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Agreed. All of Franken's success has been built on aping and mocking people who were far more original than he. He seems to think that naming his show "The O'Franken Factor" is brilliantly satirical, but it's really just sad, like a little boy who tries to annoy his elders by repeating everything they say and thinking it's the cleverest joke of all time.

I have worked in radio, mostly syndication, for over 25 years, and I've never seen a show succeed that did nothing but copy or mock another show. When you're on the air for three hours a day, five days a week, people have to want to spend a lot of time with you. Franken is smug, sarcastic, arrogant and condescending, and those are his good points. He also has a grating voice (always a big plus for radio) and likes to tell jokes that he thinks are much funnier than they are. I've talked to several talk show hosts who don't even think he's a decent guest, much less host material.

His best hope is to book as many big name celebrities as he can to fill his own personality void, but that's hardly a guarantee of ratings in radio, particularly if the celebrities go into airheaded leftist political rants. Then again, this isn't really a radio network, it's just an end-run around the campaign finance laws. It may draw an audience, particularly in urban areas (a lot of mindless leftist twaddle does well there), but I can't really see it attracting anyone other than hard-core DNC Kool-Aid drinkers.

Then again, this isn't really a radio network, it's just an end-run around the campaign finance laws.

Gee, you could be right: an expensive, around-the-clock political ad for Kerry. In that case, it will be well funded until November and fail shortly thereafter – no matter who wins the election.