Al Franken’s Suicide Mission: Liberals can’t do talk radio

NRO ^ | 2/21/2003 | Jonah Goldberg

[MadIvan]

I think I've seen Al Franken on television once, he was playing some character called "Stuart Smalley". The character was smarmy, condescending and simply not funny. If this is the best that Franken can do, and I dare say it is, then any programme he has is bound to fail.

Regards, Ivan

[nickcarraway]

Didn't ``the Al Franken Decade'' end a long time ago?

[bribriagain]

"What type of events do they have at the Gay Rodeo?"

Rump Wrangling

[johnny7]

The bullhorn event. While impaled on one horn, the “rider” grips the other.

Fun for the whole family!

[fporretto]

Goldberg has a particularly good point when he notes that Limbaugh, Hannity et. al. are professional entertainers. They make no secret of their positions, but they know full well that people want to be entertained, and that -- major news flash -- there's more to life than politics.

The Left is exactly counterpoised to these obvious facts. Remember the old leftist slogan, "The Personal Is Political"? They really mean it, folks. To a liberal, politics and political action are the sum of life: yours, mine, and theirs. They have no lives outside politics, and no desire to escape its embrace. They certainly don't want any of us to escape it!

Compare that attitude to that of the average guy, who desperately wants to reduce politics's importance in his life, and who'd like a little diversion from his cares while he drives home from work.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit the Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com

[YOMO]

Franken & Co. do believe that the one trick to effectively getting political commentary across on the radio is to be entertaining. where political sarcasm is every bit as effective as Rush Limbaugh is at bashing you over the head.".........................

You can't call it lying if they are only artisticly making fun of some one or position. "it's ART for LYING's Sake.

[YOMO]

Show me a Cowboy who rides side saddle, and I'll show you a Gay Cabalaro.

[AppyPappy]

Oddly, Mr Franken doesn't remember hits like the Smothers Brothers Show, Fireside Theatre and National Lampoon which were all liberal. And they were funnt because they were politically incorrect. But liberals can't be that way anymore. They can't be funny because they are too budy trying to be offended.

[ez]

Anybody who wants to hear liberals on the radio can tune in NPR and have no commercials.

And in fact, validating the article, NPR is exactly what "liberal" radio should sound like...dry, dour, and deluded.

[YOMO]

Mike Savage pointed out that this liberal radio station would be a good opportunity for scammers..........................

A great point, if you can't trust the Hosts, how can you trust the ads run on them. It seems they could actually run ads for bridge sales.

[openotherend]

In a nutshell, I'm convinced liberal talk will fail because they are married to the PC crowd. This will narrow their discussions to bashing conservatives only, which will get very old quick.

[Semper Paratus]

Fireside Theatre

"How can you be at two places at once when your not anywhere at all?"

[Ditter]

I used to listen to Jim Hightower, you mean he's NOT a comedian?????

[Ditter]

Yes Stuart Smalley is the ONLY thing I have ever seen Franken do & he was *not* funny. I hope he gets a liberal radio show, he will fall on his ass. The only thing funny about Al Franken is the way he looks & that will be lost on radio.

[Dave Lucas]

Wrong, I think it is.. But you will have to be smarter than Rush to get them.

There's the rub.

[MadIvan]

Yes Stuart Smalley is the ONLY thing I have ever seen Franken do & he was *not* funny. I hope he gets a liberal radio show, he will fall on his ass. The only thing funny about Al Franken is the way he looks & that will be lost on radio.

The only thing I would have liked to see happen to Stuart Smalley was for him to be target practice on a bazooka range.

But presumably that's all Al Franken do to be amusing - be target practice.

Regards, Ivan

[Pharmboy]

Thanks for the post.

An interesting side note on Franken: I used to work on the west side of Manhattan, and one day found myself walking behind the wise-*ss on Ninth Avenue in the 50s. He was short, with a large head and the body of a middle linebacker. Remember, he challenged Rich Lowry of NR to a fist fight--he woulda killed Lowry.

My point is: besides everything else to detest about this guy, he's a physical bully besides.

[arthurus]

Liberals already have successful talk radio. That is what NPR is. And it is in a format that suits liberals. They don't have to interact with callers who may know what they are talking about. They simply spend the day interviewing other liberals and amd earnestly telling the their listeners what proper intelligent people know to be correct.

Foreign accents are used to convey gravity and intellectual superiority They make statements and construct fictions that they don't have to defend because no one challenges them. They can't do that on a Rush type format because the callers they have to talk to will often know facts which is something that liberals don't deal with very well.

[Bernard]

But if he does something intelligent, he won't sound like a liberal. Then who will listen? Donahue?

[farmguy]

If sponsors refuse to purchase advertising time on liberal talk shows, could the libs then turn around and say that the time they purchase on conservative shows is, in actuality, a soft money contribution to the Republican party?