Scott Brown takes the Kennedy seat in the Senate, McCain-Feingold gets gutted, and now this:
Air America Radio, a radio network that was launched in 2004 as a liberal alternative to Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators, on Thursday shut down abruptly due to financial woes.
The network once boasted hosts such as Al Franken and Rachel Maddow, but struggled from the outset, including multiple management shake-ups, a bankruptcy in 2006 and sale for $4.25 million the following year.
Air America ceased airing new programs Thursday afternoon and said it will soon file to be liquidated under Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It began broadcasting reruns of programs and would end those as well Monday night.
via Air America Radio closing, filing for bankruptcy – Yahoo! News.
Why was it that when the conservatives were in power, all we got was liberalism, and now that the liberals are in power, we are getting conservatism?
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say it’s because a large segment of Americans dislike both liberals and conservatives but still buy into the false liberal/conservative dichotomy. Ergo, while they dislike both, they always choose one as opposition.
I’m not sure that Air America is much of a loss to anybody. I tuned in when I lived in Minneapolis for entertainment value and to hear what the “other side” was saying. I really don’t mind hearing contrary viewpoints; in fact I enjoy it, but the commentary was so embittered that I couldn’t take it for very long. Say what you want about Rush and Glenn Beck. They certainly have their point of view, but they are also professional, funny and entertaining. Air America was more like listening to someone who was in the middle of a bitter divorce go on and on and on and on.
Ah, schadenfreude. It is the child of pride, which cometh before the fall. Conservatives, beware! It isn’t you that is being chosen, when radical liberalism is being rejected.
I heard about five minutes of Air America a few years back, and the guy was ranting and raving so badly (I think it might have been Minnesota’s own Comrade Nikolai Colemanov) that I had to ask him what on earth I was listening to. As far as I could tell, they were running the liberal equivalent of a “black helicopter conspiracy” show, but instead of people doing it for free, they had a million dollar payroll and were trying to buy time on 50kW stations. It’s amazing they lasted this long.
Can you explain what you mean by “when the conservatives were in power, all we got was liberalism”? I don’t get that part.
The irony is that in 2008 everyone said the Republicans in Red States would only win by tracking leftward, but now Republicans in Blue States are winning by tracking rightward. Of course, I’m skeptical that this moment will last.
Why? Because it’s far easier to complain about how things are being run than to actually do a better job yourself.
John @ 7 is right. It is far easier to be the minority than to be the party in power. The Democrats enjoyed complaining and whining while the Republicans were in charge, and now the Republicans are getting the chance to do the complaining. Look at the ratings for the prime time opinion shows on Fox News vs. CNN and MSNBC this year. Amazing disparity.
This is why, when you are responsible for a ministry of some sort, and a congregant comes up to you complaining that we really should have a program for doing this or that, the best response, if you agree, is to say, yes, please start it. You will have my full support.
Along with some previous commenters, I have to question your claim that “when the conservatives were in power, all we got was liberalism”.
To be sure, the opposition always gets to have the most fun — given that the people in power will always be screwing up, it’s easier to point that out when your guys aren’t the ones in power.
But, just as there are still liberal voices today (they tend to be more involved on blogs and less on talk radio*), there were plenty of conservatives back in the day: O’Reilly, Limbaugh, etc.
*Or maybe it’s just me, but I don’t know any liberals that ever listened to Air America. I’m not sure I could tell you what channel it was, even. Most of the liberals I know listen to NPR.
Such a victory is only as consequntial as the opponent.
“Why was it that when the conservatives were in power, all we got was liberalism, and now that the liberals are in power, we are getting conservatism?” Because the whole process is a sham and a fraud. The same group of ultra-rich folk really run the thing no matter which of the two sides of the one party is in power. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. If voting really changed things it would be illegal.
I’m on the right and I listen to NPR but some of their more leftist hosts annoy me sometimes. They do three things that get me to switch the station:
Present false dichotomies
Present liberal-point-of-view as authoritative
Assume false consensus on controversial issues
I do appreciate the hosts on NPR that attempt to play it straight.