"I believe that Air America is doomed"

[realdeal22k]

From the words of Ted Rall...
http://www.rall.com/rants.html

Their roster includes some brilliant comedians--I'm a fan of both Al Franken and Janeane Garafalo--and it seems that that's the direction Air America management wants to go: the leftism goes down easier with a dose of humor. While my KFI show did include a lot of humor, including Dave Eggers' "Brooklyn Traffic", "Dial a Dump" and the infamous "Stan Trek 2000" reality tour of Central Asia, my approach really was to attempt to be the left-wing Rush--aggressive, unfair to the Republican right, and unabashedly unashamed about promoting a liberal agenda. If Air America ever heard my aircheck tapes, they probably thought I was a little too strident for their tastes.

I wish them well, but to be honest, I believe that Air America is doomed.

First and foremost, political talk radio is a difficult medium, very personal and different than televised and stand-up comedy. Listeners to AM talk radio crave honesty, straightforwardness, the ability to think on your feet when dealing with callers. You also have to know your shit, backwards and forward. It took me a year to find my legs on the air; the Air America hosts won't have that much time. If I'd been a member of the management, I would have eschewed the big/expensive names in favor of lesser-known liberal hosts with on-air experience in the medium.

[mot78]

1. Bullshit

Franken and Garafalo arn't milquetoast. Besides, we also have Randi Rhodes? Has Rall bothered listening to her?

[mouse7]

40. Yep, more progressive circular firing squads

His sour grapes would be better used in salad dressing than media commentary.

[Dr Fate]

2. "Listeners to AM talk radio crave honesty, straightforwardness"

Really?- then Air America should do great. I have not heard any "honesty, straightforwardness" etc on the radio in years...

I've been listening and I think it may just work.

[Broadslidin]

9. The Helen Thomas Interview on The Majority Report was......

FANTASTIC!!

I highly recommend the program!

[Teddy_Salad]

14. I've been surprised.....

.....at how good Janeane Garofolo is at talk radio.
She seems like a real natural to me.

I really enjoy her show on AA and yes, that helen Thomas interview last night was brilliant.

[0007]

38. Charlie Rangel was terrific

I compliment the station and the whole cast.

[grytpype]

3. More loser talk from Rall.

Thanks for the words of support, Ted.

[pinto]

25. Love your sig line, but

recently declassified information shows that it was: his...

"thoughts of"... weapons of mass destruction related program activities.

And yes, thank God we don't have Saddam's evil thoughts threatening our cities anymore.

[Cocoa]

4. why bet against it?

Rall doesn't know whether it's going to work or not. Obviously the people running it think it has a chance, what's the point of Rall betting against them?

[K8-EEE]

5. Mr. Rall Is A Drama King

Loved Air America -- am tripping all over myself patronizing their sponsors, just bought a case of wine for Easter untried just cuz they advertised on AA...

[LuLu550]

6. I hate talk radio but I've been listening to Air America each day

and I think it is great. I hope they can make a go of it.

[terrya]

7. I disagree with this.

For goodness' sake, this has been on all of FOUR DAYS.

It's just a little too soon to be delivering the eulogies, isn't it?

I think Air America will do fine.

Terry

[Daisey Mae]

8. Ted needs to listen to RANDI RHODES

I wouldn't be so sure that we will fail at this... He doesn't realize how hungry we are for the truth told with some humor.....Randi is rockin.....

[theoceansnerves]

10. not only are they funny

but they ARE well informed and can communicate their thoughts well. anyone who actually listened to franken or garafalo would know this.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. F* Ted Rall

As I recall he supported... someone else over Kerry.

[realdeal22k]

34. Umm...MANY of us supported someone else over Kerry

There were nine possible Democratic candidates running and I see nothing wrong with supporting any one or more of them. Kerry certainly was not my first choice. And you?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

37. He was hostile about it.

I was Kerry from day 1. Sorry for the hostility, but Rall really irked me.

[realdeal22k]

41. No problem...I suspect Rall was shunned by AA

or at least put on the long list of guests.

[NaderIsMyHero]

12. Quit acting like reactionary republicans....he's making sense.

They are copying right wing radio which is obviously WRONG. The one thing he has wrong...or rather left out is Randi,who I am listening to for the first time as I write this. She is obviously well informed and very prepared,even though she is confused on Ralph Nader and Al Gore.

[ronnykmarshall]

20. Oh plllllllluuuuuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzzeeeeeee!

So Air America needs to copy NPR, Pacifica? Don't get me wrong I love Pacifica for the most part.

Air America is kicking ass and taking names later.

Randi Rhodes handed St. Ralph his sorry ass back to him and for that I am greatful.

She said what I wanted to tell that ego driven asshole for four years.

[skooooo]

23. Give it time....It will develop its own personality.

IMO.

[theoceansnerves]

24. did you actually read the rant?

he's pissed because air america ISN'T like right wing hate radio!

[Catch22Dem]

36. I don't think ANY real Democrat is...

confused about Nader. No offense. Nader is your hero, but he's my motherfucking nemesis!

[mouse7]

48. That's why *AA* numbers have been earthshattering, huh?

It's Brian from I Stand For, we're doing the AAR website.

We're so sorry things have been buggy, nobody could have anticipated the response we have received.

We've broken records people... We are Real Audio's #1 stream. We were at 50,000 streams during Al's show around 2:00 EST. We got 350,000 unique visitors from 8:00 last night to 2 this afternoon. That puts us on pace to be a top 50 site...on the entire web. We're talking Bank of America, Dell Computers numbers.

You guys are awesome, this is amazing and we're so proud to be a part of it.

I assure you were working round the clock to bring you the best community website possible. Were getting new servers set up to handle the incredible response. Next week we'll be rolling out new functionality: membership, blogs, newsletters, and in a little bit, audio archives for all the shows.

So keep keeping on! We can do it. It's time to show everyone that we love America as much as anybody, and were not gonna sit by and watch George Bush poop in our porridge anymore.

LIBERALS RULE!

-b
Posted by brian at April 1, 2004 09:36 PM

http://alfrankenweb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9475

[Teddy_Salad]

13. Oh dear.....

......those grapes tasting a little 'sour', Ted?

Look, Air America will no doubt change over time.
In fact, in a year or two, it might no even sound as it now does and many of the current hosts may not even be on.
Radio stations do change over time and sometimes for the better.

There's no doubt that AA has many wrinkles to iron out but I've no doubt that it will survive because it's different and there is a market for it.
Shit, it's only been on 3 or 4 days.

I'm sure Ted's view of AA would change in an instant if they ever hired him.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

15. Well we all now know that the "R" in "Rall" stands for "Republican"!

We all know which side he's on.

Look, AAR needs time to iron out the wrinkles. It's not doomed!!!

Rall's just shilling for his GOP/Wall Street masters!!!

[KoKo]

31. He's not a Pug. His cartoons were thrown off NYT's for being against the

"Chimp!"

[KG]

50. what a ridiculous notion

try checking out his work work before making such an ignorant statement.

[JanMichael]

61. Hardy. He's probably slightly to the Left of Green.

And while his language was harsh I happen to agree that a celebrity and a radio talk show jock are two different animals.

I would like to see some more seasoned professionals like Randi scheduled.

Malloy? Guy James? Hello?

Don't get me wrong I LOVE Garofalo's show and think she'll do fine but once again a talk show host is a different animal...

[ronnykmarshall]

16. To quote Della Reese:

Ted, you can kiss my ENTIRE ASS!

[NuttyFluffers]

46. that was too good

yes, yes!

a repeat of della reese's quote:

Ted, you can kiss my ENTIRE ASS!

[ronnykmarshall]

64. I wish I could remember

the name of that movie she said that in. Eddie Murphy, Eartha Kitt ...... I love that movie.

[Borgnine]

17. Rall need to understand...

...that among the several differences between liberals and conservatives is that liberals know how to have fun. Liberals are just naturally funnier than conseratives (compare The Daily Show to Tough Crowd, for instance), so I don't have a problem with the humor on Air America.

[NightTrain]

18. Who the fuck asked Ted Rall, anyway?

Fuckin' guy can't draw to save his ass, yet his cartoons appear in papers from coast to coast. You'd think after all this time, Rall's drawing ability would've improved. But it hasn't.

Meanwhile, there's Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo, neither of whom ever hosted a radio show before this past Wednesday. And despite some kinks that need to be worked out, they're doing fine! And I've no doubt they'll both get better with time and experience.

What's the matter, Ted? Did you send a demo tape to Air America, only to either be turned down flat or get no reply at all?

[MurryMom]

19. More RW B,S.

Hey, Ted, just an hour before this post appeared, I tuned into Air America on my computer. With just a few hundred thousand or so listeners like me outside the 6-station listening area of Air America, they can't possibly fail.

Ted, besides Howard Stern, name one performer or network capable of attracting listeners like Air America.

I can't wait for Air America to replace some of the overweight RW blowhards like Jerry Bowyer and Fred Honsberger and Limbaugh who have metastasized all over our Pgh airwaves.

[bicentennial_baby]

21. RW BS?

Are you referring to Ted Rall as right wing? That's laughable.

[otohara]

26. Might As Well Be....

MM may not know who Ted Rall is...

Thanks Ted for doing the work of the RW, they will be using your column next week on CNN, MSRNC and right-wing radio stations across the country "See even one of their own doesn't think it will work"

Ted Rall should be invited on AA and be a guest.

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

54. And don't forget

Mike Pintak...

[bagimin]

60. Who coul attract listeners like Air America?

http://www.neilrogers.com

[madfloridian]

22. Wrong! We are even planning on getting XM radio.

We have never listened to radio before, but we don't want to turn it off now.

Baloney.

[movonne]

27. At one time Rush was not known and look at him now...It will take

a while for mainstream America to here it..But I think it is better than 90% of Right Wing radio and if it was not that the Corporate owned radio they would have been gone long ago.

[BattyDem]

28. I think he's wrong about humor ...

He reminded me of a Mel Brooks quote:

“When I was a soldier in World War II, I heard about death camps at Auschwitz. And I thought, ‘How do we get even with these terrible people?’ Do you put them against the wall and shoot them? How? Ridicule! You make the world laugh at these Nazis; shoot them down with humor.” Source

Humor is an effective weapon. I think Jon Stewart, David Letterman, Al Franken, Janeane Garofolo, Randi Rhodes and all the others who have been making fun of * recently, have done more to hurt him than the so-called news media. JMHO

[wyldwolf]

29. Just like commentators on the right, Rall is missing one important point..

my approach really was to attempt to be the left-wing Rush--aggressive, unfair to the Republican right, and unabashedly unashamed about promoting a liberal agenda.

What do you call Randi Rhodes?

People, it isn't an accident that she is in afternoon drive, arguably the most high profile day part on a radio station (morning drive gets the glory, afternoons get the ratings.)

Otherwise, I agree.

I think Janeane Garofalo, however, shows the most potential aside from Randi.

[Eric J in MN]

30. Ted Rall offers terrible advice.

Gee, why didn't they hire hosts no one ever heard of, intead of Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo, who are famous?

And why didn't they decide to broadcast in small towns instead of in big cities?

Awful advice from Ted Rall!

[WillyBrandt]

59. Spot On!

[Q]

32. Jealousy...

...is an ugly thing.

[Eric J in MN]

35. Jealousy, sour grapes, bad advice, all rolled together (nt)

nt

[Turbineguy]

33. One of the things I have noticed is

that conservative radio seems to do well financially. Just as the religious right seems to find a never ending stream of suckers to contribute. These people don't seem to notice that while they drive around in beat-up cars the Preachers who they contribute to are flying around in helicopters and private jets, or maybe they just don't mind.

This may or may not be true, but I think it is. (And I'm not trying to stroke anybody here, just making a point). Those who listen to the new progressive radio shows are more intelligent and well informed than those who listen to conservative radio. It would also seem logical that they would be more discerning where they spend their money than those who listen to conservative radio. Ergo Rush Limbaugh is able to command his huge salary.

BTW. When we lived in California, I used to listen to KFI in the morning and enjoyed a character named Maynard Farmer. It was more than 20 years ago and the memory has faded.

[jpgray]

39. My respect for Rall went to zero after he advocated cancelling the primary

He believed a Dean win inevitable after Gore's endorsement and said we should all get behind him. Obviously, if he is using the same crystal ball here, that's good news for AA.

[seventhson]

42. I Love Ted Rall. He was Wrong about Nader and he MAY be wrong here

The strident voices I am hearing are fine with me.

But I do wish they had hired him.

I was cut off of AA when I started talking about Anshell *Sheldon and Anita Drobney) and was kinda dissed by Randi Rhodes for it (I got on the first day)

I think his perspective is a valuable one.

I hope he gets a job there and proves himself wrong.

[NashVegas]

44. He's Right About One Thing

Stand-up comedy and broadcasting are very different animals.

The comics on Air America need to understand, ASAP, that they don't have to reach the back row, and to attempt to play to the back row is a major mistake. It's an intimate venue. You're not talking to 500 people, you're talking to 1.

[seventhson]

47. By the way- He admitted he was wrong about Nader too

Rall is opinionated. Like with Kerry, we progressives have to keep these liberal dems feet to the fire.

Rall is okay with me. I just hope he is wrong. But he might be right.

[patricia92243]

43. Ralls WAS on the air - sounds a loser wishing other people to lose also.

[Champion Jack]

45. 2 words for Rall ----SOUR GRAPES

[stopbush]

49. I'm not a radio listener. Never have been. But I've had AA on since

Day 1 on my computer. That's three days more listening to any radio than I've done in my entire life.

Oh, and I didn't even know Ted Rall had a radio show...not that I would have sought it out if I did know.

[devinsgram]

63. Me too!

I get it through my computer and now I have turned off the TV and just listening to AA. Sorry, but I've never even heard of Ted Rall before this post.

[AlFrankenFan]

51. Yeah, #1 Real Audio Stream on the Net, they're sooooooo doomed

Jeebus :P

[spanone]

52. One dudes opinion and who gives a shit.

[SmokeyBlues]

53. Gloom and doom

It's only be four days and all the soothsayers (republican and Republican-lite) are going public about the imminent demise of progressive radio. The network hasn't even been around for a full fucking week and already it’s doomed!

In case people have forgotten, conservative radio (if that's what you want to call it) wasn't an overnight hit. It took years for the likes of major GOP propagandists such as Rush O'Hannity to establish themselves. Hell, I recall when O'Reilly was just another largely no-name 'on air personality' at a local television station here in Boston.

I've long sense fear of a progressive movement in conservatives, but this current hysteria over a fledgling progressive radio network (one that has only been in existence for four days!) is nearly beyond belief. But then again, I didn't expect 'them' to say anything positive about this new 'left-wing' endeavor.

As for this observation from Mr. Rall:

"Listeners to AM talk radio crave honesty, straightforwardness, the ability to think on your feet when dealing with callers ."

My humble advice to Mr. Rall is to put down the crack pipe and walk away.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

55. AA provides an excellent mix

Big names for the draw, lesser-knowns with more on-air experience.

IMO:

Needs most improvement: Al Franken. I'd like him to be more of an interviewer than a conversationalist with his guests. His show seems structured to provide plenty of Al, which is great; I'd just like a little less Al and a little more guest when he's talking with someone worth hearing.

Hardest-working: Janeane Garofalo. She is really taking her job seriously and doing her best on all counts - informative, funny, and a good interviewer. She comes across great on radio. (Stephen Colbert will be her cohost this coming Monday. Yay!!!!)

Fastest horse out of the gate: Randi Rhodes. What a great choice for drivetime. Yep she's controversial, and sure she gets on some nerves, but damn is she good at the work.

Best show I didn't know I'd love: So What Else Is News? Marty Kaplan is great - another guy I hadn't heard before and now can't stop listening to.

[eleny]

56. Pish!

Saying will not make it so. they got off with a huge bang and will only get better and better and more popular!

[WillyBrandt]

57. Rall is the moron who said to cancel the primaries since Dean would win

This guy sucks, and I've never liked him; he's a crappy cartoonist whose appeal is just lost to me.

Now, Tom Tomorrow--that guy's a genius.

[Cat Atomic]

58. I love Ted Rall's columns and cartoons, but he was horrible on

the radio. Sorry Ted, but it's true. I'd take his advice on good radio with a grain of salt.

I think Air America is great.

[Robin Hood]

62. IS Ted Rall still on the radio?

Doesn't seem to be. I guess that all that Rush impersonation didn't cut it. And now he is giving advice? Puullleeeezzzeee.

[Soup Bean]

65. Ted Rall is GREEN with envy....lol....n/t

[sangha]

66. Ted Rall is OK with me

He's wrong about Air America, but he's still allright with me. He's done enough to attack Bush* with his incredible cartoons. He doesn't deserve being called a conservative. He should just stick to what he knows.

[leesa]

67. Well, I have zero interest in talk radio, but it sounds like there must be

an audience out there. Too bad Rall is selling it so short. He needs to be supportive.

[seventhson]

68. Attacking Ted Rall for his critique is just wrong!

I tend to agree with Rall in pretty much everything except his assessment that AA will fail.

Only time will tell if he is right.

The fact is that there WAS a toning down of the message.

Rall is simply one of the most brilliant cartoonists and commentators in the business.

His critique is a valuable warning to the prinsipals that they cannot be Bush-lite liberals. They cannot be appeasers. They cannot pull their punches.

Fact is that Rall made his prediction before the project even started. I can imagine that if he was dissed for being too far left that he would be a little sceptical of the commitment of AA to progressivism.

But I think the facts on the ground (or, rather, in the airwaves) will demonstrate that he is wrong about whether this effort will succeed.

I believe that he will see that a bright and informed approach by AA with the "anger" of Dean, the intellectualism of Gore and the insane rhetorical flourish and studied disdain of the right by Randi Rhodes will work like magic.

[WillyBrandt]

70. Rall is a horrible cartoonist, and he's taking sour grapes

as a basis for proclaiming the doom of the first progressive network with any market-reach in the radio biz.

[w4rma]

69. bull. (nt)

[Cat Atomic]

71. I listened to Rall's show every weekend when he was on KFI,

and I simply don't understand how he can think he's "too strident" for Air America.

I was always annoyed by Rall on the radio because he did pull his punches. He wasn't even swinging. Hell, he wasn't even in the fucking ring.

I don't remember Ted Rall ever actually confronting anyone. He'd play tennis with conservative callers, swatting their arguments down and that sort of thing, but it didn't go beyond that.

KFI is a very right wing Los Angeles talk station, and while Rall was relegated to a Sunday slot (as I recall), he was nonetheless on the air. He's no Mike Malloy or Randi Rhodes, so I don't understand his point here.