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How did you come to create a left leaning political radio talk show? How long have you been on the air?

RHODES: I've been doing talk radio for 11 years. I've always been left, always. I just think that a society is more sustainable if the most vulnerable come first. For instance, people always yell at me about affirmative action. They say "well if a man gets a job just because he is black isn't that reverse racism?" I tell them no, it's justice. I explain that I know it hurts that you and he were almost identically qualified, but that his race gave him an extra point in the "set" of factors considered. It hurts because justice is supposed to exact a price. It is just because this man was left out of all considerations precisely because of the color of his skin throughout slavery, share cropping and 81 years of Jim Crow laws. This is righting a wrong and that is justice.

This infuriates some people, and others tell me it takes their breath away and they repeat it at parties, which is good because that is how we become more human and solve our problems.

A lot of "mainstream media" think that there is no audience for progressive shows or outlets. What are your comments?

RHODES: Oh, I am so glad you asked. I am a ratings and revenue queen. Number 1 or 2 in the ratings usually. So what are the "mainstream" talking about? Well, they say Liberals don't make money because no one wants to hear them. Okay, let's think.

First, remember that more Americans are registered or identify themselves as Democrats than Republicans. So here's the dirty little secret of news talk. There are advertisers making huge "buys" on really low rated shows that air nationally. If advertisers only go where the listeners are why do they buy cable news, Oliver North, or Rush Limbaugh who has horrible ratings?

They are buying CONTROL of CONTENT. It's leverage, whether it's radio, cable or network. They control millions of dollars of any company's revenue source. So that if something is said or done to disrupt their global business, they take their advertising elsewhere, or threaten to and then shut down the message.

And, think about this . . . how many products are on TV that you can't even buy? Plastics, computer chips, prescription drugs, soybeans. I mean honestly. This is the story that NEVER gets told. People just think, "Well, if your good enough, you'll have a big audience and that's what advertisers want." "Whose being naïve now Kaye?" I am always number one or two in the market. Rush is somewhere around 21st. I replaced G. Gordon Liddy!

I hope this gets told over and over because it is how they control our news, our Information Awareness. Get it?

Explain the allegations that Rush Limbaugh has stated, that if Clear Channel syndicated your show, he would take his program to another company. Could there be a Democratic or Progressive Rush Limbaugh type personality on the airwaves?

RHODES: Not at Clear Channel.

First, let me tell you where the story came from. I had two meetings with middle managers who both liked me and what I had done for our 'pod'. (At Clear Channel the territories are split up into 'pods'.) In two separate meetings I was told "The Rush story." Additionally, I should never expect to be syndicated by Clear Channel because Rush had said he'd just do what advertisers do. He'd go somewhere else. I was an unknown, he was a known.

I begged for and got (6 months later) a meeting with a senior manager. He told me the "Rush story." So that's where it comes from. Now, when Oliver North was on the air, he stated that Rush was syndicated because Rush was a better talent and got better ratings. (This is insulting because of the fatness of the lie) . . . I then told him that Rush had threatened to take his show elsewhere if I were to be syndicated by Clear Channel. He said "I've heard that but I can't comment." So everyone does seem to know "The Rush Story." (North and Rush are friends).

Control the Content . . . we have business that cannot be disturbed by a questioning public.

Considering your success, there have been accounts that you've been shut out by large corporate owned radio stations and networks. Is that true and could you explain how?

RHODES: I've just begun to go outside the company. It's a slow process. I hope that Democrats will start their own networks seeking out businesses that want to win the hearts and habits of their customers. I hope it will be a free and fair environment in which to work.

Republicans did buy up the media, either through mergers and acquisitions, or through advertisement placement. They got control of the message. They are not letting go. Corporate America likes the arrangement entirely too much.

Democrats must become active on a few fronts. Bring back the Fairness Doctrine for one thing. Two, make sure that we have an organization that makes money, sure, but that gets OUR message out. Over and over and over . . . because it is a message of decency and problem solving. Not war and fear. If people could hear this argument, they'd know it to be true, because eventually they will believe their own eyes and ears.

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RHODES: Some listeners are glad that Al Gore pulled out. They are the ones who have been marketed to repeatedly on the message that Al Gore lost the election. We are in Florida, so for the most part, we know what happened to us. 97,000 innocent people were precluded from voting because Katherine Harris gave out phony felon's lists. People were appalled here at the ease of selling the message that Floridians were old and stupid. Palm Beach County is one of the richest counties in this country. People here tend to be sophisticated and intelligent. It was a wake up call for most, even Republicans.

Since most of us did vote for Al Gore, most of us are very disappointed. We wanted that rematch, and I personally love Al Gore because he is brilliant, a wonk like me, but most of all a futurist. He understands where America should be now, where it should be headed and what kind of legislation could make that happen. It's a shame, but I understand. It's the money honey.

Sometimes I wonder if there are two distinct parties anymore. I know that the Bush administration is about as Republican as I am. Seriously, they are not Republicans. They are globalists. I wish more Republicans realized that. The Bush Boys, The Cheneys, The Rumsfelds, well they are as comfortably at home in Riyadh as they are in Crawford or Cheyenne.

Please dear God let there be a Democratic Party . . . and if there is, my early favorite is never mentioned, but it's Senator Bob Graham. He's on the Intelligence Committee, chaired it up until the 108th and knows everything about 9/11. He has integrity, he's smart, compassionate, and craves the truth. Plus, he has an everyman quality that people will feel comfortable with. I think he would be surprised to know that I feel this way about him, but I do. His are presidential qualities you won't see often. I think Bob Graham may be the real thing.

If you had Trent Lott on your program, what would you ask him?

RHODES: Did the White House stab you in the chest because you would have put Warren Rudman on the 9/11 commission? How much did the fact that you got to oversee the makeup of that 9/11 commission have on this sudden discovery that you, in fact, are a racist? Well, maybe slightly more gentile.

How often do you get right wing lunatic callers?

RHODES: Daily, hourly . . . we don't screen the calls. But I will tell you this: they aren't very smart. They can never make an argument. They usually hit and run.

For our readers not in Florida, how did Jeb Bush get re-elected to a 2nd term after all the scandals and hypocrisies he faced?

RHODES: Well, for starters, people don't read the newspapers, and I am the only voice that says things like "Jeb can't account for 3,000 kids in foster care," "Florida has the lowest High School graduation rate in the country," "Jeb was involved in the biggest Medicare Fraud in the history of the United States," "Jeb bankrupted the Broward Savings and Loan."

And then there was the debate . . . Oh my God. Not one question on the horror show that is Florida's Department of Children and Families. Jeb has literally lost and/or can't account for the whereabouts of more than 3,000 kids in his care. He then hired a kook named Jerry Reiger who believes that beating a child until you raise welts is the best way to teach him right from wrong. Tim Russert was the moderator and asked NO question on the topic. It was Jeb's Achilles' heel with white voters. With black voters it was the undoing of affirmative action. No question there either. Black enrollment in higher education in Florida is way down since he abolished it.

I can tell you that Jeb did not win Palm Beach County, the only county in which I'm heard.

What's the broadcast range of your program? How can readers listen to your show on the Internet?

RHODES: It's a big show in a smallish town. I mean Palm Beach County is well known and well visited, but it's not New York, Chicago, or Boston. So it's a local legend.

We are told that of all Clear Channel sites, mine is accessed more than any other. I do get mail from almost all 50 states, yes, including Texas. It's really great to know people hang in there on their computers for hours. I guess if you really try hard, there's more than one way to get the truth out.