Talk Radio !

Progressive Americans across the nation are wondering how could it be that a small fringe of the extreme right has so captured the nation's airwaves. And done it in such an effective fashion that when they attack folks like Tom Daschle, he and his family actually get increased numbers of death threats? How is it that ex-felons like John Poindexter's protégée Ollie North and Nixon's former burglar G. Gordon Liddy have become stars? How is it that ideologues like Rush Limbaugh can openly promote hard-right Republicans, and avoid a return of the dead-since-Reagan Fairness Doctrine (and get around the desire of the American public for fairness) by claiming what they do is "just entertainment"?

Program directors and station managers all claim they have to program only hard-right hosts. They point out that when they insert even a few hours of a centrist or progressive talk host into a typical talk-radio day, the station's phone lines light up with angry, flaming reactions from listeners; even advertisers get calls of protest. Just last month, a talk-radio station manager said, "Only right-wingers listen to AM radio any more. The lefties would rather read." 

That sums it up in a nut shell.  People with an open mind do not waste their time listening to talk radio. I know that every time I try I get turned off by all the ignorance and negativity.  Haters seem to think that they have all the answers and Liberals are all Socialists and um-American.  Many Conservatives all agree on the same issues, they never take the time to learn any of the fine points about issues.  They would rather listen to some gomer like Rush, Glen, or Sean tell them how to think. They even seem proud of this fact by unabashedly calling themselves Ditto Heads. I talked to my barber today and he said he was against the new Affordable Care Act. He asked me what I thought about it. I told him that I had looked up all aspects of the bill. I informed him of the sections in affect and when the others came on line. He seemed surprised that the infamous donut hole in Medicare part D gave a $250.00 rebate to people who had reached the hole.  He did not know that this year people who reached this donut hole would receive a 50% discount on drugs and that the percent would go up until it is completely closed in 2020.

My point is that Conservative radio does a piss poor job of informing its listeners. These hosts just tell lazy dumb people how and what to think. Progressives, like me, who can read have taken the time to educate themselves on the sections of this health care bill.

What can be done?

If you're in the business, or if you listen to radio, call your local stations (both talk and music) to let them know that you want to hear progressive or Democrat voices, and will even patronize the advertisers of such shows when they run them.

It's time to revitalize democracy and rational political discourse by returning balance to our nation's airwaves, and the profits to be made in this huge unfilled market of Liberals may just be what Station managers need to hear.  I like to read but would not mind listening to the facts instead of having to look them up all the time