Air America

I've somewhat enjoyed the offerings I've so far heard on "Air America," the liberal alternative to the radio rightists. But only somewhat. Hey, it's still AM radio -- which means lots of commercials and lots of listener call-ins, both of which annoy me.

Even so, I hope the experiment succeeds.

One of the most noteworthy responses to this new network came from Richard Viguerie and David Franke in the Los Angeles Times. Their rather too-revealing piece smirked at the very idea of a liberal network. They insist that many years, and many, many more dollars, are required to create a "movement" akin to the one Viguerie did so much to inflict upon America.

A movement? Who said anything about a movement?

Most movements in the political realm -- fascism, communism, nativism, nationalism -- have done the world little good and much evil. A movement is usually an exercise in mob mind control. The proper counterweight to UltraRightThink would come not in the form of a competing brainwashing system but as a simple call to independent thought.

As for the funding: Air America is designed to pay for itself. It is a capitalist enterprise, unlike the operations of Scaife and Moon, which can feed hatred and lies to the masses for years and years without a single worry about red ink. There is irony here: Media outlets promoting the government line (NewsMax, The Washington Times) can operate for quite a while without facing the harsher realities of the free enterprise system, while the liberals must earn their keep the old-fashioned way.

The question then becomes: Where do the Right's media mavens get that kind of money? How can Moon, for example, afford to fund the Washington Times at a $100 million loss, year after year? And just how did Rupert Murdoch get into the position he's in?

This is a subject we shall address at length soon. For now, let us note one odd fact: Both Richard Mellon Scaife and the Reverend Moon have been connected the United States intelligence community. Scaife has even bragged about it. And Murdoch? Well, for starters, I suggest reading the books of Sterling Seagrave -- very carefully.

One of Viguerie's main points is that liberals "don't know how to go for the jugular." They're all too squishy and soft. And yet, on the very day that Air America made its debut, I heard one conservative nay-sayer dismiss host Randi Rhodes as too strident.

Well, which is it? Too soft, or not soft enough?

Conservative mud-slingers don't care about consistency. If you're 5'8" tall, they'll say you're too short. If you're 5'8" and 1/4, they'll say you're too tall.