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Home Front: Culture Wars
Al Franken Radio - "Still Sucks!"
2004-04-06
Slightly EFL, and this criticism is from the Left:
Air America Radio is a Joke
And a bad one at that...
by Justin Felux
A while back I listened to a recording of a teach-in at Colombia University in which Cornel West was giving a speech.
"Yo, give it up for Brother West!"
At the beginning he said, "I’d like to thank that group that made September 13th an upbeat day for me, even given the death of brother Tupac Shakur." He was referring to the group of prisoners who took part in the Attica prison uprising o­n September 13, 1971, the same day that Tupac died in 1996. Some of the white liberals in the audience responded by laughing, thinking that West was making a joke. They were so clueless that they didn’t realize West was expressing genuine remorse over Tupac’s death. I was reminded of that incident when I started learning about this new "liberal radio network." I thought that a lot of black folks must be laughing right now, because although white liberals don’t seem to realize it yet, Air America Radio is a joke.
The joke’s on George Soros.
The network is making its debut in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. All three of these cities have a substantial black population. New York has the highest black population of any city in the country. Chicago’s black population is nearly as large as its white population.. Generally speaking, blacks are much more liberal than their white counterparts. About 90% of blacks vote for the Democratic Party as opposed to just over 40% of whites.
A quibble - voting Democratic doesn’t necessaily mean you’re liberal, maybe that you vote in your self-interest (e.g., you’re a union / gov’t employee, etc.).
Given these facts (???), o­ne might expect that African Americans would be prominently featured o­n this new "liberal radio network." Sadly, the folks at Air America Radio could o­nly find space for a grand total of 2 black people, by my count. Chuck D, frontman for the great rap group Public Enemy, deserves better than to be o­ne of the token black guys for this doomed misadventure.
My last post on this indicated that Chucky D was getting cold feet on that count, so I’ll disagree with Justin on that one.
The other is Mark Riley, who cohosts the show Morning Sedition.
Suggested new title - Morning Sedation.
Both Chuck D and Mark Riley have 2 white sidekicks cohosts. It gets worse.
Depends on your perspective, Justin...
In New York, Air America’s programming will be featured o­n WLIB-1190 AM, which is owned by the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation (ICBC). Prior to the partnership with Air America, WLIB had been serving New York’s black community for decades. It was an outlet for black activists and featured unique "Afrocentric" programming. The CEO of the ICBC, Pierre Sutton, tells his listeners that the new move "gives us an opportunity to impact o­n the world outside of our own community." Many in the black community don’t give a rat’s ass about doing the minaret for Whitey disagree. According to black activist Elombe Brath, "We have people here already who know radio, who can do shows. And they want to come in with a program from other people trying to talk to black people in New York City? (WLIB) is just a station that has been stripped of what it’s supposed to be! ... In reality what the station needs is to have some people who know the community and can speak to its needs." In recent years WLIB has mostly featured Caribbean programming. Carl Tyndale, a listener for more than 17 years, was upset with the takeover: "Where are we going to find Caribbean music now?
I don’t know, maybe buy a few CD’s, you cheap prick?
This station had so much information. They would broadcast cricket games and news from back home. Other stations don’t do that. I don’t think there is going to be many black issues with the new format, and there will be less Caribbean callers because people won’t feel at home. That is where people tune in to get something from home." Tracey-McCallum, a listener originally from Jamaica, was equally upset by the changes. "Their programming was quite good and offered quite a bit of Caribbean news; so that o­ne source now is no longer available to us, and I think it’s a great disappointment," she said. The station will still feature Caribbean content, but it will be limited to the hours between midnight and 5 AM. Of course, most white liberals are too busy bubbling over with joy to give a damn. "At last we have NPR CNN et al a voice!" Who cares if we further marginalize African Americans in the process? Hey, it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve done it. Russell Simmons recently attacked the arrogant indifference of white liberals at a gathering of the "Society of Ethical Culture." The meeting featured many members of Hollywood’s liberal elite. Most of the time was spent strategizing about how to defeat Bush in the upcoming election. When given the opportunity to speak, Simmons informed those in attendance that "The shit y’all doing is corny! You have to at least include people. We are not included!" The audience members responded by rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. Laurie David, the organizer of the event, later said, "I didn’t really understand what he was talking about. I was pretty clueless at the beginning of his diatribe and clueless at the end of it." Obviously.
Oh, yeah, I definitely see Chucky D signing on now!
Also in attendance was comedian Al Franken, who isn’t that funny sarcastically responded, "He said we were ’corny,’ which is a terrible insult. That really hit me hard."
I’d like to hit you hard, you smug, arrogant, half-retard bastard...
Franken now has his own show o­n Air America, which he has mischievously titled The O’Franken Factor.
... which makes me think of somebody with bolts in his neck...
Somehow I doubt black people will be tuning in to hear Al Franken deliver cheesy o­ne-liners about Bill O’Reilly.
Or anyone else, for that matter!
A brief scan of the reviews of Franken’s first show indicate that most found it disappointing and boring. They should not have expected anything better from Franken, who has been telling the same 5 jokes for the past 2 years or so. The show featured a bland interview with war criminal Bob Kerrey about the 9/11 commission followed by an interview with sellout filmmaker Michael Moore. The show reached its climax when former vice president Al Gore called in. Moore used the opportunity to perform verbal fellatio grovel. He issued a pathetic apology for backing Ralph Nader in the 2000 elections and promised to "throw a big party" for Al Gore if Bush loses the next election. The O’Franken Factor is followed by The Randy Rhoads Randi Rhodes Show, which featured a screaming Ozzy Osbourne and a Gibson Flying V match between Rhodes and Ralph Nader o­n its inglorious debut. Rhodes informed Nader that she was "pissed" that he "screwed up the last election." Nader tried to maintain his composure and engage in civil discourse, but Rhodes continued screaming at him until he eventually kicked her in the box gave up. Over the course of the civil, well reasoned discourse screaming match, Nader aptly nicknamed the network "Hot Air America Radio." Rhodes and Franken are both huge Moronasaurses partisan hacks who spent the majority of their time serving up a virtual Bill Clinton love festival.
Takin’ that blue dress to the dry cleaners, Randi?
The resulting analysis and content ended up being as hollow and partisan as Rush Limbaugh’s show. The only shows that seem to have any promise are Janeane Garofalo’s Majority Report and The Laura Flanders Show (full disclosure: I had a nearly obsessive crush o­n Garofalo as a teenager).
Bad taste is neither Republican or Democrat. Discuss.
Garofalo claims Noam Chomsky and The Original Howard Zinn among her ideological bedfellows. Laura Flanders o­nce worked for Fairness and Accuracy Reporting. Her fabulous new book, Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species, seems to be doing well. Hopefully the independence of Flanders and Garofalo will balance the partisanship of Franken and Rhodes.
Don’t hold your breath.
Sadly, it seems that nothing will be there to balance the utter whiteness of the network’s format. Considering that the Democratic Party would be a political nonentity without the support of black voters, the fact that they are shut out and marginalized at every turn is beyond insulting. Air America Radio is just another episode in a long history of callous indifference and clueless misunderstanding the Democratic Party and white liberals in general have shown toward the black community. White liberals need to wake up and realize that this sort of business isn’t going to cut it any longer, and black liberals need to speak up loudly and let them know it. Refusing to tune in to Air America Radio would be a good place to start. I know I won’t be.
Justin Felux is a writer and activist based in San Antonio, Texas. He can be contacted at justins@alacrityisp.net.
Air America, the Kursk of public radio...
Posted by:Raj

#10  shipman some people there have call me an extremer but there are other who have been supportive. frank g im not hear them say anything about death industry unions. what myself and others have say is that we all are trying to change the world for better and just cuz ones cuase isnt the others we all need to be supportive of each other. im not for gay marriage but im not going to put down someone who for it. all our idea get heard there even people who want to legalize drugs. al franken have his own blog now to.
Posted by: muck4doo   2004-04-07 9:32:56 AM  

#9  Air AmeriKKKa
Posted by: gromky   2004-04-06 11:22:52 PM  

#8  Funny. But this guy is basically saying they're too moderate. He wants them to drift further towards Chomskyland. Yikes.
Posted by: Tokyo Taro   2004-04-06 10:55:32 PM  

#7  Conservatives should be working hard to court the black vote this time around. Sound outrageous? Think again: this ain't the 1940's, I ain't my grandpappy, and Kerry ain't no LBJ.

Actually, getting a large portion of the black community to vote Republican all boils down to two words. Gay marriage.
Posted by: Secret Master   2004-04-06 8:56:24 PM  

#6  Thanks, Frank, compliments have been few & far between.

After I posted that, I scrolled down to this, which led me to this and these guys, and a full page viewing got me to Merritt's take on Day One, which got me to the original article at The New Republic (dated 3 days earlier), which isn't exactly a neutral source. Lost in the blogosphere...

A variant of the 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon', blog style?
Posted by: Raj   2004-04-06 8:06:01 PM  

#5  Raj - no problem - I wouldn't have caught it without GR's reference - I didn't think you would've either - that's a compliment BTW
Posted by: Frank G   2004-04-06 7:20:58 PM  

#4  I understand that Air America supports beef and poultry industries - unions, ya know? heh heh
Posted by: Frank G   2004-04-06 6:48:31 PM  

#3  Muckman do you think this AirAmerica would be a good buy for the KFC folks?
Posted by: Shipman   2004-04-06 6:45:20 PM  

#2  Yes, Frank G, my bad...
Posted by: Raj   2004-04-06 5:15:02 PM  

#1  hat tip to the Instapundit?
Posted by: Frank G   2004-04-06 5:12:53 PM  

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