The Death of Air America

Air America was an ill-conceived project that should have been killed before it even had the chance to begin (kind of like a radio abortion, a subject most liberals can understand). Brian Anderson sums up the reasons the poor libs just can't find success in the radio realm:

So why do liberals fare so poorly on air? Some on the left say it's because liberals are, well, smarter and can't convey their sophisticated ideas to the rubes who listen to talk radio. Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, whose own stint as a talk-show host was a ratings disaster, gave canonical expression to this self-serving view. Conservatives "write their messages with crayons," he maintained. "We use fine-point quills."

Saying something that most people don't believe will not make them believe it whether it's written in crayon, quill or blood. The point is that most people really don't like what liberals have to say. Either that or us great unwashed are just too stupid to figure out what the sophisticated, nuanced leftist elite are saying. Anderson continues:

• Entertainment value. The top conservative hosts put on snazzy, frequently humorous shows. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, dean of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication, observes: "The parody, the asides, the self-effacing humor, the bluster are all part of the packaging that makes the political message palatable." Besides, the triumph of political correctness on the left makes it hard for on-air liberals to lighten things up without offending anyone.

That's the more likely reason. Liberals can't make fun of anyone except for Republicans and conservatives. Most importantly, liberals can't laugh at themselves. Listen to Garofalo or Rhoads (sp?), they are mean spirited, not cutting edge. The reason Rush does so well is he can laugh at himself as well as have a daily buffet of comments from Democrat leaders such as Ted Kennedy and former KKKer Robert Byrd, not to mention Howie Dean and the shrill Hillary Clinton.

Libs will never get it; they are a party of coalitions that include unions, minorities and feminists. These groups vote on single issues such as quotas and abortion while conservatives, neocons and Republicans tend to vote on the entire package of strong defense, lower taxes and basic human morality.