I don’t know what’s worse about this: the fact that the most Democratic State in the Most Democratic region of the United States went for a Republican, or if we’re about to see a sudden, complete crumpling up of the Democratic Party. Never mind the issue of health care, how about the near-immediate implosion of Social Security? From 10 years to maybe days before we pay more out than we take in. And it wouldn’t surprise me that once the nations-states we sell our bonds to find out we’re unable to take care of our own (never mind what we owe them), we’re in deep doo-doo. They’ll stop buying, because any nation unable to take care of its own will collapse sooner than later, and more violently than people care to think (or, for those who follow Glenn Beck, hope). For an example, read on the French Revolution…not the revolution itself, but what brought people to revolt against the kings.
I was also going to wonder whether Massachusetts had found her inner Republican, but it seems more that a sizable portion of the Democratic base stayed away and didn’t vote. Whether it was because they didn’t care for either person (or the sad imitation of a third party known as the Libertarians, who would probably be Republicans if they didn’t want their own sandbox to play in) or because they were too busy to vote (it is a non-presidential election year) or whatever reason (including too disillusioned to care about going to the ballot box), it seemed the Republicans showed up and the Democrats, to a degree, didn’t.
Never mind imagining ExxonMobil buying the senate, or TV rates rising as attack/support ads flood out the actual campaigns. How about…say, Comcast and ATT paying CBS, NBC and ABC to NOT put up advertisements supporting net neutrality or candidates who supported net neutrality (FAUX NEWS would refuse to support net neutrality out of self-interest).
Remember, you can not only buy noise with your bucks, you can also buy silence. Buy up enough space at enough $$$, and you can shut out your opposition, and since corporations can gather more money under their power quicker than any person, (and at a steadier rate), it gives corporations the benefit of acting without constraint.
Up until this point, politicians knew the possible power of corporations if they were allowed unlimited access and speech, and were ready and willing to put limits on their efforts whenever they found possible loopholes. And until this most recent Supreme Court Decision, the limits were able to stand up.
Remember that this is the Roberts Supreme Court, Dubya’s crowning achievement: Rolling back labor and individual rights, rolling ahead Corporate powers.
I was never a fan of this radio network. I thought that they tried to get instant traction by bringing together a collection of big names and have their name recognition roll over Rush Limbaugh. It didn’t succeed, and its original plan ended up biting them in the ass by making them constantly desperate for funding, thereby shifting around.
As it turns out, there’s a group of liberal/progressive chatters who’ve made their way without the Air America Brand, and they should be able to keep a decent amount of space on the airwaves at whatever stations are still broadcasting them after this.
The big question is: How many stations will stay Liberal Talk? While many liberals make it a point of pride not to become absorbed in politics day-in and day-out, there are those who listen on a regular basis. One wonders whether Clear Channel, who owns many of these LibTalk stations, will continue with the format or shift over to another format with these stations…or just shut them down, as a lot of radio companies have money troubles. And while the movement seems to have been more and more radio stations, it wouldn’t surprise me if this would be a good excuse to shut down some of the weaker stations that were given LibTalk formats so they would be used in a way so as not to directly compete with the other Clear Channel stations…and if nobody has the money to keep running them, the time may come when they’re shut down.
We’ll see. But I can say I hadn’t had much trust in Air(head) America. I won’t necessarily miss them.
Sorry I'm Late… 