State Of Right Wing Talk Radio In Boston Area

[Varulven]

Raccoon, IF NPR has better ratings than RKO, then your belief that Air America Radio would flop here is premature and a sweeping generalization. Al Franken is not the guy - Jones Radio and Ed Schultz - who literally sounds a lot like Rush - intentionally - would be a logical candidate. Schultz is a great radio host, Al Franken is a great comedian/author - but not a great radio host. Air America needs to sideline Franken and have him as a guest, not the flagship.

The problem with right wing talk radio in Boston is the lack of communication with the vast Left Wing Conspiracy. It would make for great radio and garner more listeners. They use their stations like propaganda machines,
even Virgin Boy and Ted Sarandis. It is pitiful that only one side be heard with wild accusations that this is their "only" forum. That we Progressives have the internet and the "mainstream media" all sewn up. Preposterous propaganda. They just don't want you to hear both sides. As Raccoon said in a roundabout way in regards to voting only Republican, why bother when you've already made up your mind in advance. We progressives are more open minded. As I stated - we voted for Weld over Silber. It was the right choice: a do nothing over a despot. But it had repercussions and opened the door for a big blowhard like Mitt Romney to get himself elected. Yeah, Matt Amorello was piggish in his pork with the Big Dig - but that woman died on Romney's watch - and had Romney inspected the tunnels before her death - had he not just played the "Reaction by Crisis" game and grab his version of the 9/11 bullhorn - he would actually get me to consider voting for him. His laziness and flying around the U.S. to consider running for higher office is what is his undoing. A woman died on his watch - he never accepted responsibility for HIS failure to keep an eye on the Big Dig

Can we talk about THAT on the Howie Carr show when a Healy or a Romney is driving in to be on-air and listening to a caller with something substantial to say? Of course not! Not when someone here said Howie's wife throws parties for their Republican colleagues.

 

[Casablanca]

Nancy Shack aka "Sandy"

Only think this poster will say about WRKO at this moment is that I hope Nancy Shack, aka, "Sandy" gets well soon. Nancy had her gall bladder removed this week. The doctors couldn't do the new othoscopocpic (sp?) procedure where they actually make a tiny incision in the abdomen and suck out the gall bladder. In her case they had to go in the old fashioned way and remove it. That means moving around the liver to get at the gall bladder. Slower recovery as a result.
Could it be that Howie gave Nancy gall stones? Carr mentioned that she was at the Newton-Wellesley Hospital but should be home early this coming week.

 

[Varulven]

Nancy Shack is the voice of reason on the show - a progressive that Howie likes to have for "balance" - though he doesn't let her have enough of a voice. Maybe he can help her recuperate by letting her co-host the show for awhile?

Why Nancy hasn't HOSTED the program with Colonel what's-his-name doing a terrible job is the question.

Anyway - a sincere GET WELL to Sandy Shack - the voice of reason on the Howie Carr show.

 

[raccoonradio]

Col. Hunt can be funny but I can't take his raspy voice. And yes get well Nancy/Sandy; I kept hearing she was ill but didn't find out till the other day it was gall bladder...I think both of them are voices of reason, but maybe Howie more so.

I'm guessing conservative hosts, at least those who aren't as EXTREME as Mike Savage (who would be the extremist on the Left--the recently fired Mike Malloy?) , can attract those on the right and the middle and even some liberals (have heard them call into Rush, Carr, Hannity) while lib talk
hosts attract the left and maybe some in the middle but not the right. Whether this means that conservatives
are rigid in their views and won't listen out of principle to libs, or whether it's the personalities of the lib
hosts themselves, I don't know. I haven't bothered to check out too much of AAR but for me it could be a bit of
both...and in the case of Franken (see "God Spoke--and took away AAR in Dallas" on news/talk board),
his voice just doesn't cut it for me. I actually did like some of his SNL stuff: Limo for the Lame-O (or,
how making fun of Fred Silverman will take away your potential of being SNL producer someday);
The Franken and Davis Show, etc.)

Most conservative talk hosts have voices that are pleasant to the ear and put together an interesting show.
Yes, those on the left will find as much fault with them (see the Carr criticism) as those on the Right who
say, "Oh, AAR is nothing but I hate Bush 24 hours a day", but can you make it entertaining and hopefully
attract the Left, Middle, AND Right?

 

[Varulven]

Raccoon, Howie is rarely the voice of reason. His #1 priority is to entertain his listeners. It's like Jerry Williams with the sex shows - Jerry didn't need to do that - he chose to do that - and it was as absurd as Hustler magazine going Christian. Nancy Shack is against Howie's "death pool" - a pretty gruesome part of the show which serves no purpose outside of entertaining a low rent audience. If Howie chose to stick to Whitey Bulger or interviewing Shatner or Ray Manzarek - Brudnoy with some humor thrown in, he could be viewed as reasonable. Too many times he wanders from what he does best. Nancy Shack rarely - if ever - crosses that line. She's the one that brings balance to the program.

 

[raccoonradio]

>>We progressives are more open minded. As I stated - we voted for Weld over Silber

I'm conservative on most issues but I voted for Weld.
There is such a thing as a South Park Conservative (like me)--previously known as "Conservative
Democrats" until we got so sick of our party that we went Indie or even Republican. I am for
death penalty, less government spending (though GOP has had its share of spending sprees
too), crackdown on immigration, less hacks and cronies in govt., and fighting the war on
terror; marketplace over govt. contro, etc. I also hold positions on a couple issues that would make the folks on Free Republic look at me strangely. When I take online "political spectrum" tests, I wind up
in the middle on the axes of "liberal-conservative" and "libertarian-authoritarian". For not being in
the camp of those like Kerry (well, not Kerry M. Healey!) and Patrick, I get accused of being a far
right wacko.

Democrats, see that sea of red in the South and the middle of the country, states that once voted for
Democrats in Presidential races. The casting off of the party's conservative wing has resulted in
there not being a President Gore and President Kerry, and it may result it there not being a
President Hillary. "A national party no more"--Zell Miller.

If Kerry Healey were a Democrat and Deval Patrick a Republican, I'd vote Healey on the issues.

 

[Varulven]

The problem with a Howie Carr backing Kerry Healy - in addition to his being downright rude to her throughout the Romney term (speaking of terms, Muffy is hardly nice!), she just doesn't have what it takes.

I agree with you that she is promoting your issues, but so did Romney. Look at the doublespeak from Mitt -
and Howie is one of the first in line to attack his failure to stay in the state. If Democrats called him a carpetbagger that owned a Belmont home, he certainly gave them enough evidence that he IS a carpetbagger.

Muffy Healy has that baggage to carry through this campaign. But Carr's been shameless about the fact that if it pays the bills - and with 800 large he doesn't need to be concerned about bills - but if it pays the bills (read,
if his wife is throwing the parties you mentioned and they can play The Great Gatsby), well, he's saying without saying it "Kerry Healy's a moron but let's have her on the show".

Carr might be the first to tell you Deval Patrick is more proactive and will do more to benefit Massachusetts.

The biggest fear about Healy is that she's going to be worse than Jane Swift. She's done nothing to show us otherwise - and Carr is enabling a rich woman with little experience because it keeps his audience - people like you that believe in what you referenced above - happy.

It is obvious that Kerry Healy does back your issues - I have no problem with that. Where I do have a problem is with the John Silber types (and Healy isn't one of them, she's worse because Silber has a brain), someone I don't want in charge - even though he was a Democrat, it was Weld who got my vote. Deval Patrick may actually get behind some of your issues (not a lot of them, but some of them) effectively. Healy is likely to get torn apart by the Democratic majority. And rightfully so. She is not very skilled. Jackie Robinson would actually be a better governor than Healy except that he's doing his stand-up routine and realizes he can't win in this state.

 

[HHH]

Anybody who says that AAR is failing because they are "all Bush hate 24/7", obviously don't remember Rush Limbaugh's broadcasts during the Clinton adminstration.

Rush blamed the Clintons (with equal venom to both Bill and Hillary) for virtually everything wrong in the whole wide world. I can't remember a time on his show where he went more than two minutes without a personal insult to either one of them.

His shortlived TV show opened with animation of both of the Clintons in front of the White House acting stupid and saying ridiculous things.
I remember that during Whitewater, the Bill Clinton figure turned to Hillary and said "you know that we made a lot of money with this deal, just wait until they find out the other land deals that made us rich!"

The irony is that taxpayers spent an estimated 60 million dollars to find out whether or not the Clintons made an illegal 200 grand (pocket change for the Bush family). The other irony is that when it was revealed that the Clintons had official assets of less than one million dollars, Rush beat up Clinton for being "our first broke president". So which is it? First he is made fun of for getting "rich off of illegal land deals" then when that accusation is revealed as false, Rush shifts gears and makes fun of the Clintons for "being broke".

My point is not that talkradio shouldn't conduct themselves like this. Talkradio hosts are the modern day snake oil salesmen who travel the country working up the rubes about bottled cures that will fix everything. Anybody with any savvy knows what is going on here, and if there is money to be made manipulating the lower IQ crowd with emotional hot button retoric, then be my guest.

I just don't want to hear any of this nonesense that AAR is failing because of attacks on the President. This is what MADE Rush, for God's sake.