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Whether it's something in New York City's tap water or the moon's current phase, the Radio Equalizer isn't sure, but some kind of foot-in-mouth disease is afflicting its radio hosts. First, it was Don Imus over the weekend, who complained of cocaine dealers who were too slow to supply more drugs, back when he was an addict. What a grave injustice. Now, Al Franken sinks to his own fresh low in a new Playboy interview, according to the New York Daily News. Will feminists be able to remain silent this time? Rachel Maddow, are you paying attention? Get a load...

Sure enough, the holidays brought only a temporary reprieve from the mainstream media's strange and endless fascination with Al Franken, where fluffy coverage is routine. Isn't it more of an affliction for these reporters, like a Frankenflu? And what an especially astounding example of Frankenfluff we have today, coming from the Chicago Tribune's Nina Metz. Get a load of these brutal, probing questions on the contents of his soon-to-be-vacated New York City flat, from "The Truth (and a Joke) About Al Franken's Apartment": .......snip........

Like a lingering, nasty winter cold, Willie Brown is one politician the Golden State just can't seem to shake. To remove the notorious former California State Assembly speaker from power, it took a constitutional rewrite that imposed legislative term limits. And after Democrats lost control of the chamber to the GOP in 1995, voters were dumbfounded when Brown outfoxed them, manipulating two Republican surrogates Manchurian-style to retain power. When those limits finally prevented Willie from any additional time in Sacramento, he promptly ran for mayor of San Francisco, serving two terms from 1996 to 2004. Even as many Californians saw...

Al Franken was at the Edina Barnes and Noble today for a book signing/reading/Q&A for his latest book Truth. It pretty much amounted to the standard leftist Bush-bashing: no good happening in Iraq, there were no WMD's(wronng), no ties to Al-Queda (wrong), Bush has no interest in gradually handing over the mission to the Iraqis in order to make money for his Halliburton buddies, no interest in alt. energy sources/science/etc. Steady diatribe of "it's Bush's fault". Last part was going into the Stuart Smalley mode, calling Bush an alcoholic in denial and needing therapy. I did avoid barfing.

While there may have been just one especially outspoken supporter of Al Franken's embarrassing attempt at confronting US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia last week, mainstream media liberals sure know how to make it count. Late Tuesday, CBSNews.com gave John Nichols of The Nation top billing for his "Al Franken V. Antonin Scalia" piece. While the site's opinion section does also feature conservative commentaries, they sure seemed happy to highlight this Op-Ed with a major headline and prominent real estate. Addressed previously here at the Radio Equalizer, this essay resembles a slowly-spreading virus, destined to undermine the truth in a...

Whether the left was busy overdosing on Tofurkey, or protesting at shopping malls (we're certain they weren't with Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, nobody was), the Radio Equalizer isn't sure. They were very, very late to the Franken-Scalia party, however. After widespread New York City media criticism (previously covered here), along comes The Nation a week later, claiming Al Franken was actually right to confront US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Yes, we can read Al's mind: "Hey, where the #!%#&?! were you guys last week?" Why didn't more lefties race to Franken's rescue when this first broke? Did even they...

Isn't nonstop fawning press coverage wonderful? Other than entrenched, well-connected liberals like Al Franken, of course, who exactly would have an idea of how that feels? For the Radio Equalizer, the toughest task is weeding through it, otherwise we'd cover nothing but Frankenfluff (a term we coined to describe the particular level of positive press Al routinely enjoys). Even this mainstream media lovefest can have pitfalls for unsuspecting recipients, however. Why? Because it eventually leads to carelessness and overconfidence. Particularly during recent television interviews, we've already seen that in Franken, who can't seem to understand why anyone wouldn't find the...

So much for Al Franken's "A-List" celeb aspirations. In confronting US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at a New York event Monday, Franken was exposed as insignificant. With this sobering reality check, perhaps Al will learn to stick to the Smalley routines. Don't take the Radio Equalizer's word for it, New York City newspapers are having a pre-Thanksgiving journalistic feast, thanks to our friend Al. According to the New York Daily News, Justice Scalia wasn't even familiar with Franken as the two sparred during outgoing Time honcho Norman Pearlstine's latest "Conversations On The Circle" event: ....

Especially from the "progressive" network's supporters, it's funny to see how carefully scrutinized our Air America coverage has routinely become. What's not mentioned, however, is how AAR's harshest critics are increasingly on the left. Originating with Marc Maron's on-air protests concerning his upcoming "Morning Sedition" removal, a deep liberal divide has recently begun to emerge concerning the network's future. Normally, a radio talk host marked for termination doesn't stick around for two months to complain about it. Nasty as it may seem, standard procedure is an instant programming schedule disappearing act......

Upon his return from a week in Mexico, a clearly irritated Rush Limbaugh lashed out Monday at liberal critics who accused him of seeking to make a profit from troops stationed in Iraq. He says the idea for his "adopt-a-soldier" Limbaugh subscription gift offer came from a listener. While he was away, however, lefty detractors were quick to compare his program to Air America's recent (and failing) "associates" campaign....

Ranking talk show hosts using differing methods, two lists are making big waves today. Al Franken can't possibly be happy with the just-released 2005 Lycos Top Radio Hosts list, where he fell all the way out of the top 20, after ranking 10th in 2004. Each year, Lycos ranks radio personalities based on Internet search enquiries. While that's certainly a novel approach to ranking popularity, it probably doesn't tell the whole story. Oddly, while Franken vanished, Air America co-conspirator Janeane Garofalo made this year's list, in 12th place.

Countering Air America's recent success claims by Al Franken over Bill O'Reilly, the Radio Equalizer yesterday heard from a talk radio executive with additional information on this supposed battle. As part of recent internal company research on the strength of various syndicated hosts, the programmer learned that while O'Reilly's radio success varies somewhat nationwide, he's a powerhouse in Boston. Heard in the Hub on Boston's WTKK-FM, O'Reilly turns out to be one of the market's strongest national programs, crushing competition from Air America's two area stations, WXKS-AM and WKOX-AM.

Providing a fascinating media bias case study, watching Al Franken's The Truth (With Jokes) struggle to stay slightly ahead of Michelle Malkin's Unhinged underscores the extra push liberals need to win the Amazon wars. As of 11am, Franken and Malkin are still neck and neck, with the former's release in 16th place and the latter's ranked 18th. After two full weeks of Frankenfluffy newspaper reviews, however, think about Franken's added advantage. With more published just today, each seems to further push the idea of Al The Nice Guy. What kind of boost does this steady succession of partisan reviews provide?

If a liberal radio network falls in the forest (hitting a few spotted owls on the way down) and there isn't anyone around to hear it, does it make a sound? After a second letter begging for help, that seems like a fair question today. Sent to supporters on Halloween, it makes more suspect claims and again paints a misleading picture of Air America Radio's overall health. To the Radio Equalizer, however, the real story is that few seemed to notice this second appeal to the network's remaining faithful diehards:

As of today, Unhinged is ranked 18th in book purchases at Amazon (click the box in the upper-right-hand sidebar to see the latest rank and "reviews"). That may be why they're so angry: assuming it would flop, liberals immediately proclaimed it a failure, while trumpeting Al Franken's The Truth (With Jokes). After peaking in the top five, it's now sitting in 10th place. In coming days, Malkin could very well surpass Franken. That's despite a huge number of mainstream media Frankenfluffy reviews, while Michelle's book is largely ignored (as are most by conservative authors). She doesn't get to appear on...

Since May, we've had a lot of fun examining Rev. Al Sharpton's would-be, could-be talk radio career. Because announced plans never seem to pan out, it's mostly involved a lot of head-scratching. With a new deal now reportedly signed, the Sharpton saga takes an especially puzzling turn: he's apparently a talk radio two-timer! That's right, with the Boston Globe's Clea Simon revealing his new agreement, he's got a bit of a mess on his hands:

What is it about Michelle Malkin that so quickly works liberals into a frenzied state? All it takes is a television appearance, published column or radio interview to enrage so-called "progressives". Why, reserved for her, these particular heapings of vitriol? Certainly, ethnicity and gender must play a role, as liberal anti-Malkin hate closely resembles that of serial Condi-bashers. For non-conformity to leftist cultural expectations, both experience routine partisan media punishment. And as can be imagined, some of the meanest attacks come from liberal Asian-Americans, who seem to feel there is some ethnic mandate to follow Democrats off the cliff's edge....

While we certainly don't expect news outlets in ultra-lefty Portland to ask book-tour hypocrites tough questions, today's Oregonian interview piece officially takes the Frankenfluffy cake. (Hello Kitty/Franken picture) For that rare honor, the Radio Equalizer rolls out ace interrogator Hello Kitty, fresh from Git'mo, who we think can hold Al Franken's feet to the fire much better than the Northwest's puff-piece-churning "journalists".

For liberal talkers, still failing to carve a significant niche in a fiercely competitive media environment, today apparently won't bring their hoped-for "Fitz-mas". Yes, that's how they describe the elusive ratings windfall indicted senior Bush Administration officials might (in a Rhodesian fantasy world) bring to floundering "progressive" talk shows. Al Franken used the term (which refers to special counsel Patrick J Fitzgerald) during a Wednesday CNN interview, as have his radio counterparts, repeatedly. As the New York Times is now reporting, however, Karl Rove is not likely to face charges for now, if ever. Can "Scooter" Libby alone save liberal...

While Al Franken continues to have his pick of cable and late night television interviews, there may be signs some are leery of his creepy Rove/Cheney/Bush "execution" rhetoric. Appearing on CNN yesterday, Franken's American Morning interview segment seemed abruptly cut short as soon as he brought up this supposed "joke". Were producers ready and waiting to pull the plug? Interviewer Zain Verjee became visibly uncomfortable as soon as Franken mentioned the "E" word. Was that the planned segment end, after just three minutes?