The Air America Plan

"'Americans are ultimately skeptical of media commentators who seem to have a political agenda that supersedes their search for the truth...'"

True. Or, at least they should be. This great article by Joshua Green at The Atlantic Monthly talks about the emerging liberal talk radio empire and how its emulation of the former conservative tactic may indeed lead the Democrats to a similar outcome. The statement above, by Michael Harrison of Talkers does have that ring of truth to it - especially in context to what we have seen in Limbaugh and others, but does it really mean that liberals like Franken and Rhodes have to follow the same path?

Inherently, there IS something different between Dems and Repubs, or Libs and Cons, not unlike men being from mars and women from Venus, so why do people presume that they suffer the same fate? Green does point out that Dems will fail if they try too much. Franken is no liberal Limbaugh, and he should not act that way. Liberals need to shape the agenda entirely differently in order to take positive charge. As Green notes: " the network is already infected by the corrosive negativity, strutting egotism, and bizarre paranoia that marked much of what traversed the conservative airwaves in the late 1990s." Here, I would have to agree and it may prove valuable to widen its reach to more moderate Dems and pragmatic progressives as well, while not straying from its roots. Practically speaking this makes sense and symbolizes a compassionate and balanced value. That is a goal. Many should not be excluded but drawn in for healthy democratic debate that concentrates on making change in our ailing communities. I am not talking about appealing to that crazy Right-wing nut job on your block - the one that argues in Bush-speak at random -, but showing those folks that practical steps fix problems, not shock and awe…