I don't dispute that Stewart is smart, and I certainly don't dispute that he is funny. If he could maintain that three hours a day on radio with callers, he probably would. He would be a commercial success as well.

Ignore the endless failures of liberal talk radio programs if you choose. There is a reason for the failure. I have told you one of the big ones. Send money to AA if you want, and keep doing more and more of the same thing. You won't get a different result.

Sure it happens on both sides. Limbaugh is successful because he is optimistic and entertaining. Today's liberals don't do optimistic anymore. That is so 60's for them. They do doom and gloom, enemies as Satan and dour.

Who can listen to that three hours a day?

Newsflash: Jon Stewart is a commercial success. His salary for "The Daily Show" alone is well into seven figures.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

Certainly. Like O'Reilly, he is successful on a guest oriented television program. I haven't seen much of it, but it is very good.

Ignore the difference between that and a three hour talk radio program all you want, but it won't explain the repeated failures of liberal talk radio.

My wife is as liberal as one can be, and even she couldn't tolerate the bulk of the programming. Al Franken was actually one of the more moderate voices on the network.

Why are there no moderate voices on mainstream talk radio? I hate to say it, but Bill O'Reiley is the closest thing to a moderate/independent we have.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Here is the diffrence. To the right Clinton is a liar who should be in jail to the left Bush is an evil murder who is not human. Small but important diffrence. Just look at this site. The right wingers are full of it but the lefteis are pure hate machines.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

Even on this site, that assertion is a stretch. Many here with conservative views are honest and straightforward, and many on the left are idealistic and hopeful. Don't assume the extreme on either side is a representation of the ideology.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

"Limbaugh is successful because he is optimistic and entertaining. Today's liberals don't do optimistic anymore."

While I would agree that Rush Limbaugh is entertaining, optimism isn't exactly a characteristic I would associate with Rush. I find Limbaugh entertaining in the same way I find it sickly entertaining to listen to Daniel Carver of the KKK when he is on Howard Stern, listenining to Michael Savage, or if I watch the Jerry Springer show. Rush is simply a hateful hypocrit and find him grating in the same way that Jeanine Garaffulo or Randi Rhodes are annoying - but their spectacle is what draws us in. Rush, Franken, O'Reily, Garaffolo are not brilliant political minds or even great thinkers, they are only political entertainers who pander to the audience who will pay their bills.

I would disagree that liberals don't do optimism...I am of the mind that our lives today are pretty much better than they ever have and the world is a much better place than ever before. I think we are moving towards better upholding the ideals we believe in. Consider that it wasn't that long ago since most of the US was segregated, blatant racism was the norm, and women weren't allowed to vote. Just because you're not always happy with the powers that be, that should not be confused with pessimism. This is a thought I find echoed on many of the liberal shows I enjoy...compare that to a number of recently released "optimistic" conservative books that have been released that complain about the state of America and the opposition such as "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America - and Al Franken is #37" or anything by Ann Coulter, or "How the Supreme Court is Destroying America"....while entertaining, they are not exactly the picture of the optimistic America you say conservatives believe in. I think myself and many liberals look at some conservatives as trying to get back to the old America when all those societal evils were not only accepted but also somewhat celebrated...maybe that is where my negativity comes across.

Do you recall any of Franken's book titles? Or Bill Maher's? Or how about these:

"They Only Look Dead : Why Progressives Will Dominate the Next Political Era" by Ej Dionne

"Were Right, They're Wrong" by Jame Carville

"Corruptions of Empire" by Alexander Cockburn

I could go on.

Give me a break, the left has clearly not cornered the market on optimism. I am absolutely no Rush fan but Randy Rhodes should be an utter embarrassment to the lefties (Didn't she call for the assasination of GWB?)

I don't suggest you should like or agree with the guy, but it is nearly impossible to actually listen to Limbaugh and describe him as hateful. If you actually have listened to him, which I doubt, your filters were up.

Sorry, I haven't seen liberal optimism over anything other than regaining power in over a decade. I wish it weren't so. This country would be a better place if they went back to values of JFK. Now that was optimism.

"Do you recall any of Franken's book titles? Or Bill Maher's? Or how about these:

"They Only Look Dead : Why Progressives Will Dominate the Next Political Era" by Ej Dionne

"Were Right, They're Wrong" by Jame Carville

"Corruptions of Empire" by Alexander Cockburn

I could go on.

Give me a break, the left has clearly not cornered the market on optimism. I am absolutely no Rush fan but Randy Rhodes should be an utter embarrassment to the lefties (Didn't she call for the assasination of GWB?) "


Hey "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot" is kind of a funny name for a book...who says liberals have no sense of humor, its just a dark sense of humor- j/k

Actually I agree with you...I think in one of my posts I even admit that Randi Rhodes is grating and annoying. I am just pointing out the fallacy of "liberals don't do optimism" and that Rush is really optimistic character. In a previous post I wrote this:

"By such gross overgeneralizations I could easily say that conservatives are among the most hateful groups in America today: after all with Pat Robertson opening his mouth and to watch/listen to O' Reilly and Limbaugh basically verbally abuse guests. Then I could selectively compare them with the surprising amount of courtesy that Al Franken and Jon Stewart show their guests."

The key words are "gross over generalizations" and "selectively compare." My point was that you can play the selective tit for tat game especially when someone makes blanket statements like "liberal don't do optimism" or "liberals don't have a sense of humor" or any of the other dittohead hackneyed phrases. They are statements that don't really mean anything other than antogonize the opposite point of view. Personally, I don't see the overwhelming optimism of conservatives and IMHO I find the opposite...but then again part of political entertainers is that is fun to mock the opposition- this isn't unlike spectating a high school basketball game. Then I said, personally I enjoy plenty of liberal hosts that are entertaining and optimistic. For what its worth, I would rather swallow tacks than listen to Randi Rhodes...it is my feeling that people like her and Garafolo are exactly what makes lefties look like blathering reactionary idiots.

I listen to Air America on 1010AM (or is is 1110AM?) here in Phoenix. Anyway, I check it out most days. I do notice that they are bringing on higher level advertisers now (CBS instead of Margie's Bookeeping service)

Anyway, I think it would be foolish and very dangerous for conservatives to underestimate Air America. I believe they have the ability to cause serious contaminatation to the intellectual gene pool.

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**All of these words finding themselves together were greatly astonished and delighted for assuredly, they had never met before**

I agree with much of you what you stated, yet I must say the liberal rhetoric of late seems very hateful and intolerant, especially when they are interfacing with conservatives and dealing with non-left leaning opinions.

The main reason Stewart is susccessful is that while clearly left leaning he is willing and able to take shots at both sides. He doesn't prostelitize(sp) that all republicans are the spawn of the devil and that dems sit at the right hand of god. Some of his funniest pieces have been about Hillary and Bill.