In response to ”Censorship only recourse for liberals” by Jeremy Reynalds, 10/5/98,

UNM Daily Lobo.

”But whining and complaining are typical of liberals, who, as a rule, have been unable to compete successfully in

the conservative-dominated talk radio marketplace.”

Jeremy Reynalds raises some interesting issues in his recent column. One of

these is ”why isn’t there any ‘liberal talk radio’?” Could it be that liberals don’t have jobs that let them run the radio all

day? Could it be that liberals aren’t drawn to a ”self-described idiot entertainer”? What is the liberal equivalent of a

”ditto-head” (what Rush Limbaugh’s devout fans call themselves)?

KUNM & Public Radio notwithstanding, liberals aren’t

sitting around waiting for someone to do their thinking for them and aren’t searching for someone to reduce the complex issues to nice,

compact phrases that provoke while saying nothing (”femi-nazi”). Perhaps this is why there is no ”liberal” talk radio.

These days, everyone is shouting & no one is listening. Most people seem to have already made up their minds & they seem only

interested in hearing those they agree with (an important role of talk radio). Discent is despised.

After you’re done nodding your

head to the radio & flinging such labels as ”liberal” and ”conservative”, what are you doing to elevate public discussion

of the issues that seem to be tearing our nation apart?

Thirty years ago, this nation was rocked by liberal kids. Thirty years later,

they’ve become old farts clucking their tongues at the sad state of affairs — and worse, doing everything they can to crush the true

progress begun a generation ago. The pendulum will swing again. mjh

[printed in the UNM Daily Lobo 10/15/98]

PS — yeah, I resurrected this oldie from 6 years ago. Now, we do, in fact, have ”liberal talk radio” (www.airamericaradio.com) online. Perhaps this brings balance; will

it do more?

By the way, I may have been a little hard on my cohort. Did you know that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld worked for

Nixon? So, maybe 30 years haven’t changed things that much afterall. mjh