Free Republic

October 7, 2006 New York -- Six officials of the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club stole $1.2 million from the group, money meant for needy kids and seniors, a city probe has found. Investigations Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn calls it "disgusting" - the worst case of wrongdoing by a non-profit contractor she's seen since taking office. Thank goodness the thieves will be going to jail for a very long time - and paying back every cent, and then some. Well, actually, that's not quite true. In fact, nobody is going to jail. Not even for a single day. And...

A Bronx charity will pay the city back $625,000 that had been intended for children and the elderly but was improperly lent to Air America Radio... -snip The state attorney general’s office is continuing to look into the misuse of the funds, and the case has been transferred from its charities bureau to the criminal prosecutions bureau, two people close to the investigation said yesterday. City investigators found that the charity, based in Co-op City and formerly known as the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club, lent $875,000 to Air America Radio. At the city’s request, the network put the...

Was Sunday's upbeat New York Times piece on Air America hosts Rachel Maddow and Randi Rhodes at least partly the result of a "pitch" by the liberal radio network's public relations department? Could that make "They Look Nothing Like Rush Limbaugh" the result of a corporate spin campaign? Is that journalism? After receiving a document-backed inside tip, the Radio Equalizer is investigating whether Air America's Jamie Horn convinced New York Times reporter Susan Brenna to write a self-serving piece on Air America's female hosts. Should America's third-largest newspaper allow reporters to accept story ideas from PR flaks? Or is that...

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:

After chugging down a rancid carton of Air America Brand milk, well past its sell-by date, MSNBC's Eric Alterman concludes we're the network's real problem. Hope he didn't give them all of his lunch money. MSNBC NewsYes, it's a right-wing conspiracy to silence the "progressive" alternative, led by yours truly, Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. It couldn't have anything to do with $875,000 in shady taxpayer grant transfers from a Bronx-based community nonprofit, to the liberal network and resulting city investigation, right? Or that we proved (after producing a signed, notarized document) Al Franken knew about...

As his The Truth (With Jokes) promotional tour gets underway, Al Franken must be feeling at least some unease. Me TooAfter all, the book's timing isn't exactly red hot, coming just after revelations of questionable dealings and practices at Air America Radio. Since its inception, Franken has served as the liberal talk network's marquee talent. Since our investigative report uncovered proof Franken knew about shady taxpayer-funded "loans" from the Bronx-based Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club to the liberal radio network, contrary to Al's public assertions, he's avoided the topic. That might be tougher out on the road. So what's...

Evan Montvel-Cohen's Guam homecoming is making big news in the American territory, especially since the former Air America head hasn't exactly made a quiet return..... ....Al Franken's book release seems to have been moved up a few days, now scheduled for October 25. How will the book signings go this time around? Will he be able to avoid unpleasant questions about Air America's many flaps?....

Whether a cosmic coincidence or calculated strategy, something's clearly changed in talk radio. With three major stars giving rare interviews in the same week, listeners are wondering about these sudden, sometimes emotional outpourings. Whatever the reasons, we've gained a bit of insight into what makes Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Michael Savage tick. There's no doubt Sean Hannity got a major boost Tuesday from his candid televised discussion with Rush Limbaugh. Liberal complaints about the absence of co-host Alan Colmes should be met with laughter, since Colmes-bashing has long been a leftist spectator sport. Suddenly, they need him?

For two publicity-craving liberal talk hosts looking to milk recent circumstances, results are so far mixed. Ed Schultz thought he had a deal to broadcast to U.S. soldiers, but the Pentagon now says otherwise.In part one here, Fargo, North Dakota-based Ed Schultz is reaping a mini-whirlwind of press attention, for making unsubstantiated claims against Armed Forces Radio. Possibly in response to a Democrat-led push for greater ideological programming "balance" on global military broadcasts, the Ed Schultz show was, in theory at least, to begin Monday. Instead, his nationally syndicated program was halted before even a single airing. Was it ever...

Now that Air America's chased away nearly every potential corporate advertiser, isn't it fitting the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) has emerged as a key sponsorship source? Don't take the Radio Equalizer's word for it, here it is, straight from Pravda (or Revolution, as the party's publication is now called, formerly Revolutionary Worker): Revolution talked with Debra Sweet, National Coordinator of World Can’t Wait--Drive Out the Bush Regime, about building for November 2, National Day of Resistance. Revolution: We’ve been hearing of significant new developments in building for Nov. 2, such as important new signatories to the Call, ads on the...

From New York socialite phoniness, I don't suppose we should expect much honesty. Al Franken's dinnermates, however, sure were happy to hand over a free pass at this pol-laden Empire State Pride Agenda event: At the ESPA event, Al Franken, the Air America founder known for his bookish wit, gave the evening’s most moving speech, describing how some of the elected officials most strongly opposing gay marriage in Massachusetts dropped their fight after meeting actual couples and their children. They came to see, he said, that continuing their battle against that state’s high court ruling would only leave them with...

Can Air America Radio endure a fresh set of headaches caused by Randi Rhodes, loose cannon network talk show host? After past infamous on-air incidents that included a violent anti-Bush skit, it's hard to believe the struggling network can afford to lose additional advertisers. Seemingly unable to rein in Rhodes, Air America now faces the latest: a sad, fresh low on Wednesday's broadcast, where she appears to make light of 9-11's Pentagon victims. If family members of terrorism victims were listening, perhaps they could let Rhodes know how her careless words felt. Today, the Radio Equalizer heard from Mark Braukhoff...

Could Air America's radio hosts possibly be in a stickier situation? While they rail endlessly against Bush and "corporate America", more damning revelations are uncovered almost daily about their own company's sleazy actions. Yet the network's personalities continue to pretend nothing is happening. Compounding the on-air dishonesty: fiery public speeches filled with especially ironic ethical allegations. Don't they feel guilty, knowing their own hands are unclean in the integrity category?

Rather than taking on one of the left's sleaziest characters, is maintaining a stuffy media pecking order more important? Or can this blunder be chalked up to pure ignorance? Exposing a key danger of conservative disunity, a Wall Street Journal columnist has needlessly allowed Air America talk show host Al Franken to score points at his expense. And it's forced the Radio Equalizer to address one of the conservative media's biggest weaknesses: structural quirks that interfere with good story judgment. Is it about rivalries, or other issues?

Saturday, October 1, at 6 pm at Bates College Chapel in Lewiston Maine, Al Franken speaks. Barf Alert! As I am going to be there anyway, are there any questions that my fellow freepers would like to have posed Al Franken? This should be fun!

Of our efforts to expose Air America's sleazy Enron-like corporate behavior, is it safe to assume conservatives are united in support? To a point, yes. There certainly are some, though, who'd rather not see this investigative effort become too successful. That's because the liberal radio network's programming has gone so far off the deep left end, it's now a GOP gold mine. By the same token, would Republicans want Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle, or Sen. Ted Kennedy defeated? While having no impact on national political trends, the moonbat wing of the Democrat party provides a bounty of choice quotes...

Sorry, Bugs Bunny, you had it right the first time. Don't take that left turn at Albuquerque, or you might end up as hypocritical as the hometown Tribune newspaper. Their one-sided talk radio coverage would have the Warner Bros. character asking, "what's up, doc?" While quick to attack Rush Limbaugh and "right wing" talk radio this weekend, the Tribune has to date apparently said nothing about Air America's sleazy funding scandal, where $875,000 in taxpayer funds seem to have been diverted from an inner-city community center, to the liberal radio network. That's despite the existence of a local Air America...

If you believe Air America, Al Franken, and their clueless defenders, the liberal radio network's now-notorious financial problems with the Bronx-based Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club were solely the fault and purview of its previous ownership--and in particular, former AAR chairman Evan Cohen (the man Franken singled out as a "crook" on his radio show). In one of its first statements on the matter in late July, Air America attempted to distance itself from "the allegations of mismanagement and corruption at Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club" and spoke of the charity's dealings with Cohen as if they were...

Al Franken, explain this one Published September 11, 2005 Al Franken appears to be caught in a fib -- a "lying lie," he might call it -- about Air America's loans-from-children scandal.     To his employers' credit, Air America is seeking to put the scandal behind it: On Thursday, the network wired the remaining $825,000 it "borrowed" from the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club in the Bronx to the club's lawyers. Air America's parent company, Piquant LLC, had initially denied responsibility for the total of $875,000 in questionable transfers, claiming a previous owner was liable. But the negative publicity from...

Other than fetching coffee for Janeane Garofalo, what do think is Air America's most miserable employment position? Our pick: vice-president of finance. Imagine having to send out the now-infamous email explaining why direct-deposits wouldn't be available on time? Or being forced to make excuses for the company's many screw-ups? You're surely on the receiving end of a lot of misplaced abuse. Recall this Radio Equalizer piece from August 8th: