Free Republic

For two publicity-craving liberal talk hosts looking to milk recent circumstances, results are so far mixed. Ed Schultz thought he had a deal to broadcast to U.S. soldiers, but the Pentagon now says otherwise.In part one here, Fargo, North Dakota-based Ed Schultz is reaping a mini-whirlwind of press attention, for making unsubstantiated claims against Armed Forces Radio. Possibly in response to a Democrat-led push for greater ideological programming "balance" on global military broadcasts, the Ed Schultz show was, in theory at least, to begin Monday. Instead, his nationally syndicated program was halted before even a single airing. Was it ever...

It's a sure sign of industry saturation: with liberal talk radio now the flavor of the month (despite the lack of results), every Progressive Peter or Socialist Sally who's ever walked a precinct, waved a sign, or run for town council, seems ready to kick off a syndicated talk program. Announcements of new efforts, some by relatively unknown people, now seem to emerge ever more frequently.

Remember a year ago, when Air America's programming was abruptly yanked off the air in Los Angeles and Chicago, after financial troubles were revealed, including bounced checks? Air America has since gone out of its way to put those unpleasant memories into the distant past. But they're not the only liberal talk radio game in town, with other syndication companies in the mix. The somewhat mysterious Democracy Radio has also been involved in this effort, with ownership of the Fargo, North Dakota-based Ed Schultz show, in partnership with Denver-based Jones Radio Networks. Friday, a bigger question mark emerged:

(CNSNews.com) - Democracy Radio, one of the liberal groups that wants to boot Rush Limbaugh off Armed Forces Radio, sees radio as the route to voters' hearts. "With the full support of right wing organizations, conservative talk show hosts now are clearly playing a critical role in shaping the attitudes of many Americans which, in turn, are having an effect on the outcome of elections," Democracy Radio says on its website. "As long as elections continue to be as close as the presidential election of 2000, talk radio will continue to play a meaningful role." Democracy Radio -- along with...

(CNSNews.com) - Liberal groups that want to bounce Rush Limbaugh's radio show off Armed Forces Radio have found a Senate ally. Sen. Tom Harkins (D-Iowa) announced on Wednesday that he has successfully amended the Fiscal Year 2005 Defense Authorization bill, adding a provision that calls on American Forces Radio and Television Service to provide political balance in its public affairs programming. Harkin was quoted as saying that American Forces Radio and Television Service is funded by taxpayers of all political persuasions, and therefore it should "make a greater effort to provide balanced representation of political viewpoints on its airwaves to...