (link) including with the news that several members of his staff "identify" as LGBT. That's important: he probably suspects that some haven't got around to "identifying" themselves as such, but he's hesitant to press the issue since that's only used against Republicans.
I note also that the reply has a certain form letter quality to it, so herewith I suggest a nifty copy-n-paste block he can use for future questionnaires:
First, as we will for every community, we'll devote time, energy, and resources to reaching out to the [INSERT COMMUNITY NAME HERE] by holding and attending events in the community, being visible in our support for the community, and standing with the community when it counts. That means voter registration events, [INSERT COMMUNITY NAME HERE]-specific literature, and issue-focused discussions – all geared towards energizing the community and building lasting relationships.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 01:35 PM
Ed Schultz off KTLK Los Angeles?
Via a comment from ncw (#281), Ed Schultz might be off on KTLK 1150 AM, "progressive" talk for Los Angeles. However, he's still shown in their schedule at post time (ktlkam1150.com/pages/On_Air_Hosts.html), and I didn't see anything about this at his forums (bigdumbfatdrunkenslobedschultzradio.info).
#s 82, 328, and 7229 should stand by for treats, should this prove correct.
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS UPDATE: The good news is that Phil Hendrie will apparently be back on Los Angeles radio, meaning I won't have to listen to him on the internet. The bad news is that he isn't funny anymore.
Posted in Ed Schultz at 01:29 PM
