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Al Franken Is A Big Fat Liar

M

mwebster

Guest
In an interview with The Progressive magazine, Al Franken says Air America did not hire radio talent because progressive radio talents were not available.

Fact is, Air America did not look very hard. They preferred instead to go for low-level name recognition and hire a few minor celebrities. And, in contrast to Democracy Radio, they've done nothing to build "a farm team" and develop radio talent.
______________________________________________________________________
Q: Did you have a difficult time attracting talent in the beginning?

Franken: Well, we didn’t really have a problem attracting talent, because there is no talent to some degree. [Laughs.] The right wing has had a radio apparatus for years and years, so they’ve had minor leagues—they’ve had local rightwing guys who’ve become national rightwing guys, and who build slowly, and that’s how it goes. We haven’t had that. It isn’t like we have a farm team.

Q: You do have some experienced radio veterans.

Franken: Yeah, but you need an experienced radio veteran who is a liberal advocate. And there just hadn’t been any radio that did that. And so they weren’t trained—they had developed all these bad habits of being objective and balanced and stuff like that. [Laughs.] It’s hard to get that out of a person. I mean, obviously, I value objectivity and actually caring about facts, and we do that on the show. I’m not saying we’re objective, but we’re advocates. Katherine [Lanpher, co-host of The Al Franken Show] is certainly much more objective than I am, and tries to rein me in and keep me in check, which is good.

http://progressive.org/?q=mag_intv0905
 
No he's not fat.

Okay, that was the easy joke. All I can say is these do read like pretty lame answers to fairly easy questions. It's as if he's trying to take straightforward questions and instead of just answering them, lead the interview.

Q: Did you have a difficult time attracting talent in the beginning?

Better answer: Well, we didn’t really have a problem attracting talent; its a matter of selecting the talent with the right chemistry.. or should I say the left chemistry.

Q: You do have some experienced radio veterans.

Better answer: Yes, but it takes time to get the formula right. The right wing never set out to build a right wing network. That's an advantage. EFM Media started with Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Dean Edell. A lot of Limbaugh's early affiliates carried shows like Dr. Joy Browne and even Alan Colmes. It was only over time that these stations evolved the formula for conservative talk radio. A farm team of local conservative talent developed that they could draw upon. AAR is trying to do something more difficult: Build an alternative network of stations from scratch.
 
My suggestion to those who ponder why Air America is so popular even though you believe the air staff is unprofessional and their views should not be heard in our democratic America because they differ from yours. Are you all ready? OK here comes... DON"T LISTEN!!!

Oh but ya gotta admit his books sure made O'Reilly, Limbaugh and the rest of those super patriots look stupid. :) Oh, that's right I forgot, he's a comedian, not a writer. How could I forget that. I guess he didn't make them look stupid. Must have been their own words that did it. Have a pleasant day.
 
The great apostle of free speech (and CBS news apologist) wants people to stop talking about Air America.

And typically, CBS News muddles the facts. I, for one, believe views different than mine should be heard. But I do consider the Air America air staff is what you call "unprofessional". These are two distinct viewpoints, which should not be lumped together. In my reading of these threads, most of the people here who criticize Air America's "professionalism" (including me) are in general agreement with the progressive talk viewpoint. But then, over-simplification is one of the hallmarks of CBS News.

> My suggestion to those who ponder why Air America is so
> popular even though you believe the air staff is
> unprofessional and their views should not be heard in our
> democratic America because they differ from yours. Are you
> all ready? OK here comes... DON"T LISTEN!!!
>
> Oh but ya gotta admit his books sure made O'Reilly, Limbaugh
> and the rest of those super patriots look stupid. :) Oh,
> that's right I forgot, he's a comedian, not a writer. How
> could I forget that. I guess he didn't make them look
> stupid. Must have been their own words that did it. Have a
> pleasant day.
>
 
> In an interview with The Progressive magazine, Al Franken
> says Air America did not hire radio talent because
> progressive radio talents were not available.
>
> Fact is, Air America did not look very hard. They preferred
> instead to go for low-level name recognition and hire a few
> minor celebrities. And, in contrast to Democracy Radio,
> they've done nothing to build "a farm team" and develop
> radio talent.

Al Franken is not a radio business professional, so I'm not surprised by what he said. Clearly AAR wanted to create a 24/7 network model, not a bunch of individual shows, so they needed a lot of hosts to fill airtime. Inevitably, poorly performing shows will be weeded out. I personally think Majority Report or Morning Sedition will be the next to go.
 
The usage of "Big Fat...." in the title of this thread is a politically
incorrect pejorative and ought to be punished severely.

In fact, there ought to be FCC fines for use of such invective if
uttered on the air anywhere!

Where is your sensitivity?

The day will come when we gravitationally challenged, follically
challenged and chronically challenged folks rise up and start
terminating the chronically underhourished who torment us. Possibly
by just sitting on you and bouncing a few times.

Take heed! The end is near!!!<P ID="signature">______________
God save us from those who would save us from ourselves! P-l-e-a-s-e!!!!!</P>
 
> The great apostle of free speech (and CBS news apologist)
> wants people to stop talking about Air America.
>
> And typically, CBS News muddles the facts. I, for one,
> believe views different than mine should be heard. But I do
> consider the Air America air staff is what you call
> "unprofessional". These are two distinct viewpoints, which
> should not be lumped together. In my reading of these
> threads, most of the people here who criticize Air America's
> "professionalism" (including me) are in general agreement
> with the progressive talk viewpoint. But then,
> over-simplification is one of the hallmarks of CBS News.
>
> > My suggestion to those who ponder why Air America is so
> > popular even though you believe the air staff is
> > unprofessional and their views should not be heard in our
> > democratic America because they differ from yours. Are you
>
> > all ready? OK here comes... DON"T LISTEN!!!
> >
> > Oh but ya gotta admit his books sure made O'Reilly,
> Limbaugh
> > and the rest of those super patriots look stupid. :) Oh,
> > that's right I forgot, he's a comedian, not a writer. How
> > could I forget that. I guess he didn't make them look
> > stupid. Must have been their own words that did it. Have a
>
> > pleasant day.
> >
>
Who's a CBS news apologist and who are you? Oh and what are you talking about?
 
> My suggestion to those who ponder why Air America is so
> popular even though you believe the air staff is
> unprofessional and their views should not be heard in our
> democratic America because they differ from yours.

Who pondered that?

> Are you all ready? OK here comes... DONT LISTEN!!!

Hmm... seems like it's wrong either way. People who criticize yet don't listen are told that they shouldn't criticize what they don't know (which is true) but if you DO listen and then criticize, you're told "DON'T LISTEN!!"

There is only one logical conclusion: "DON'T CRITICIZE!!"
 
Re: Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Druggie

> Obviously, subtlety and sarcasm are lost on you. Pity.

Okay, I give up. What does Limbaugh have to do with the subject? <P ID="signature">______________
<a href="http://saltydog.5gigs.com">
The Salty Dog</a>
</P>
 
> > My suggestion to those who ponder why Air America is so
> > popular even though you believe the air staff is
> > unprofessional and their views should not be heard in our
> > democratic America because they differ from yours.
>
> Who pondered that?
>
> > Are you all ready? OK here comes... DONT LISTEN!!!
>
> Hmm... seems like it's wrong either way. People who
> criticize yet don't listen are told that they shouldn't
> criticize what they don't know (which is true) but if you
> DO listen and then criticize, you're told "DON'T LISTEN!!"
>
> There is only one logical conclusion: "DON'T CRITICIZE!!"
>
Wrong again (How can the same people keep getting everything so wrong?) My point is that the same people do nothing but critisize Air America. They aren't using seasoned pros on the air, they are run by a corrupt organizations who takes money from children, their rating are awful and they are about to go out of business and on and on and the complaints come from the same few people who keep asking why there's so much talk about Air America and that they should be ghetto-ized on their own page and on and on. I used to listen to O'Reilly and it wasn't as much his politics that I disagreed with in the begining. It was his ego and big mouth and bullying that I couldn't take any longer. The bullying grew into the BS he spewed every day. I'm no fan of Randi Rhodes on Air America or Mike Malloy. Both are no better than their conservative counterparts and someone should sit Ms Rhodes down and explain to her how to properly give a network time cue and 48 past isn't the right way. No one says it's 48 past 3. They say it's 12 minutes before the hour, simple and conversational. I do like Franken's show because he backs up his info. That lends some creedence to his program, unlike many others. Opinions like A-holes are no big deal because everyone has one. You see, I like many Americans don't take the BS spewed by these shows as anything more than some loudmouth sitting behind a mike. If today's music didn't suck, this wouldn't even be a topic.
 
> Wrong again (How can the same people keep getting everything so wrong?)

My logic was impeccable based on the premises I laid out. I think your beef is with other people.

> My point is that the same people do nothing but critisize Air America. They aren't using seasoned pros on the air, they are run by a corrupt organizations who takes money from children, their rating are awful and they are about to go out of business and on and on

I don't and can't read any post but frankly, I haven't seen that. I DO see PW posting links (with no commentary whatsoever) and dampier and bierkenstock swimming toward it like sharks to blood. Do they not realize he feeds off their attention?

> and the complaints come from the same few people. who keep asking why there's > so much talk about Air America and that they should be ghetto-ized on their
> own page and on and on.

You are hypersensitive to the suggestions that AAR get its own board. Other boards are subdivided all the time and people either agree or disagree but only here do people get pissed... PISSED! .. and call it "getto-izing". It's an organizational thing. Not EVERYTHING is politics you know. It's been settled. We're told it's not going to happen. It's not THAT important to me. Now instead of trying to change it, I'm commenting about the topics as they come up and people don't like THAT either!

> I used to listen to O'Reilly and it wasn't as much his politics that I
> disagreed with in the begining. It was his ego and big mouth and bullying that
> I couldn't take any longer. The bullying grew into the BS he spewed every day.

Is this where I'm supposed to step in and defend Bill O'Reilly? Sorry. Go find someone else. I probably think less of him than you do. I'm consistent. I say the same thing about him as I do Michael Jackson: You don't pay someone millions of dollars for their allegations of sexual impropriety when you are innocent.
Plus, I don't believe he's intellectually honest. I think he's trying to affect this "last- honest-man-in-America" persona which is beyond tiresome.

> I'm no fan of Randi Rhodes on Air America or Mike Malloy.

Randi is okay. Malloy... Anyone who has read my posts knows I think he should be bagging groceries somewhere. The least talented man in radio in my opinion.
 
> > I used to listen to O'Reilly and it wasn't as much his
> politics that I
> > disagreed with in the begining. It was his ego and big
> mouth and bullying that
> > I couldn't take any longer. The bullying grew into the BS
> he spewed every day.
>
> Is this where I'm supposed to step in and defend Bill
> O'Reilly? Sorry. Go find someone else. I probably think less
> of him than you do. I'm consistent. I say the same thing
> about him as I do Michael Jackson: You don't pay someone
> millions of dollars for their allegations of sexual
> impropriety when you are innocent.
> Plus, I don't believe he's intellectually honest. I think
> he's trying to affect this "last- honest-man-in-America"
> persona which is beyond tiresome.


O'Reilly is hard to take. Occasionally good radio, but rare. In this market he's bounced between about 3 stations and I don't think has been on at all for about a year.

>
> > I'm no fan of Randi Rhodes on Air America or Mike Malloy.
>
>
> Randi is okay. Malloy... Anyone who has read my posts knows
> I think he should be bagging groceries somewhere. The least
> talented man in radio in my opinion.

Never heard Malloy, but Rhodes is unlistenable. A left-wing version of Savage. Don't think either one (Savage or Rhodes) is qualified to bag groceries.
 
Fun to watch?

> Never heard Malloy, but Rhodes is unlistenable. A left-wing
> version of Savage. Don't think either one (Savage or
> Rhodes) is qualified to bag groceries.


Imagine this:

Savage working in a supermarket bagging groceries. He wouldn't
get much bagged...he's spend too much time examining every purchase
and expounding on how you were poisoning your body with the junk
food.

Rhodes working another register in the same supermarket bagging
groceries. She wouldn't get much bagged...she'd wpend too much
time scolding you over why you didn't bring your recycled canvas
shopping bag and what in hell is wrong with you for wanting to
sacrifice trees to make paper bags, oil to make plastic bags,
and besides, those bags pollute the fragile environment.

Either way you'd leave the store in disgust. Hungry, but having
saved big bucks by not buying anything!
<P ID="signature">______________
God save us from those who would save us from ourselves! P-l-e-a-s-e!!!!!</P>
 
Re: Fun to watch?

Hilarious...Thanks for the humor. Some of these guys need it!<P ID="signature">______________



</P>
 
Hey! Yo watch yo mouffff

> Hilarious...Thanks for the humor. Some of these guys need
> it!

Humor? Humor? That weren't no stinkin' "humor" That was
SEERIOUS po-litikkal anal-y-siss!<P ID="signature">______________
God save us from those who would save us from ourselves! P-l-e-a-s-e!!!!!</P>
 
Re: Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Druggie

> > Obviously, subtlety and sarcasm are lost on you. Pity.
>
> Okay, I give up. What does Limbaugh have to do with the
> subject?
>

The header of the original post..."Al Franken Is A Big Fat Liar"...was a play on Franken's book "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Liar". My answer to that post was to...again...make a play on that post by heading it "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Druggie". (Limbaugh is being investigated in Florida for "doctor-shopping" to obtain drugs illegally.) Derr.

God! Are you really that dense or do you just intentionally play a dense character on-line? Please try to keep up with current events and a general grip on reality. :)
 
Re: Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Druggie

> God! Are you really that dense or do you just intentionally
> play a dense character on-line? Please try to keep up with
> current events and a general grip on reality. :)

Just trying to conform to the intellectual level of your post. <P ID=""signature">______________
<a href="http://saltydog.5gigs.com">
The Salty Dog</a>
</P>
 
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