Talk Right, Talk Left

Interesting thoughts from Ann Althouse on Rush Limbaugh vs. Air America (which appears to be filing for bankruptcy).

It's just interesting to read this from someone as nonpartisan as Ann- basically, she makes many of the same points conservatives have made about talk radio for awhile. And she's quite right about entertainment value- Rush brings that to the table, which is why I can listen to him even when I'm disagreeing with him. Of course, not all conservatives on the radio are like Rush. Sean Hannity for instance makes many of the same points that Rush makes, but is closer to Al Franken then to Rush.

My only expierience with Air America was quite painful. It wasn't just the complaints about Bush and the complaints about the war, it was how they went about it. Al Franken had this segment where he played clips (and I'm not sure if it was clips of Rush's show, or clips of Bush) and over the clips he basically would just call the speaker a liar. Rush engages in the same sorts of attacks, but at least he has fun with it, creating skits, songs and all sorts of clever nicknames. Air America never had any of that. It was like NPR without any of the interesting pieces- the fact that it was no fun to boot leaves no doubt in my mind as to why it failed.

The other interesting thought to pop into my head? Ann takes much of the same approach to blogging as Rush takes to broadcasting. Yes it can be informational, but it's also supposed to be fun.