Free Republic

Whether the left was busy overdosing on Tofurkey, or protesting at shopping malls (we're certain they weren't with Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, nobody was), the Radio Equalizer isn't sure. They were very, very late to the Franken-Scalia party, however. After widespread New York City media criticism (previously covered here), along comes The Nation a week later, claiming Al Franken was actually right to confront US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Yes, we can read Al's mind: "Hey, where the #!%#&?! were you guys last week?" Why didn't more lefties race to Franken's rescue when this first broke? Did even they...

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...

What is it about Michelle Malkin that so quickly works liberals into a frenzied state? All it takes is a television appearance, published column or radio interview to enrage so-called "progressives". Why, reserved for her, these particular heapings of vitriol? Certainly, ethnicity and gender must play a role, as liberal anti-Malkin hate closely resembles that of serial Condi-bashers. For non-conformity to leftist cultural expectations, both experience routine partisan media punishment. And as can be imagined, some of the meanest attacks come from liberal Asian-Americans, who seem to feel there is some ethnic mandate to follow Democrats off the cliff's edge....

While we certainly don't expect news outlets in ultra-lefty Portland to ask book-tour hypocrites tough questions, today's Oregonian interview piece officially takes the Frankenfluffy cake. (Hello Kitty/Franken picture) For that rare honor, the Radio Equalizer rolls out ace interrogator Hello Kitty, fresh from Git'mo, who we think can hold Al Franken's feet to the fire much better than the Northwest's puff-piece-churning "journalists".

While Al Franken continues to have his pick of cable and late night television interviews, there may be signs some are leery of his creepy Rove/Cheney/Bush "execution" rhetoric. Appearing on CNN yesterday, Franken's American Morning interview segment seemed abruptly cut short as soon as he brought up this supposed "joke". Were producers ready and waiting to pull the plug? Interviewer Zain Verjee became visibly uncomfortable as soon as Franken mentioned the "E" word. Was that the planned segment end, after just three minutes?

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...

Yes, your ears were properly functioning during Friday evening's David Letterman show. Did Al Franken really kid about executing the President of the United States? Sure enough, it was loose cannon time for the alleged truth-teller. Not exactly a solid start to Franken's The Truth (With Jokes) book tour. How nice to plug the release on the Late Show With David Letterman, isn't it? Is it that hard to keep from bombing in such a friendly setting, however?

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?....

Perhaps Jerry Springer doesn't figure listeners think much of his credibility. After all, it's no secret his name recognition comes from being the king of trash television. Otherwise, why assert you've little to do with a network that certainly seems to claim Mr. Springer as one of its own? Is it that hard to admit to being part of a sleazy operation, one some of your lowlife TV guests could only admire? For two months, the ability of Air America's hosts (sans Franken) to pretend the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club scandal wasn't tearing their operation apart at the...

Video clip of Michelle Malkin and Brian Maloney discussing Air America mess on "O'Reilly Factor" on FOX News Channel. Is it about to go under? More info: http://michellemalkin.com http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com

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!

It may not be as big as Tropical Storm Ophelia, now reaching the Bay State, but surely there must be some reason for the Beantown Air America scandal coverage blackout. There sure was plenty of room for fawning profiles of liberal talk personalities over the last year in the Boston Globe and weekly Phoenix. Why isn't the diversion of taxpayer funds from a Boys & Girls Club to the liberal network's coffers now equally interesting? After all, there are two Air America stations in the Boston area, while several personalities and network executives have Massachusetts ties. We hear Al Franken...

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...

September 9, 2005 -- Air America's claim that it is not under investigation as part of a city probe into an $875,000 loan from a Bronx Boys & Girls Club is dead wrong, sources told The Post yesterday.

How would you defend liberal talk host Al Franken's lies if your company's future was at stake? After weeks of ignoring our Air America Radio scandal coverage, they're increasingly reactive to news developments. While the company refuses to respond to Michelle Malkin and myself directly, they're talking to others who publish follow-ups and news summaries. Their key tactic: outright issue deflection. Not only that, but there are serious questions today about Air America's new public relations push on the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club repayment issue, where $875,000 in taxpayer funds were apparently diverted to the liberal talk radio...

The Air America radio network's biggest star, Al Franken, and its former chairman, Evan Montvel Cohen, were among the signers of a confidential agreement last November that said the network would repay $875,000 to a Bronx nonprofit organization, the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club. Transfers to Air America from Gloria Wise, for which Mr. Cohen worked as a fund-raiser during the period when he helped launch the liberal network, have surfaced as part of the probe by the city's Department of Investigation and the state attorney general into "inappropriate transactions" by Gloria Wise. The city has frozen all grants...

--- A confused Denver Post columnist thinks Air America has just celebrated its first anniversary. No, that's Denver's KKZN, the network's been broadcasting about six months longer. Dick Kreck's column then goes on to happily dismiss our research on Air America's scandal, it's not clear if he bothered

Who is Air America? Part III and where are they?Part I, Part II [gpapa's comments in brackets] From UrbanRadioLive.com UrbanTalk Atlanta Radio Venture to Back Liberal Hosts By Atlanta Journal and Constitution Feb 21, 2003, 06:00 An Atlantan has been hired to create liberal talk radio programs for syndication, but analysts and others see a challenge in attempting to rival a conservative radio icon such as Rush Limbaugh. Jon Sinton, a 48-year-old former radio consultant from Cobb County, is chief executive officer of a venture called AnShell Media, a $10 million start-up funded by investors led by Chicago venture...