At any time of the day on AM talk radio here in Central Florida, you can listen to the “objective” voices of Neil Bortz, Mike Gallagher, Bill O-Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Mike Savage, Bud Hedinger, or a litany of other extremist nutjobs.
Want to get to the bottom of Congresswoman McKinney’s incident on Capital Hill? — Neil Bortz brings you intelligent commentary on her hairdo while using names such as “ghetto slut”.
Want information on the allegations against Duke University’s lacrosse team by a young mother of two? - Rush will give you enlightened criticism by referring to her as a “Ho”.
Need some brilliant insight into the president’s state of the union address? - Mike Gallagher gave an hour-long discussion of how the Democratic senators were traitors for not standing and applauding. (Sadly, that was one of his better shows. It beat the one about how horrible it is that Spanish-speakers actually get an option when calling customer service lines).
The republicans threw out the long-standing FCC rule to be “fair and balanced” a long time ago, which is why I sometimes find morons screaming at me through the radio about how Latinos and other ethnic groups are a plague to this country, how terribly unfair the media is to Tom Delay and Enron, how Valerie Plame deserved what she got, that Bush is a "secret genius", and that everything would be going great in Iraq if everyone would just shut up and stop asking questions.
Two primary radio stations, WFLA-AM540 and WDBO AM 580, provide talk radio with just one point of view, so as not to confuse anyone with different ideas or those annoying “facts” that keep getting in the way of their beliefs. (By the way, as I write this, Tico Perez is giving a rant on WDBO 580. The slogan for that station should be "Where the callers always agree". I guess he decided to go to freindlier territory because he got tired of our own Carol Cox mopping the floor with him on WESH TV.)
Worried that there was not enough of the extremist right viewpoint in Central Florida, Salem Communications Corporation announced late last year that they would buy three radio stations here in Orlando: WTLN-AM 950, WHIM-AM 1520 and WORL-AM 660. (Remember the Bill Bennett controversy last year—that’s Salem’s star!)
Salem is unapologetically partisan, and they wield considerable influence within the GOP. Lucky recipients of their donations have included our own Ric Keller and Tom Feeney.
Sidenote: Feeney was a guest on Hedinger’s lousy show yesterday. He actually told Bud that spending would get out of control if republicans lose Congress this year. Really? Unlike now, I suppose. Not one caller reminded him that these record deficits, record pork-barrel spending ($250m bridge to nowhere), and lobbying scandals are all with the current large republican majorities. And that budget surplus we had until Bush got his hands on it? Now that was under Democratic leadership, wasn’t it, Tom?
I know we can always go to the internet and the blogosphere to hear viewpoints of those people who haven’t stuck their heads in the sand (such as this one), but aren’t there more people like me clamoring for sensible talk shows on our radios not run by screaming, bigoted, and uninformed jackasses?
I am not asking for a 24-hour propaganda broadcast like FoxNews. What I am saying is that Central Florida has a very large progressive population, and its time for us to demand other viewpoints on our radios in our own hometown. And, by the way, I know there is a HUGE market for this. Why can’t we have our own small radio station, or at least a single program on one station that hasn’t been absorbed into the “collective”. What every movement needs is a beginning. In other words, will someone pick up the ball here in Central Florida? Anyone?
Quick Note: You wanted more organization in our party? We got it--now its time to step up! Come to the SemDem meeting at the Eastmonte Civic Center, Altamonte Springs (830 Magnolia Dr). April 27 at 7pm. The National Democratic Party is organizing a massive 50 state canvass—our party’s biggest effort ever. Sign up to register voters, get volunteers, and spread our message at http://www.democrats.org/page/event/detail/4v7cr We need you—the smallest amount of time you can spare beats nothing at all.
Welcome to SEMDEM. Confronting the criminally insane who rule our state; as well as the apathy of the vast majority who let them.
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I completely agree! Actually, my company, DemsLink, is working right now on getting funding for a weekly TV show that we want to produce for the Central Florida area that will include political news stories, opinion pieces, candidate profiles, and interviews, all from a Democratic perspective. We need a media venue to counter the Republican noise machine and we can't wait for others to do it for us!
ReplyDeleteThank YOU Carol! I hope this will begin a trend...
ReplyDeleteWe need to get Air America here in Orlando. I listen to it streaming, but it would be nice to have it on the radio.
ReplyDeleteAmen pammo1! Tell Al Franken to push for some sensible voices here. There are dozens of right-wing wackos that go unchallenged on the air--it would be nice to have one opposing viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteOnly 32% of the general population approves of Bush, yet 80-90% of radio talk show hosts seem to. AM radio is a waistland here in Orlando. In my car I have my AM presets set to our two sports stations and four Spanish stations--and I'm not even bilingual!
ReplyDeleteWe need Air America here right now!
Come to the meeting on April 27th. Let's try to do something about it!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I did not realize there was even a Seminole Democratic Party. In Seminole once you win the Republican county wide primary the race is over. Why is it that in every county office the r's have multiple candidates, and the d's are lucky to have one. Thus, as a dem you get use to staying at home on the primaries and then again in the general election. You have 0 county wide elected d's and so the idea of a radio voice for the very few liberals that can be found in Seminole is ridiculous
ReplyDeleteIf you read the newspapers regularly or did a quick search on Google, you would find the Seminole County Democrats. After being dormant for too many years, we are growing fast and gaining momentum. We will never get Democrats elected with an attitude like the one expressed above. If you want to see Democrats on the ballot, then you must get involved, help candidates with their campaigns, and even run for office yourself! You can't just sit on the sidelines and wait for things to happen. You must be willing to be part an active part of the change you want to see.
ReplyDeleteFor My Campaign:
ReplyDeleteThere are around 108,000 Republicans registered in Seminole County, and there are around 79,000 registered Democrats. There are 52,000 independents, which are right now leaning democratic--also, there are COUNTLESS that are not registered to vote. Does this sound hopeless to you?
Come to our meeting on April 27 and/or sign up to canvass this Sat. We are under new leadership and things are changing--but we need Dems who will help, not ones who will stay home and say its hopeless. Otherwise, things won't change.
Here is a simple one. Who was the last dem elected county wide in seminole. If you are a party why are you not running a candidate in all of the races. Have you looked at the campaign financing at the few you have. The reason no seminole dem will win is no one in your party will contribute. Look at the $100k plus that most of the r's are reproting and then look at your contributions. So keep trying to canvass and we will take care of running Seminole.
ReplyDeleteResponse:
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we have republicans reading our blogs now! Please take a look at some of our earlier ones--i would love to get your comments! Particularly the first three. r's are the party of special interests and the extreme wealthy, so we will always have a fundraising disadvantage, but friend, lots of cash doesn't win elections. Ask your friend, Katherine Harris. Grassroots trumps cash every time--your own r bosses will tell you that. In the meantime, keep reading and keep those comments coming!
The way you can tell Mycampaign dude was not a Dem:
ReplyDelete-He said he just needs to throw money at the problem (that will go over big)
-He was pessimistic even though the Dems are rising and the GOP is imploding
-The moron can't spell (what is "reproting")
Quit trying to convert him! I'll bet the GOP is trying to dump this loser on us--don't let them!!
You forgot to mention AM 1190. There are more Dems in Central Fl than GOP, and there will be even less after Nov. Good luck on getting funding--I may be able to help.
ReplyDeleteI too would like to hear Air America in the Central FL area. It's not only entertaining, but informational and helps bring out the Democrats.
ReplyDeleteCarol's company, DemsLink, is going to be producing TV commercials, weekly programs and radio spots. That will increase the visibilty of the Democrats in Seminole County.
Along with getting the Democratic word out and giving Democratic candidates an opportunity to reach the voters in their area, it will bring out the volunteers.
Personally I'd rather see "Democracy Now" broadcast locally, perhaps on WMFE. News without bias, real reporting on important issues, no filler with entertainment crap - real news instead of the FOX and ClearChannel drivel that pass for news. For now anyone with a computer can stream "Democracy Now" - go to www.democracynow.org and listen!
ReplyDeleteDemocracy Now is unquestionably a better source of news than Air America. With all the right-wing gas bags out there, however, Air America is needed to provide some balance. I am tired of people saying things like conservatives have talk radio and Fox News and liberals have NPR and CNN because this gives the right a perspective and puts reporting that at least attempts to be objective on the left.
ReplyDeleteGive us Democracy Now and Air America in Orlando!