FOX News Channel, Alan Colmes, Mike Gallagher, Bill O'Reilly

CARTOONISH GLOATING

Undermining The Case Against Air America






Your Radio Equalizer is in the rare position of agreeing with an enemy today and that's a mighty bitter pill to swallow.

NewsHounds, an lefty anti- FOX site that has also slammed us several times in the past, correctly tears apart talk radio hack Mike Gallagher's gloating performance on the O'Reilly Factor last night. Gallagher, who really has had no role in the Air America debate until jumping in front of the parade last night, undermined the conservative case against liberal talk radio and damaged our cause as a result.

When asked why Air America could not succeed, the syndicated talker had only personal insults to throw at the liberal network's hosts, without offering a single fact or element of substance. Here at the Radio Equalizer, we've done our share of poking fun at Air America (especially with Dave and Pete's clever graphics, which have spread across the web from here), but we have always worked to provide specifics as to why the expensive effort was failing.

From NewsHounds:

Gallagher, unaware of how hypocritical he sounded claimed Air America people were mangy, bitter and angry like a bunch of "mental patients broadcasting in a basement."

O'Reilly surprisingly reminded him that there were a lot of right wing radio hosts that were the same way but Gallagher couldn't see that at all. He added that the left lacks warmth calling them "souless".

Gallagher, a cartoon "conservative" who has a past track record of these kinds of antics, destroyed his credibility when he wouldn't admit to O'Reilly's point that there are also a number of right- wing (some of them phony) bottom- feeders in syndication (did that point hit a bit too close to home?) who make all of the same mistakes as Rhodes, Franken, et al.

Is Mike merely swimming in the same sewer? And when has he shown real warmth or "soul"? This is hackdom in the first degree.


Here's the video clip:





It's funny, because we've often been accused of gloating ourselves, but the truth is somewhat different. An unemotional, non- partisan examination of our material will show that we like to stick it to those who deserve scorn (Al Franken's producer Billy "$625,000 plus lunch expenses" Kimball, for one), but we've also shown sympathy for some very nice people who've been chewed up and spit out by the Air America monster.

Colmes, for his part, showed a lot more class: he refused to bash Air America, even though it has been ruthless in attacking him all along. Franken rips Colmes almost as often as he slams O'Reilly. And Bill is correct to say that they hate Colmes simply for his FOX network ties, rather than for what he believes.

But they were all wrong to say that Colmes is a successful liberal radio talk host. His show has always struggled and he was recently booted from a key affiliate, KLIF- AM in Dallas.

And he wouldn't have done any better as part of the Air America lineup than Rhodes, Franken, Maddow, etc. But he is a nice guy. Guess what? So is Jerry Springer, but it doesn't mean anything.

To agree at least somewhat with NewsHounds, does that mean that Hell (Jerry Springer, Mayor) is freezing over? Perhaps for a moment, but probably not much longer than that.

ELSEWHERE: The Autopsy has set up a Sheldon Drobny watch!

Your Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, regardless of your final purchases, are vital to supporting this site's efforts. Thanks again!

Technorati tags: bill o'reilly fox news sheldon drobny alan colmes talk radio al franken randi rhodes air america radio newshounds