Dolemite wrote:
] If tax money is going to support the stations, then those
] stations should try to be as fair as possible - not completely
] in the middle, but also not tilting heavily towards another
] side.

I'd argue that it ought to be up to the people in the military to determine what they want to listen to, rather then the taxpayers at large. Obviously this radio station has an influence but this isn't a complete mind control system. Its a way of entertaining and communicating with a large troop deployment. You shouldn't use it to shove your views down their throats. If you do, no one will pay attention, at it won't serve its original purpose.

Does the left have entertaining radio personalities? Not really. If it did, people in the armed forces would probably be interested in continuing to listen to them. This radio station has to do with being connected with one's culture while being stationed overseas. If left wing talk show hosts were a part of that culture, there would be demand.

In fact, if that demand existed, and the military was refusing to meet it, this would be a very different story. Thats not the case. This appears to be stateside liberals trying to wedge themselves some airtime.

Somewhat hypocritical really. Reminds me of church groups complaining about rock and roll. Certainly the military shouldn't be polluting our young people's minds with smut while they are overseas!

Air America is a very recent experiment. I'm sure that Al Franken would love to increase his listener base by getting covered on Military radio, but making that happen by making it a political requirement rather then by creating demand from the soldiers themselves is the cart leading the horse.

Traditionally, liberal perspectives haven't really lent themselves to pundit talk shows because those shows are all about talking shit, and liberals are all about intellectual reasonableness. The left equivelent of Rush Limbaugh is certainly an anti-american anti-WTO type liberal who is (similarly to Limbaugh) a short step removed from people who've got their basement filled with pipe bombs.

Such a personality wouldn't work on a military radio network in the same way Limbaugh does for reasons previously discussed. (As long as the Reps are in the Whitehouse, again if the Dems were in the Whitehouse the situation would probably be reversed.) But, of course, there aren't any radio personalities like this to choose from. These people write...

(So, I finally decided to actually read the article. It didn't really change my mind. But I'll add two thoughts.

1. Clearly Limbaugh was brought in under political duress in absense of demand. That was wrong. Two wrongs don't make a right.

2. Is Paul Harvey "ultraconservative"!??!?)

RE: Rush Limbaugh's forced conscripts