Friday, January 22, 2010

Thoughts for Friday

Air America closes its doors
Blame it on the economy, bad management, or lack of talent, the fact remains that the market for liberal talk radio is much smaller than conservative radio because there are about half as many liberals as conservatives, according to self-identifying polls. If you're as far-left as Al Franken, then there are even fewer liberals.
But the bottom line is that radio is radio. If it's not entertaining,  you'll have trouble getting market share, and the resultant ad revenue. My exposure to talk radio is only about 20 minutes a day, but most of it is entertaining, even if I disagree -- sometimes -- with what is being said. Once upon a time, when I used XM Radio, I listened to the liberal talk there, and it was a big yawn. Boring with a capital B.

E.J. Dionne admits broken Obama promises, almost
In yesterday's Washington Post, E.J. says: "It turns out there were core contradictions in the promises Barack Obama made to the country in 2008." Ya think? Come on E.J. Just come out and say it. What Obama said on the campaign trail has nothing do to with the reality in Washington now. But he goes on to blame things on those obstructionist Republicans, the party of "no." He thinks the majority of Americans want "health-care reform." He's right. We do. The system needs some reform. But we don't need to throw out the current system and replace it with a government monstrosity.  Republicans do have a plan, despite what you are lead to believe. But Americans -- as evidenced by Scot Brown's senate victory -- don't want what the left-wing of the Democrat party proposes. Simple as that. Go figure.

The Supremes rule on corporate financing of campaign ads
I don't like the notion of a ton of money being thrown at political campaigns by corporations, wealthy individuals, et al (should it all be public financing?), but the 1st amendment is plain: Congress shall make NO law abridging freedom of speech. The fact that four justices desented amazes me. You can't read plain English? This is why we have so many problems in Washington. While I applaud the SCOTUS for upholding the Constitution, it's time for Congress to pass some campaign finance laws that make sense.

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