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Truth is, conservative talk has a lot of good people. They each have different strengths, though.

Laura Ingraham, Lee and her crew are aok. Good analysis and a good sense of humor. She goes off the reservation now and then by booking bands and singers as guests. She loses me when she does that.

Dennis Prager is very cool and awesome on macro issues. Most of his guests are authors and it's a good split between who he agrees with and who he disagrees with. He likes a lot of topics I like - the sexes, relationships, religion, morality, youth issues, middle-age issues, senior issues, etc. Very smart, very well spoken, very classy.

Mike Medved is outstanding, and probably our side's best spokesperson and debater. Guests usually disagree with him, which is good since he zeroes in on weaknesses in their arguments with amazing precision. Whenever there is a full moon he does 'Conspiracy Day' which is hilarious. A good, smart guy. In fact, the 2nd smartest guy in our stable.

Jerry Dolye is fiercely conservative and fiercely independent, which is a good mix. Good sense of humor and passionate. Not a GOP $hill - calls it like it is. Very good show.

Mike Savage is my favorite - independent, conservative, tough. Yet, likes a good laugh and likes to entertain along with the politics stuff. Where Prager hits macro issues, Savage goes micro: he relates a story from his life, or the life of a figure in history. Sometimes it seems like he is going nowhere, and he quickly distills the moral from his story and applies it to a major topic of the day. The result is sometimes astonishing and truly genius. A great storyteller and pure personality. I think in terms of natural smarts he is tops in the talk radio field, but he is undisciplined to an extent and that keeps him from fully communicating his intelligence. Also, a lot of folks miss this, he is clearly playing a character called 'Michael Savage' and can often be caught laughing at the end of his own rants. Savage is all heart but shouldn't be taken entirely seriously - people who dislike him miss that. Clearly, even he doesn't take himself 100% seriously. (Listen for the laughter!)

Hugh Hewitt is a hitman in his field. Cool, collected, prepared, and well thought out. Knows his stuff. Calls a GOPer or a conservative caller out if they are offbase. Very intelligent. Has some of the best interviews and regular guests (including Steyn on Thursdays).

Mark Steyn: Today was the origin & first appearance of Steyn as his own host. Razor sharp wit - his mind is fast and his use of language extraordinary. Smart, has the facts. Street smart, too, which we don't always see. Seemed very comfortable with the format and handled callers very well. You'd never know this was his first (or one of his first) hosting gigs. After today, some other radio hosts have to be looking over their shoulder.

Rush: The grandfather and dean of the modern era of conservative talk. Difficult for me to listen to since he is a $hill for the GOP. There is only so many times relatively simple political moves can be hailed as GOP genius before I turn off. Still, a funny guy and knows his stuff, and handles callers very well - especially hostile ones. It remains a mystery how anyone could consider him a negative, mean, hostile guy. Listen to his show a few times and he comes across as very nice and engaging. Only people who never heard his show can characterize him as a heartless monster.

Hannity: Good guy with a good heart. I get the impression he is very hard working. He isn't a good debater and often resorts to shallow, canned lines as retorts. Sometimes lets a guest on tv or radio get away with a huge flub and doesn't have the wits to call him on it quickly. Also GOP $hill. I prefer people who call things like they are - and that means calling the GOP on their crap when appropriate.

Levin: Smart guy but relies on shtick too much. Terrible voice for radio (Savage is 100% right about that). Not a good sense of humor, either. There is a good 10-12 things he shoehorns into every 2 hours regularly. Loses me now and then with the haughty language sometimes. Seems incapable of really criticizing the GOP or the president on a substantive issue (as opposed to strategy & tactics).

Haven't done that in a while! Thanks for inspiring me! ;-)