The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

31 July 2005

Liberals Not Happy With Air America Scandal Reporting

Backlash Begins

A "Fake Story", What Took Lefties So Long?


If you've at all followed previous sticky liberal flaps, the routine should by now be clear:

First, it's silence, then quiet consultation, followed by a "collective" response, repeated verbatim across the Internet and mainstream media.

On Air America's taxpayer funding diversion scandal, it was inevitable liberals would snap out of their stunned silence and fight back.

Don't forget, Air America has been the realization of an ages-old lefty dream, to take on Rush Limbaugh and conservative talk radio. They're not going to let $480,000 in taxpayer funds meant for a community center, going instead to the network, get in the way.

The only question was how long it would take.

Answer: about four days. That must have been some pow-wow. How do we spin a way out of this mammoth mess?

When it came to how they would respond, there was never any question: with all of the usual tactics, name calling, trickery and nastiness.

What they're saying this weekend reveals much about the state of "progressive" politics.

Step one is to kill the messenger, that happens to be me this time.

It's a "fake story", Brian Maloney is "sweaty", "baloney", plus all of the usual radical-right labeling highlight (lowlight?) what we've so far seen. I'm noticing the same attack pattern across sites, with cut-and-pasted copy.

Emanating first from the Daily Kos, the nation's largest liberal blog site, it then spreads to smaller sites. I'm accused outright of making up a story:

It's fun to check in with Memeorandum now and then to see what the righties are linking to. Yesterday they were swarming like flies to a carcass to a story that appears to be phony.

I say "appears"; maybe it isn't. It's hard to tell, for reasons that I hope become apparent as you read this post. The point of this post is not to prove or disprove certain allegations, but to illustrate how, shall we say, uncritical reading and writing can create a lot of smoke without there necessarily being a fire.

The "appears" and "maybe" elements are just a way of hedging on Kos writer Maha's part. From here, it devolves into a lengthy "examination" of how conservatives have sloppily gone bonkers over a single report in a Bronx community newspaper.

I just can't figure out Maha's (Barbara O'Brien) logic, since the quote from Air America's second statement is included, indicating that the company agreed "months ago" to repay the money.

What's "made up" about that? Air America knows it has a problem, but liberals can't accept reality.

More devastating for the left's case is this third statement, made by the company to Brit Hume of FOX News:

An Air America spokesman says, "We're committed to paying this money and the terms are being worked out... We are awaiting direction from the investigation into how to proceed."

Hold on a second! Didn't the company agree months ago to repay it? But nothing happened until we brought it to light?

So they're now saying they haven't yet repaid a dime? If we hadn't gotten on their case, would it have ever happened?

Didn't they say they weren't being investigated, just a few days ago? They seem to at least be in contact with New York Department of Investigation (DOI) personnel.

The company's inconsistent statements will be the subject of the Radio Equalizer's next piece, watch for it this weekend.

The left's biggest problem is the company's own actions, where each successive statement makes the previous one look misleading.

How can they honestly say there's nothing going on here, when Air America sure makes it look like that's the case?

Some conservatives are howling this weekend over Maha's initial inability to find the Bronx News story via Google. Is that my fault?

Here's a third link, as this article makes its way around the liberal blogosphere. In each case, the emphasis is on this as "fake news".

Then, things get nastier. At this liberal site, featuring a dead panda, it's name calling and what may be an anti-Irish slur.

Here, it's "baloney and spew" and apparently, I'm supposed to be ashamed of myself for reasons that aren't very clear. Northwest Progressive also gets in the act, but doesn't put too much thought into the matter.

The Politburo Diktat, an exceptionally interesting site, is already all over this, especially Barbara O'Brien's (Mahablog, Maha's diary at Daily Kos, both linked above) Google search troubles.

Are other conservatives ready for battle? Liberals aren't going to let Franken & Co. go down the drain without a fight.

Update: The Larsonian adds a interesting point. Scott at Powerline adds muscle to the fight today. Captain Ed doesn't mess around, either, thanks Captain's Quarters! Viking Pundit, Wizbang (making a major point I'll be exploring in-depth today), Eclipse Ramblings, Medary and many others are on this today. Thanks!


To readers-- the Radio Equalizer needs your help in two areas:

First, is there anyone with design talent that could create a small "Air America Scandal" box graphic for use here and at other sites? You'll get credit and a link back to your site.

Also, a major site upgrade has been in the works for quite awhile, but events of the last week have made it an urgent matter.

It will ready shortly, but costs are going to be relatively high. Supporting the Radio Equalizer's advertisers, particularly through Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, will help to defray costs. Your help is much appreciated, as this site does not have a tip jar, so it depends entirely on this kind of support. Thanks!

Please consider doing what you can for other sites you enjoy, as well!


92 Comments:

  • Keep up the good work Brian. You have their tactics down pat.

    Where is the MSM?, (again)

    By Blogger dualdiagnosis, at 31 July, 2005 03:17  

  • They scream the loudest when the arrows find their mark.

    Nice work. I'm adding you to my blogroll.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 07:45  

  • No one at Air America talked to Brit Hume. E-mail Brit and ask him who he spoke to.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 08:00  

  • Hey Anonymous! Loved your book but, that doesn't make you an expert on Air America...unless...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 08:32  

  • I read the community center went under and now there's no there, there, so they can't return the money. Anyone know if this is true?

    By Blogger erp, at 31 July, 2005 08:46  

  • Previously I stated;
    "The theft occurred at the board level with all eyes on the crime and there will be other crimes exposed as well during the investigation. The restructure and sale was a conspiracy to cover up these crimes and keep the funds. All an elaborate shell game poorly conceived and executed by "the best minds in the world"!
    When things illegal are discovered you have to wait for the chips to stop falling before you can come to a conclusion as to who, what, when and where. I've seen enough of this type of malfeasance investigated to know "Where there's smoke there's fire". Mark my words this is only the tip of the iceberg.

    By Blogger Beto_Ochoa, at 31 July, 2005 09:27  

  • Great story, Brian. Way to stay on top of it. Nothing could lend to your credibility more than to be slandered by leftist goons. They are so lame.

    By Blogger rich glasgow, at 31 July, 2005 09:42  

  • Brian, you've got the liberal's tactics down pat. If you want to see the spin machine in full rinse cycle go to www.airamericaplace.com and view their 'blog'. It basically (what I believe to be) three or four paid shills defending AAR. They have no facts to counter a single critic. It's pathetic really.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 09:45  

  • I don't know what happened with the failed Google search. But there are several documented cases of Google actively hiding information (in favor of leftists). This has been touched on at a number of conservative sights on a case by case basis, but a full investigation/article would be interesting.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 10:12  

  • Why don't you dig into this: Did Evan Cohen fake his miraculous recovery from brain cancer? I didn't know the medical centers were that graet in Guam. The big lesson to be learned, and one that will likely be replayed, is that you can't expect every good-hearted person to remain 100% cynical in their business dealings. Getting "seduced" by Cohen, as the Wall Street Journal reported, is bad but at least they didn't get convinced by some hillbilly heroin addict who said he had a great idea for a radio program. Or a crazed sex offender who convinced some stoopid radio stations that his success on TV would transfer to radio. Or commercials for investing in Dinars that the conservative talks stations seem to always play. What a bunch of rubes right wing radio attracts.

    By Blogger @whut, at 31 July, 2005 10:44  

  • It IS taking a long time for the standard liberal MSM response. It shouldn't take four days to remember that the standard response is to call conservatives names. In addition, they need to challenge the accuracy of your story, like they did with the Swift Boat vets, then call you a liar.

    Since there is a complete MSM blackout on this story, it's extra hilarious that the Maha story says that your article is "under-sourced." It's under-sourced because no one is reporting it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 11:04  

  • "The point of this post is not to prove or disprove certain allegations, but to illustrate how, shall we say, uncritical reading and writing can create a lot of smoke without there necessarily being a fire."

    But enough about the Rove/Plame story....

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 11:08  

  • "The point of this post is not to prove or disprove certain allegations, but to illustrate how, shall we say, uncritical reading and writing can create a lot of smoke without there necessarily being a fire."

    But enough about the Rove/Plame story....

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 11:12  

  • Just wait until the ACLU gets their hands on Air America Radio documents through the 'Freedom of Information Act'. I won't hold my breath.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 11:31  

  • It appears that Air America has employed Teddy Kenedy's spinmeisters. Worked for him for Chappaquiddick and the "typical Easter" at Palm Beach.

    No bloggers then. This will not spin into oblivian

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 12:00  

  • It appears that Air America chose to follow Teddy Kennedy's spinmeister format for Chappaquiddick and the "typical Easter family gathering" at Palm Beach.

    Don't think that format will work any longer. Too many bloggers linked to this post. Brian will be supported all of them as well as a growing number of readers that never heard of Bronx News before.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 12:29  

  • Well, that didn't take long. Given the long and often contradictory aspects of the post on maha's site, I asked what the point was. After a whopping TWO posts, I got this:

    "Banned by webmaster. Your comments will not be added"

    I can't say I'm suprised...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 12:38  

  • i just love how this post says nothing about the scandal itself. can we please stop arguing about how things were reported?
    am i the only one that sees this as entirely pointless?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 12:44  

  • Does anyone have a screenshot of the original post at Maha's? Everytime I read the post it seemed more information was added.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 12:54  

  • This should make for some interesting reading on the left side of the blogosphere, the siege mentality is incredible.

    Nice work!

    Like giacomo, I'm blogrolling you.

    By Blogger Jack, at 31 July, 2005 13:22  

  • I tried calling Barbara O'Brien today, but no one answered. Therefore, according to her own logic, she does not exist.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 13:40  

  • Isn't this the point: The company has admitted that Air America got the money under prior ownership. The current ownership is now saying they are going to pay it back. Isn't that pretty much case closed? They admitted it happened, and that they need to pay it back. How could Brian be lying? There's really no way to spin it other than to admit it all happened, given the players involved have admitted it. Hopefully, someone other than Brian is trying to find out if laws were broken.

    I would hope that, for example, if Valery Plame HAD been an undercover agent (she clearly wasn't and hadn't been since 1997) and Rove HAD secretly called a reporter to "out" her in order to hurt her husband (which he didn't do--reporter called him, etc.) that Republicans would be asking for his head. Similarly, I would hope that Democrats, if they find out that a Liberal organ such as Air America took money from a Boys and Girls club using illegal shenanigans would condemn that action. I look forward to both situations playing out and seeing the response of each party.

    By Blogger IrishLad, at 31 July, 2005 13:41  

  • I've created an Air America scandal counter. It's got my backlink in it, but it could have two if someone wants to help distribute it.

    I guess springerontheradio.com gets such low traffic that only I and a few others know that Jesse Taylor of Pandagon blogs there. He's either an employee of or volunteer for Jerry Springer.

    By Blogger LonewackoDotCom, at 31 July, 2005 13:46  

  • Brian...it's obvious by the reaction of the Kos Klux Klan that you are right on the money. Keep up the great work.

    Be careful though. The Kos Klux Klan has a history of trying to destroy those they don't like.

    Remember their jihad against against Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell because he said he supported tax cuts?

    I've got your back!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 13:48  

  • If you are caught robbing a bank, returning the money doesn't get you off the hook. There is absolutely no doubt this money would never be repaid had it not been exposed.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 13:52  

  • Brain-dead right-wing nuts:

    Wingers got their panties in a twist about AAR being so evil that the current investors are cleaning up after the mess Evan Cohen made.

    Lyin' Baloney feeds off the winger trickle-down table flowing from Scaife, Olin, Bradley, Smith-Richardson and the rest of the inbred ghouls with more money than brains. Manufacture the drum-beat and the brain-dead minions march.

    We listened to years of his lies and propaganda on KVI and KIRO and now he lies for a "living" in the winger blogorrhea space.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 13:58  

  • Tap, tap.....is this thing on?

    Yoohoo.... MSM where are you on this thing?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 14:15  

  • As usual, One can get a sense of a person by the quality of his enemies. Reading all the vile, sophomoric spittle that flows from lefty keyboards should make you proud.

    Keep up the good work.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 14:48  

  • There are few things in life as tasty as catching some liberals with both feet in the compost pile, then watching them scream about the right-wing machine when someone tells them they have something on their shoes.

    Great work, Brian.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 15:14  

  • I had a couple of things on my Amazon wish list, Brian - happy to help!

    Perhaps THIS is what the McCain-Feingold regs are all about - the ability of the public, unfettered by the ink purchasers of traditional media, to decide what is and is not a story. There is an EXCELLENT New York Times (of all places!) story on the issue, but you have to 'register' with them. Please contact me if you'd like to read it, it's really too long for the comments section, and I'd be happy to forward a copy. (It even makes fun of Bill Moyers!)

    peterporcupine1776@yahoo.com

    By Blogger Peter Porcupine, at 31 July, 2005 15:22  

  • Wow, Brian, your "phoney" story was so good even AA tought it was true!

    How Rovian of you...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 15:47  

  • I'm sure the O'FrankenFailure, who was all reruns last week (hmmmm, do you 'spose they knew this story was going to break?) will have an explanation for it.

    Franken: "ahhhhh...urrr...ahhhhhhhhhh...."

    Great work Brian!

    By Blogger David Drake, at 31 July, 2005 16:03  

  • Living dead little man Scott,

    If you had half a brain you'd realize that you or anyone else have no idea where the money really went and sometimes a business has to fork out to protect it's good name with its customers and patrons.

    You and I know what Lyin' Baloney and Lyin' Michelle Meglalang and Lyin' Savage Weiner and the rest of the echo chamber's real goal is - to shutdown any alternative to the hate spew typified by Baloney and Spew Spewit. Only so many advertising dollars - can't have them going any other place than the winger hate machine.

    Lies, lies, lies and you all wallow in it like hogs and you have the nerve to call that freedom.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 16:14  

  • And Oscar Wilde smiled down from Heaven...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 16:23  

  • Hmm,
    Actually I don't think the point of these posts is to shut down Air America, Judging by their own ratings, they will be out of the game anyways. And even if they find new funding, nobody is listening.

    I think the real point is to see whether the skeptics of the current "corrupt" administration (in thier view) are willing to tackle their own scandal in an upfront manner. And if the people on the left are willing to admit wrong doing, and move on. Judging by what we are seeing, I don't think that is the case.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 16:36  

  • I am new to blogs, I have one up right now...anyone can go to it and let me know what you think. You guys here have your act together...keep up the good work...I'll be sure to check in here daily.

    By Blogger The Game, at 31 July, 2005 16:39  

  • Mr. Anonymous Hmmm,

    Radio networks have their ups and downs just look at the career of Brainless Baloney - that's been pretty much down. In fact it's so down he resorts to unpaid drumbeat and echo-chamber whoring designed to smear AAR.

    The investors can see through this and will give AAR a fair shot to find its audience, Baloney and the rest of the winger spew machine notwithstanding.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 16:47  

  • Take your meds, little man Scott. A little paranoid?

    Ever see a zombie movie - that's you - a zombie.

    AAR will always have a "better name" than Spew Spewitt, Savage Weiner, Oxycontin-marinated gasbag, Michelle "Intern 'em" Maglalang and the inimitable, on-the-skids, Lyin' Baloney.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 16:52  

  • Boy, is this fun! If you can tell how good you are by the kind of enemies you attract, Scott is a god! This anonymous guy is amazing. He/she must be posting from an unattended nurse's machine in a whacko ward. I don't remember a time when I read a more consistently surreal stream of deranged posts.

    Oh, well, when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. Wonder what anonymous is getting paid, cause he's certainly a pro

    JorgXMcKie

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 17:15  

  • Wow Anonymous dude. Did you ever hear of Freudian Projection?

    Is this what passes in lefty land as clever reparte?

    Pathetic.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 17:17  

  • Fun indeed. Also fun to think that in liberal Boston, Rush gets a 4.5 and Franken gets a 0.3 (the show itself, not the stations as a whole)
    at least on one of the two AAR stations (WKOX):

    "Heard Monday through Friday on WRKO-AM from noon - 3 p.m., "The Rush Limbaugh Show" scored, among Persons 12+, a 4.5 share with an average quarter-hour audience of 34,200 listeners. Among Adults 25-54, he has a 3.5 share with an average quarter-hour audience of 14,800 listeners. Mr. Al Franken, who airs at the same time on WKOX-AM in Boston, has a Persons 12+ share of 0.3 with an average quarter-hour audience of 2,100 listeners."

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 17:39  

  • [Anonymous] i just love how this post says nothing about the scandal itself. can we please stop arguing about how things were reported? am i the only one that sees this as entirely pointless?

    Anonymous: I've just fisked you on the original thread. For anyone who's interested I also include the story Air America SHOULD have run, but didn't.

    The basic points are:
    (*) there are at least two levels of culpability here - criminal conspiracy is one, but gross negligence is another; and if what AAR is saying publicly is true, then they are guilty of fiduciary negligence at the least.

    (*) any entity can be judged at least partially by how they respond to events, but an organization claiming to do "the news" like AAR is especially transparent.

    (*) the way Anonymous poses questions are either ignorant or clever. I'm guessing ignorant but I won't "speculate" as I don't want to be wrong. :)

    Another thing I didn't add: Anonymous, by your comments on the other thread, it's clear that you misunderstood many of Brian's questions. Not that they weren't honest mistakes, but I think you'd follow along a lot better if you had understood them a little better.

    By Blogger RD, at 31 July, 2005 17:48  

  • P.S. Anonymous: If you think I've summarized you unfairly in some of my paraphrases, I'm willing to listen. But I thought I was actually quite fair.

    By Blogger RD, at 31 July, 2005 17:51  

  • Let's see, how many nails in the coffin has Air America Radio received from the anti-(Air) American right?

    Seems as though four or five times a day, someone says this slimy accusation or that departing sponsor is the latest "nail in the coffin".

    Man, that must be one looooooong coffin to need that many nails.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 18:14  

  • Let's dial down the rhetoric and Simplify K:

    The Left-Right mutual masturbatory slaggings are always amusing, but according to my research this story comes down 'ere, and both wings look like twonks, if you ask me.

    1. Maha tried to use this story as an example of how "fake stories" can spread. Her analysis is technically correct, fake stories do spread precisely as she states via unverified/poorly researched stories being picked up by major media.

    Unfortunately this was not a fake story and so the example fails.

    ergo, some degree of egg on face, and one can laugh if one is so inclined.

    2. Brian tried to use this story as an example of "Liberal" Air America corruption.

    Unfortunately for Brian this story is about a guy (ex-Air America Chairman Evan Cohen) who was forced to resign by "Liberal" Air America YEARS ago.

    ..because "Liberal" Air America *thought he was a crook*.

    So, both sides have egg on their face if you ask me.

    Maha for using a bad example of how fake stories spread.

    and Brian for trying to spin a story against "Liberals", essentially for doing something he should have supported. Namely, forcing an allegedly corrupt man to resign, years ago.

    Bottom line to this story, you can have a good laugh at Maha, but "Liberal" Air-America did the right thing. They got rid of the alleged crook and it was done LONG ago.

    'natch now the reason(s) he was forced to resign those years ago are coming to light.

    But that's hardly Air-America's fault.

    You can know/suspect a bloke is a crook, but that doesn't at all mean you know the specifics of everything he did.

    Far as I'm concerned, both left and right wing respondands shall we say 'overzealously' enjoying any sort of victory here, aren't looking at the whole story.

    Way I see it, this is a story about a Left Wing blogger that used a bad example to make her case about fake-stories (the story wasn't fake)

    and a Right wing blogger using a bad example to make his case against "Liberal" Air-America.
    (the guy was forced to resign years ago by "Liberal" Air-America -because- they reportedly thought he was corrupt)

    And That's What My Research Found.

    regards,
    Michael Maelstrom

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 18:59  

  • With the name calling, the Democraticunderground must moved to this blog

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 19:07  

  • Michael,

    Thanks for that breath of fresh air.

    However the winger's goals are always the same - destroy. Attack, attack, attack with whatever skimpy shreds of fact - or outright lies - are lying around. Get a drumbeat going, start an echo-chamber to echo the madness ringing between their collective ears.

    That will always be the true "story".

    Their illusions and delusions die so hard - they're taking the country down with them.

    With all the madness they spew through their propaganda outlets it's a wonder how any responsible governance is done these days.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 19:10  

  • I agree with Michael.

    It was well documented that the employees of AA were lied to by Cohen. Remember all the stories about Cohen bouncing checks three weeks after they launched? This after he told the employees he had enough money to last two years? Sure you do. You took great pleasure in reporting it. Al Frankin famously worked for free, becoming an involuntary investor. Remember?

    The fact that the employees of AA were caught totally off guard by Cohen's financial situation is well documented.

    Knowing this, do you honestly think that Cohen, after totally misrepresenting himself to the AA employees, would have told them about money he stole from a children's camp?

    That's a stretch.

    What exactly is the story here then? That the current owners of AA, when confronted with the information of Cohen's wrongdoing decided to repay the money? When clearly, none of them had any thing to do with it.

    Wow, how rotten of them.

    Personally I think your collective partisan minds have had just a little bit too much caffeine.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 19:20  

  • That's your big scandal? What a joke.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 19:35  

  • Guam, guam, guam, guam.

    The fraudster at the middle of all this happens to be a scheming Republican named Evan Cohen who claimed to have a miraculous recovery from brain cancer and then convinced investors of a "social progressiveness that I wanted for my second chance in life"

    This from the Wall Street Journal of all places!

    Maelstrom has it about right.

    By Blogger @whut, at 31 July, 2005 20:18  

  • Since I made it clear in my first post that I thought the current owners of AA had nothing to do with that alleged crime what is your point?

    And because I'm not a democrat, your Moveon.org comment missed the mark also.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 20:23  

  • Alex, a liberal troll wrote:

    That's your big scandal? What a joke.

    By Alex, at 7:35 PM

    Apparently he thinks that the folks at Err America are pikers because they only stole $500,000.00 from the mouths of poor children and the elderly infirm.

    Don't worry, Alex. If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure that they would have stolen more if they could have.

    Bless you, Brian Maloney, for bringing this to light.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 20:31  

  • Wait a minute. Although AAR may not have known where the money originated, they know about it now. Cohen was crooked and perhaps AAR was in the dark over where the money came from, but they still benefitted from the money. It doesn't matter whether or not they understood originally where that money came from. They know it now and hadn't even addressed it until a small newspaper brought it to light. So how is it that AAR should get a pass on this? People earmarked for this money suffered. Pay back the money, apologize and move on. Perhaps they could do something to take up the cause for which they took the money from. Is that so difficult to take the moral route? Funny how they can dish out the wrong-doings of conservatives, but are silent when it is their own wrong-doings.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 20:33  

  • On my blog I wrote about the complete outrage and weeks of Front Page Stories that this story would have if someone like Sean Hannity would have done it...

    The difference is sean hannity RAISES millions of dollars for the children of fallen soldiers...

    There is the difference, AA takes money from the boys and girls club, and the evil Republican who wants to kill everyone (said Paul Bagala) raises money for children.

    My point is that the media does not cover things on a level playing field...

    Feel free to look up more comments on my blog...or write what you think about my ramblings here

    By Blogger The Game, at 31 July, 2005 20:40  

  • What did Al Franken know and when did he know it?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 20:41  

  • As Ira from ChronWatch.com pointed out, Guam's Republicans and Democrats really exist in name only, it's about power, not ideology. Almost nothing in common with the mainland's parties.

    By Blogger Brian Maloney, at 31 July, 2005 20:46  

  • Shaun,

    Cohen was a private person who stated a company, Air America, and raised his own fiancing.

    The people who bought the company from him, the current owners, paid him what he wanted and that was that.

    There was no reason for them to investigate how Cohen got his money. They had enough problems to deal with. That is clear.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 20:49  

  • If a Guam Republican is in name only, then why did Evan Cohen say this (as reported by the WSJ):

    This new radio network, "represented the confluence of business pragmatism and social progressiveness that I wanted for my second chance in life," Mr. Cohen wrote in a fund-raising letter to television journalist Bill Moyers, who didn't invest.

    You are right about one thing though; for this guy, it is all about power... when it's not about ideology.

    By Blogger @whut, at 31 July, 2005 21:29  

  • michael maelstrom, Alex, and Anonymous:

    We're not necessarily saying that Air America set out to defraud youngsters and steal their lunch money. But the lunch money still "got stolen." And as Shaun pointed out, they still benefited - in a material way - from the lunch money. In the moral universe that the 60 Minutes, New York Times and Air Americas of the world inhabit, the distinction you're trying to make doesn't really matter; and should it?

    In that universe - the universe AAR holds everyone else to (and should IMO) - it's STILL unacceptable to show no compassion for the victims, no responsibility for their situation, and no inclination to fix the error in an expedient fashion, while those victims are still suffering and waiting patiently for their due restitution. In that universe, it's still incumbent upon the Evil Corporation to Set Things Right. (Well isn't it? You've seen the script plenty of times.)

    And that's what's happened HERE...even though (as you may yet not realize) most Evil Corporations, like AAR, are NOT evil and are NOT intending to harm anyone specifically when a bad apple (like Mr. Cohen) poisons the apple pie.

    And, what we are pointing out to you is that, once confronted with the awful reality of what DID happen, Air America showed as little compassion and concern as you seem to now for setting the situation right.

    ("But how can you know what they really feel? Isn't that an arrogant thing to claim?")

    Well, there's what you just said in your posts...but more generally...

    How do we know? Because Air America is in the media business, and they make it their bread-and-butter business to tell us - on a daily basis - what they care about. When they REALLY care about something, we all know what they do: they rant and rave, morning, noon and night. They don't sleep. They don't let up. They don't REST until the deed is righted. Or?

    And you see, by being in the loudmouth media business, they've set the high watermark when it comes to things they do care about. Using their own behavior as a clue, it's OBVIOUS to the whole world (except you folks maybe) as to where this particular injustice falls in their self-generated spectrum of righteous concern: near absolute zero. Zero Kelvin.

    ("But the current owners are not the old owners...they're NOT evil...so why can't you just accept that they got duped along with everyone else?")

    I've got news for you: many of the scandal-ridden corporations that the media report on didn't intend to cause harm either. THEY didn't set out to hurt innocent children, or rape women, or starve little kittens, any more than Air America did. Their current officers are often not directly responsible for the injustices. But the Mike Wallaces of the world still embarrass the heck out of them ANYWAY. As well they should - if they still benefited from the crime...and if the CEOs aren't WAVING their MAGIC WANDS to fix the situation IMMEDIATELY, WITH interest, pain & suffering, and transition costs attached. The Evil Corporation is taken to task ANYWAY, because in the meantime, those innocent children, women and kittens are still wanting.

    THAT's the situation your beloved network finds themselves in - at the very least. And if they're no more concerned about it than you are, then you'd better start worrying.

    Because in the moral universe that Air America inhabits, their behavior makes them an Evil Corporation.

    By Blogger RD, at 31 July, 2005 21:52  

  • "They got rid of the alleged crook and it was done LONG ago."

    They got rid of of the alleged crook long ago, but then did nothing about paying the money back.

    So 2 people from AA were fired or quit, but the rest of the upper staff was the same. There must have been accounting records.

    But even if they didn't know I would expect the non-profit agency to start asking for the money back when they needed it for their programs. After all, the agreement was to pay the money back with interest. Yet they -AA- said nothing and was very evasive when the issue did come up in the media.

    There are some questions that are unanswered, but there is not doubt that AA unethically "borrowed" money from a non-profit. It also says a great deal about their bookkeeping and management if no one else knew what was going on.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 21:55  

  • [me] Because in the moral universe that Air America inhabits, that makes them an Evil Corporation.

    Not that they can't Set Things Right.

    [mm] Bottom line to this story, you can have a good laugh at Maha, but "Liberal" Air-America did the right thing. They got rid of the alleged crook and it was done LONG ago.

    So why, then, didn't they fix his mistake?

    Until they do they are an Evil Corporation, by definition, if not by intent. (This isn't meant as a value judgment on their good intentions...just their behavior.)

    [Alex] It was well documented that the employees of AA were lied to by Cohen. Remember all the stories about Cohen bouncing checks three weeks after they launched? This after he told the employees he had enough money to last two years?

    Don't you realize this makes them MORE guilty [of negligence]? That firing should have triggered an audit. An audit by a certified fraud examiner would have revealed a problem with the tainted money. AAR is delinquent in their fiduciary responsibility to investors at the very least; it is precisely a "revelation" like this that can easily sink a company and their prime investors (as assets are sold to repay the [defrauded] gov't creditors.)

    [Anonymous] There was no reason for them to investigate how Cohen got his money. They had enough problems to deal with. That is clear.

    NO way to investigate that? "Enough problems to deal with?" Surely you must be joking.

    [Anonymous] With all the madness they spew through their propaganda outlets it's a wonder how any responsible governance is done these days.

    Well, I hope you don't think this post is "propaganda". Do you?

    By Blogger RD, at 31 July, 2005 22:14  

  • Shaun, right on! I'm w/you on this.

    By Blogger RD, at 31 July, 2005 22:15  

  • Brian, put down the Kool Aid and grab a Guinness. You seem to think there is a scandal here, when it appears everything has been resolved. Yet you and your ugly American followers compare this situation to Rove leaking the name of a covert CIA agent?

    Those of you who agree with Mr. Maloney clearly identify as Right-wing before you identify as American. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. My Irish gran would slap you upside the head, Maloney, for supporting King Bush.

    By Blogger maurinsky, at 31 July, 2005 22:24  

  • Anonymous said: The people who bought the company from him, the current owners, paid him what he wanted and that was that.



    That's not true that when you buy a company, that's the end of your financial obligations. Any debts are shifted from the previous owner to the current owner. They have to pay off the debts for their newly bought company. They can always sue the previous owner if they feel that things were kept hidden from them financially. They may or may not win that one, but the bottom line is that they have every obligation to pay off debts regardless of whether or not they were initially responsible for them. What makes this situation worse is by the fact that a charity went under due to finances. How can they fix that one will be interesting, if they actually decide to do anything about this other than pay lip service.

    Again, the company that they have invested in benefited earlier from this money. They can't shrug their shoulders and point fingers at others to take care of this. I might feel bad for them if they had tried to rectify this immediately, but it appears that when the problem first came to light, they chose to ignore it and sweep it under the rug. And public relations plays a BIG part in companies. They aren't doing themselves any favors by dragging this out any longer. They already have a ratings problem. This whole company has been mismanaged from the beginning and the new management doesn't seem to be any more adept at running this business.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 22:27  

  • maurinsky said...

    You seem to think there is a scandal here, when it appears everything has been resolved.



    Was this debt paid off? I haven't read that yet. Where did you hear this?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 22:30  

  • SU - meant to say I'm w/you, too! Sorry.

    By Blogger RD, at 31 July, 2005 22:36  

  • Air America's company spokesman was quoted in Brit Hume's report as saying the money had not been repaid.

    Shaun nails it in his comment, AAR was boosted by that money, ownership changes don't make any difference. Think about it, that money probably went to pay Al Franken's salary.

    Where's Al on this? Why isn't he talking?

    By Blogger Brian Maloney, at 31 July, 2005 22:45  

  • "Think about it, that money probably went to pay Al Franken's salary. "

    What a waste. Instead of that money going toward programs that might have made a difference, it went toward someone who hasn't been funny for about 40 years.

    Sad.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 23:17  

  • Hmmmmmm. As I was reading the comments section at Wizbang, I came across a comment directing everyone to an old post made http://www.professorbainbridge.com/2004/06/air_america_the.html which shows that the "new" owners are actually the old owners of Air America, minus two people, or something to that effect. So I guess we aren't talking about new people coming on the scene and being surprised at the mess laid at their feet. I think that there is definitely more to come of this story.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 31 July, 2005 23:55  

  • lonewacko-

    I guess springerontheradio.com gets such low traffic that only I and a few others know that Jesse Taylor of Pandagon blogs there. He's either an employee of or volunteer for Jerry Springer.

    Jesse hasn't really tried to hide the affilliation--- I remember when he announced his employment on the blog... I left a comment along the lines of "Is Jerry still paying his whores by check? :o)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 00:14  

  • But what about the children?

    There's nothing more entertaining than watching liberals become completely unhinged. This is almost as good as Lawrence O'Donnel.

    Great work Brian. My next Amazon purchase goes through you.

    Jeff B.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 01:36  

  • [Shaun] ...the bottom line is that they have every obligation to pay off debts regardless of whether or not they were initially responsible for them.

    I'm with you all the way but am wondering if the legal opinion is iron-clad or still evolving. Seems reasonable but wondered if folks had read this. (Says it's possible to buy someone's assets without purchasing the company and its liabilities; also argued that an asset sale for fair market value may put Mr. Cohen on the hook personally.)

    Not sure how factors such as closely-held status before/after the sale, the number of owners, and their % ownership distribution may affect AAR's case. Ditto if collusion/fraud was committed.

    By Blogger RD, at 01 August, 2005 01:55  

  • Brian,

    Keep up the intelligent reporting. Keep deflecting the name-calling and other visciousness that liberal websites are so famous for with respect and integrity for the story and its participants. The major "progressive" sites could learn a thing or two about how to report a story.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 01:55  

  • [Maurinsky] Those of you who agree with Mr. Maloney clearly identify as Right-wing...

    Bull. Many folks were redirected here recently from all over the political map. Reread Shaun's posts; a conscientious political neutral could've written those. (I show I'm irritated with AAR's self-righteous pedantry in my diatribe, but why wouldn't I? It gets on my nerves.)

    ...before you identify as American.

    Nein. Das ist nicht true.

    And why so glum? There's a clear remedy here for AA: be decent. Pay everyone back with money to spare. Help re-establish the charity, apologize, and ask for forgiveness. If the authorities shut it down anyway, re-establish a new clone with the same talent. If any 'casters are locked up I'm sure there are others waiting in the wings. But if you're right, that won't happen now will it? No one's conspiring to suppress free speech here. So put down the Kool-Aid, understand the "nail-in-the-coffin" comments for what they are ;) and grab a Guinness for goodness' sake...

    By Blogger RD, at 01 August, 2005 02:00  

  • In general when you buy a company you buy the assets AND any debt. It really doesn't matter if Air American was purchased, the debt still exists. Surely the new owners investigated potential liabilities. Didn't they? No one could be that stupid. How they "came" into that money is what is the most interesting aspect of this story. I wonder if Ken Lay considered the brain cancer defense?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 02:41  

  • Wow, what a non-story. I followed the link to Daily Kos. It was well-written and informative, unlike this drivel. It actually informed me about the story, unlike your post. You might learn something from the investigating they've done.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 06:53  

  • In response to Alex's comment that stealing only $480,000.00 from the poor and needy children and elderly infirm was not a scandal, I said that Err Amertica would have stolen more if they could have.

    Well, it turns out I was right. The figure now is more than $800,000.00 and I'll bet it goes up from there.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 08:13  

  • Oh please. Your talk radio "hero" is a prescription drug addict who is under investigation for where and how he obtained these drugs.

    I wont even go into how you support this administration's criminal activity with a religious fervor and blind faith that only...hmmm...devoutly religious people could have. Wow what an amazing coincidence that the corporate criminals you have elected to office have chosen you as their base.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 10:08  

  • Ummm...anyone know what the heck Deano is talking about here?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 10:10  

  • RD, I'm not a lawyer, so it's all speculation on my part for the legalities. However, I had read that some of the players who originally owned AAR are still owners in the new buy-out. It's possible that the new owners won't have to take on the debt, but the old ones will, which may still be the same thing.

    Cohen should definitely be held accountable here. I read that he not only took money from this charity for AAR, but he was also pocketing money for himself. What a slimeball! I would hope that he is expected to pay back the money and also do jail time.

    That said, companies also need to keep up their PR. Scandals like this won't win them any new customers and they may have a harder time selling any ad time to other companies who don't want to associated with a station who steals from charities, regardless of who did the stealing. They benefited. The charity collapsed. Looks bad, doesn't it? Would Coca-Cola want to be associated with that? (Picked that out of the air because we don't get AAR in my area and I have no idea who advertises on their station)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 11:10  

  • c-dog: I think he's referring to the Rush Limbaugh medical records fishing expedition in Florida. (So much for "right to privacy", eh?)

    By Blogger eLarson, at 01 August, 2005 11:29  

  • Deano: "I wont even go into how you support this administration's criminal activity with a religious fervor and blind faith that only...hmmm...devoutly religious people could have."

    c-dog: I think he's saying that "devoutly religious people" "support...criminal activity" and that their faith is blind.

    No further comment needed.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 12:37  

  • Susan?

    I beg to differ from your statement," No further comment needed."

    The quote you cited from Deano is a complete non-sequiter.

    Devoutly religious people support criminal activity? Huh? I DID NOT know that.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 13:17  

  • Anti-Irish slur?

    I think the (adjective) Mc(adjective) construction is a pretty well-known comedic device. At least I find it funny, for some reason.

    Also, isn't it more of an anti-Scottish slur? As a McNary, it sure seems that way...

    By Blogger Jim, at 01 August, 2005 14:19  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Blogger Jim, at 01 August, 2005 14:27  

  • Also, Susan, I think Deano was referring to the tendency of Republicans to believe everything Bush says unless they are literally slapped in the face with a videotape, filmed from three different angles, that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's... ah... misremembering something.

    For example, we all know that Bush never knew Kenny Boy. He gave him that nickname purely at random. I myself nickname people I've never met all the time! Furthermore, all those handwritten christmas cards that Ken sent him? Clearly the omnipresent "Republican staffer" carefully whited out the "Ken Lay" on the envelope and the "Enron" off the stationery and wrote, I dunno, Santa. That's a far more convincing explananation than, say, Bush covering his ass and trying to backpedal from that sham corporation dedicated to Mammon-cum-GOP piggybank that was burning like a viking funeral ship. Occam's Razor, ya know, because Bush once hugged a firefighter and therefore could never tell a lie.

    By Blogger Jim, at 01 August, 2005 14:29  

  • For example, we all know that Bush never knew Kenny Boy.

    Who's "we" in this context, Jim?

    By Blogger eLarson, at 01 August, 2005 15:43  

  • Brian: once again, you have demonstrated your inability to check facts by reporting the Pandagon panda dead, when it is not, in fact, dead. It is just acting cute.

    A real journalist would have contacted Pandagon and asked if the panda was dead before reporting it so.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 01 August, 2005 22:35  

  • Thx Shaun :) wasn't expecting it myself until this week... feels like things are starting to trickle in slowly now...

    On the ownership chain: will be curious to see if the # of "remaining owners" we're hearing about is closer to one or two, or several or more...

    Also saw the newest comment from an AAR officer about a "forensic" investigation that supposedly occurred. Wonder if that's supposed to be a forensic financial fraud audit of some kind - could get interesting -

    By Blogger RD, at 02 August, 2005 07:34  

  • [The4thEstate] Has anybody else noticed that the Air America scandal has brought out the full range of options from the dusty, yellowed liberal playbook?

    Yep...just like you said...it's even attracted the kind of "trolls" who want their comments to appear plausible enough to fool casual visitors. The latest clone of your example:

    [Anonymous] Wow, what a non-story.

    That's a revealing comment. REAL
    "non-stories" don't generate posts like yours. Careful.

    I followed the link to Daily Kos.

    Readers of this blog report that Daily Kos is not being honest in their coverage. Can you share any hints as to what they're saying? Thanks. (And what link BTW?)

    It was well-written and informative, unlike this drivel. It actually informed me about the story, unlike your post.

    Thank you, New York Times Book Review. Informative of what exactly? What did you learn? Can you provide a hint please?

    You might learn something from the investigating they've done.

    Anonymous, I think you're worse than a troll. You're something else masquerading as a troll. Prove me wrong.

    By Blogger RD, at 02 August, 2005 08:00  

  • I am artistically incapable of doing this but, take the classic picture of the evacuation of Saigon in 1975, put "Air America" in bold letters on the Helicopter and put money bags in the hands of all the fleeing people. Just for context the CIA backed Air America did a lot of the evacuation in 1975.

    By Blogger David, at 03 August, 2005 15:36  

  • I am astounded at the amount of assumptions being used here.
    First, a many assume that others in the AAR organization knew about the origins of this money which turned out to be a loan instead of an investment, forgetting or choosing to ignore that AAR was a startup company at the time so why would employees question where the financing for the company come from?
    Next, many posters assume that the terms of the loan have been violated without knowing what those terms were. How do we know if the terms were month to month, quarterly, annually or even if there was a several year hiatus before the first payment was due? Since the Club didn't sue AAR for default on the loan, the presumption I have is that AAR was not out of compliance with the terms of the loan. Particularly since the Club went through bankruptcy and the Federal Courts would have demanded any past due payments at the time of the bankruptcy, once they examined their books and found an out of compliance loan there.
    Another presumption is that AAR is refusing to pay the loan currently, though they contend they don't even have an obligation to pay it at all. If the Bankruptcy Court didn't come after them, this seems to make it more likely they are telling the truth about this, than not. Perhaps it was a loan to Cohan and not to AAR? Just because he was an executive of AAR doesn't necessarily mean he borrowed the money for AAR and not for himself personally. AAR's press release makes it clear that payment terms are dependent upon the decision of the Department of Investigations decisions on the matter. So they are unable to make prompt payments. Public relations could indeed be why they are offering to pay back a loan they don't owe in the first place. Companies do this all of the time to keep their customer bases content. Just as you all watch in rapture as Scott McClellan stands before the White House Press Corps and repeats ad infinitum "I can't comment on that as long as the investigation is in progress" and don't bat an eye, yet are right there with your pitch forks and hoes ready to string up the entire staff of AAR for not paying the loan until terms are approved by DOI. Can't any of you see the hypocritical nature of your reactions?
    One final comment. Though I am a conservative, I still treasure variety in listening. I listen to Rush and Al Franken as well as others from across the political spectrum. Too many of you want AAR to fail but I don't. Then it will be too much like NewSpeak in 1984. Who wants to hear everyone say the same thing over and over again? Maybe you do but I don't.
    Al Franken is not a man who deprives children. He has made any number of USO trips to entertain our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as Kosovo and other battlegrounds. I don't believe he was involved in stealing from old people and children. He may have been dupped like many of the other employees of AAR, but I don't believe he was the one doing the duping. You can call him dumb for being duped but it is wrong to call him a theif. Have you never been defrauded by someone in your life? If not, then I am happy for you. I was, by my own cousin who worked for a used car dealer and sold me my first car. I worked my butt off for the money for that car and it turned out to be a piece of junk. It taught me early that anyone can defraud you, even your own family.
    So enjoy your glee at thinking you have killed the ogre. But remember that the worse ogre is the people who tell you what you want to hear all of the time and never challenge your intellect. With folks talking to you like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly you will never have to worry about that!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 06 August, 2005 00:23  

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