Peter Lewis, Progressive Insurance, Air America, Rachel Maddow

BITING THE HAND

Did AAR Host Realize She Was Attacking Network Backer?







For today's radio libtalkers, attacking evil corporations is most certainly second nature. Often, their anti- business approach seems driven by emotion more than anything else.

That said, what caused one of Air America's hosts to bash a key network founding supporter on the air Thursday? Was something more personal involved?

During Thursday's Rachel Maddow Show, the talker herself proceeded to attack Progressive Insurance, based on a story that originally appeared in the Atlanta Journal- Constitution. Here's a transcript of Maddow's rant:

MADDOW: In August, 2005, a couple, a male-female couple joined the Southside Christian Fellowship Church in Atlanta. They joined the church and they joined a support group that was hosted at the church minister’s home. I think it was like a family and couple’s marriage support group or something.

And the minister said at the beginning of every meeting of the group, this is private, this is confidential, what’s said in this room stays in this room. Turns out the new couple that joined that month was secretly taping the support group sessions in an effort to try to get dirt on tape on two other people who were participating in that group.

The new couple were private eyes, hired by Progressive Insurance to try to get something embarrassing and personal on tape about a couple that was involved in a lawsuit with Progressive over an auto accident in 2004. They wanted something to discredit them. The couple who was spied on filed another lawsuit against Progressive last week, charging invasion of privacy, breach of confidentiality, and emotional distress, yeah!

But it wasn’t until the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote an article about their case and about what Progressive did that the insurance company, the country’s third largest, finally issued an apology today.

So now when you hear those incredibly annoying ads for Progressive Auto Insurance (Maddow airs brief Progressive Auto ad excerpt), you can not only think, Wow, gremlins, could there be a more obscure hook for an insurance ad, ever? You can now also associate them with spying on people they are suing in church groups. Awesome.

Hey Rachel, aren't you aware that one of Air America Radio's first financial backers was Peter Lewis, Chairman of Progressive Insurance? He remained a Piquant unitholder until the bankruptcy reorganization was complete.

In fact, he's also associated with Democracy Alliance, the group that very nearly bailed Air America out before bankruptcy was finally declared. Lewis is associated with far- left causes and has a longtime political connection to George Soros.

That begs the question: did Rachel realize she was attacking one of her own? Does this have something to do with past conflicts over Air America's funding, or was Maddow really foolish enough to bash a key supporter, one who supplied start- up funding to pay her own salary?


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Technorati tags: talk radio peter lewis progressive insurance rachel maddow air america radio piquant llc george soros democracy alliance

Air America, George Soros, Mike McCurry, Peter Lewis, Democracy Alliance

BAILOUT

Soros, Lewis In Air America Election-Year Rescue




Exclusive to The Radio Equalizer
(For updates, please see our main page)

By Brian Maloney


Could this be Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo's lucky day?

As crucial midterm congressional elections approach, can America's "progressive" leaders really afford to let an ailing liberal talk radio network die?

Apparently, the answer to the first question is yes, to the second, no, the Radio Equalizer has learned.

Through an emergency bailout plan, a coalition of wealthy liberal political activists are poised to at least temporarily save Air America Radio. On the way: as much as $8 million in sorely-needed cash to fund ongoing operations.


With particular support from San Francisco and Silicon Valley multimillionaires, the group has an unusual number of contributors from outside the Beltway.

According to Human Events, the organization's key members include:

Name	Function	Background
Rob Stein	Founder/director	Former chief of staff to Clinton Commerce Secretary Ron Brown
Andrew Rappaport	Founder/investor	Silicon Valley investor
Simon Rosenberg	Founder	President, New Democrat Network
Mike McCurry	Spokesman	Former White House press secretary
Steven Gluckstern	Chairman	Retired investment banker
Ann S. Bowers	Board member	Founding trustee of Noyce Foundation, widow of Intel founder
Albert Yates	Board member	Former President, Colorado State University
Marc and Susie T. Buell	Board members	Mrs. Buell is founder of Esprit de Corps
Anne Bartley	Board member	President, Rockefeller Family Fund
Alan Patricof	Donor	Co-founder, Apax Partners
Bren Simon	Donor	Wife of Simon Property Group co-chairman Mel Simon
Chris Gabrieli	Donor	Boston-based venture capitalist
Rob Reiner	Donor	Director/actor
George Soros	Donor	Financier
Peter Lewis	Donor	Chairman, Progressive Corp.

Since the publication of this list, Soros (top-right image) and Lewis (below-left) are said to have taken more prominent roles in the Democracy Alliance, reducing support for other groups thought to be ineffective.


According to reports, instead of donating directly to candidates, the aim of the Democracy Alliance is to support a longterm "progressive" media and foundational infrastructure. That keeps it largely outside the Federal Election Committee's reach. Definitions of designations used by advocacy groups are found here.

As a result, determining the group's sources of cash and expenditures is exceptionally difficult.

In determining how to proceed, the DA has closely studied conservative organizations such as the Heritage Foundation as well as the FOX News Channel.

After some initial fanfare, liberals have recently begun to express frustration with what they've seen as the slow pace of DA's funding plans. Even last April, Soros was cautioning liberal Democrat activists to be patient, according to The Hill:

George Soros told a carefully vetted gathering of 70 likeminded millionaires and billionaires last weekend that they must be patient if they want to realize long-term political and ideological yields from an expected massive investment in “startup” progressive think tanks.

A conservative analysis of early reporting on the DA is found at the American Thinker.

In January, the National Journal's Hotline published a piece critical of the DA's slow pace and seeming lack of focus, considering the huge amount of cash raised:

The DA's prime mover was Rob Stein, a lawyer and ex-DNC chief of staff who spent years trying to unravel the strands of the conservative movement. Stein entered his conclusions into a Power Point presentation which demonstrated so acutely the organizational deficiencies of Democrats that many of the party's top fundraisers and operatives were stunned into giving Stein's ideas a hard look.

Stein brought the presentation to meeting rooms across the country and quickly convinced dozens of big-name Democratic donors that the way to revive American liberalism would be to copy the institutional structure that conservatives built.

Hence the DA, which quickly secured $80 million or so in seed money to be spread over five years.

But many DA donors grew frustrated with the pace of the project and last year, Stein agreed to relinquish day-to-day control; Democrats familiar with the Alliance say Stein was a poor manager, better at evangelizing than motivating employeers. To replace him as CEO, the DA hired Wade.

At the last DA meeting, held in Atlanta in October, the group moved forward on its plans to raise $250K each from 1,000 individuals over five years and wrote checks to groups like the Center for American Progress and to David Brock's Media Matters. ($6M went to America Votes.)

But CAP and Media Matters (and Air America Radio) get money from other, non-DA sources too. And labor unions remain the financial engine of the Democratic Party. And the parties themselves are raising more hard money than they use to. And in 2008, prospective presidential candidates will blow through state spending limits and could raise nearly a $1 billion between them.

A fairly upbeat assessment of DA's prospects is found at the Washington Post:

Financial commitments totaling at least $80 million over the next five years generated by the Democracy Alliance in recent months -- at a time when some liberal groups, such as the George Soros-backed America Coming Together, are floundering -- suggest that the group is becoming a player in the long-term effort to reinvigorate the left.

The group has a goal of raising $200 million -- a sum that would inevitably come in part at the expense of more traditional Democratic groups, although alliance officials say donors have committed to maintaining past contribution levels.

Alliance chairman Steven Gluckstern, a retired investment banker, said that President Bush's victory over Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) last year after millions of dollars had been poured into pro-Democratic "527" groups caused many contributors to think that a dramatically new approach is needed.

For Air America, it has finally come to this: secure a bailout or begin to wind down operations. As a business entity, the liberal network just isn't cutting it.

Profit? That's a theoretical concept.

While other political organizations such as People For The American Way and new private operator GreenStone Media (founded by MoveOn.Org-supporting former radio executive Edie Hilliard) are also suddenly kicking in support by purchasing air or satellite time, DA may be the only one with deep-enough pockets to save it outright.

Given Air America's infamous ability to burn through cash, however, would $8 million allow the network to reach November? While that alone is only enough to fund operations for three to four months, combined with other revenue sources, it may be enough.


Given their past support for the "progressive" cause, is it a surprise Soros, Lewis, Reiner and others would cover Air America's expenses?

Contrary to popular sentiment, the answer is actually yes. For at least two years, Soros and Lewis haven't touched Air America with a ten-foot-pole.

While they both own units in AAR parent company Piquant LLC, that's based on very early investments. To believe they would ever again see that money, they've probably never been crazy enough.

In the wake of Air America's scandal regarding the transfer of $875,000 in taxpayer funds from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club into its own coffers, there has until now been no indication of further Soros/Lewis support.



Removing any remaining doubt Air America (which has never been willing to comment on our investigations) is a non-commercially-viable charity case, the network will likely need additional infusions to continue operating over the long haul.

Meanwhile, the internal impact will be substantial: a whole new series of every-man-for-himself attempts to greedily secure fat pay hikes and perks. Intact will remain Air America's unbelievable inability to control expenses.

Al, it truly is your lucky day.

Welcome, National Review, GOPinion, BillO'Reilly.com, AceOfSpades and TheAnchoress readers! Bill O'Reilly discussed this story on Wednesday's show.

Welcome Michelle Malkin readers! Please see our main page for updates.

Democratic Underground "progressives" provide their take.

UPDATE: Air America has ignored repeated requests for comment on this story made today by an entertainment industry trade publication, the Radio Equalizer has learned.

Thanks for your continued Radio Equalizer support, via Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, regardless of what you ultimately order! In the spotlight: Robert Ferrigno's exciting new thriller Prayers for the Assassin: A Novel. Read the transcript of Hugh Hewitt's interview with Ferrigno here.

Garofalo image: Pete at IHillary for the Radio Equalizer

The Radio Equalizer At 2.5

GOING STRONG

Where We've Been, What's Next






*** Scroll Down For More New Posts, This Will Remain On Top Until Friday ***

Thanks to your support, the Radio Equalizer is going strong after two- and- a- half years in operation. While generating readership growth, we've put a spotlight on wrongdoing at Air America Radio, fought well- funded "progressive" smear sites and defended conservative hosts against malicious mainstream media onslaughts.

In addition, Dave at Lundesigns and Pete at IHillary have kept us laughing with unique images that were custom- designed for this site (here's Pete's classic Soros Sugar Daddy gag).

And while Internet traffic can fluctuate wildly from one day to the next, we're quickly approaching an all- time visitor count of two million unique individuals.


Luckily, this effort has not gone unnoticed by industry heavyweights. Bill O'Reilly, for example, has chosen to include this site in his list of "featured links" at billoreilly.com. In addition, Sean Hannity has added the Radio Equalizer to his "favorite links" section at Hannity.com.

And finally, this site has recently been selected to join "Rush's Blogosphere", a group of 13 blogs Rush Limbaugh utilizes as part of his daily show prep.

Here's the full list, if you'd like to visit the others:

National Review's The Corner Hugh Hewitt Captain's Quarters Power Line Red State Little Green Footballs Strata-Sphere Michelle Malkin Debbie Schlussel Hot-Air Instapundit American Thinker Radio Equalizer

All of this support is greatly appreciated, especially your readership.


At the same time, this site is facing the same revenue challenges that currently threaten much of the Internet's conservative side. At this point, most of us have not yet figured out how to turn our sites into substantial earners, despite the tremendous amount of time and effort put into them.

On Tuesday, we explored the difference between well- funded "progressive" sites and those on the right, most of which operate on shoestring budgets. While it's not realistic to expect conservative versions of George Soros and Peter Lewis to emerge anytime soon, perhaps the gap could be closed at least slightly.

To that end, some of us have recently become less shy about asking for your help. Modeled after efforts undertaken at similar sites, the Radio Equalizer is now seeking your contributions. At the same time, if you are able, please consider donating to other blogospheric favorites.

While your Radio Equalizer is reluctant to spell out a specific goal, here's the purpose of whatever is raised:


- To cover site hosting charges related to our long- delayed move to RadioEqualizer.com

- To fund design improvements planned for later in the year

- To cover travel expenses so that your Radio Equalizer can report from talk radio- related events and political functions elsewhere

- And finally, if anything is left over, to provide some level of compensation to cover the amount of time spent updating this site's content.


If you're interested, please know the Amazon box below carries a $50 per transaction limit and doesn't reveal who made the donation (unless you send an email on your own).

If you'd like to make other payment arrangements, please write to radioequalizer (at) aol.com.

Again, thanks for your support and if you have feedback of any kind, please drop a note using the above email address.

Air America Radio Bankruptcy, Thom Hartmann

TURNING THE TABLES?

AAR Defenders Compare Network To FOX, Wash Times






Even in the face of tens of millions in losses, poor ratings, sleazy scandals and lavish corporate spending, some at Air America Radio aren't going down without a fight. And in defending their nearly- dead liberal talk network, comparisons are being made to both the FOX News Channel and Washington Times.

And somehow, George Soros has now conveniently been erased from memory.

Leading the charge is host Thom Hartmann, whose show is syndicated by Air America Radio and heard on perhaps a few dozen stations. Writing for the Huffington Post, Hartmann makes absurd comparisons that attempt to suggest Air America could yet be as successful as FOX News.

Can he turn the tables against this global right- wing media conspiracy, or is Hartmann simply delusional?

Let's take a look:

There are times when doing the profitable thing is also doing the right thing.

That's certainly what Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch thought when they lost an average of $90 million a year for about five years before the Fox News Channel became profitable. It's what Reverend Moon believes, as his Washington Times newspaper lost hundreds of millions of dollars and, according to some reports, even today continues to lose money.

And its what the people who have made Air America Radio possible - names you probably wouldn't recognize because they've invested millions of their own money but don't seek the limelight - believe.

Each of these endeavors hit nail-biting times.

Sure, Thom, but FOX worked with a business plan and didn't pay its early hosts and anchors lavish sums of money. In addition, it didn't raid a children's charity for start-up costs and then try to keep the story out of the news.

And the Washington Times? It's owned by a religious entity, so there's simply no way to make a comparison here. It's nothing like a liberal radio network.

More:

There was, however, a happy ending (for Murdoch), which helped fund the money-losing Fox News Network:

"Today, the studio and the Fox owned-and-operated stations are News Corp.'s cash machines."

Brit Hume noted, in a 1999 interview with PBS:

"This operation loses money. It doesn't lose nearly as much as it did at first, and it's -- well, it's hit all its projections in terms of, you know, turning a profit, but it's - it will lose money now, and we expect for a couple more years. I think it's losing about $80 million to $90 million a year."

This is not, of course, to celebrate losing money. It's just a demonstration of the old truism that sometimes "it takes money to make money." And sometimes it takes money to make a difference in the world, as well.

While Fox News and The Washington Times have devoted themselves to promoting the interests of America's most wealthy, most of the programming of Air America Radio has been committed to discussions of labor, the middle class, and holding up the founding ideals of this nation.

Hartmann's ideological dishonesty here is astounding: Air America Radio has from day one been about pumping up the bank accounts of liberal elitists like Al Franken. Any network that pays Stuart Smalley $2 million a year in addition to many perks, despite a lack of audience performance, isn't at all concerned with the working class.

It gets better:

It's a tragedy that for the lack of an investor the size of Rupert Murdoch Air America is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But its existence and ongoing presence in the marketplace is an essential part of the dialogue that is known as democracy.

Okay, buddy, now you've truly jumped the shark. What about billionaire George Soros? Didn't he pump a considerable amount of money into this stinker?

Or how about RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser? He blew at least $10 million on Air America.

In addition, you've received help from Peter Lewis of Progressive Insurance, the secretive Durst Organization, made up of wealthy New York City landlords and many others.

Elitism has been at the very core of Air America's operations from the beginning, just as it has at the Huffington Post. The kind of people you associate with, Mr Hartmann, wouldn't know working class if they tripped over it on the way to one of their lavish Manhattan cocktail parties.

Verdict: this is a truly delusional moment in HuffPo history.


Money Laundering, Sugar Daddy: Pete at IHillary, Soros Juggling, Sponsorless: David A Lunde

FOR THE LATEST on key Massachusetts races, visit Bay State Showdown, our other site. *** newly updated ***

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Technorati tags: air america radio progressive fox news channel george soros rob glaser durst organization liberal talk talk radio conservative talk al franken air america Bush huffington post thom hartmann mainstream media 2006 election

Media Matters, Melanie Morgan, Bill O'Reilly, George Soros

NOT AFRAID

Who Will Take On Soros-Funded Smear Machine?







In the escalating ideological war for Internet dominance, do conservatives stand a chance?

The problem is mainly one of resources: with millions of dollars supporting a network of "progressive" smear sites, versus an unfunded, loose- knit collection of grass roots- based conservative blogs, it's amazing the race is even this close.

On the left, that mega- money is building a force of "progressive" cyberthugs, bent on bullying Internet conservatives and wiping out right- leaning talk radio. By now, you know the names: Media Matters, the Huffington Post, DailyKos and others.

Learning from past mistakes, billionaire leftist George Soros and his friends have shifted their resources away from Air America Radio's money pit and into websites like those mentioned above. Apparently, it's easier to tear down enemies through the web than to sell one's ideas via talk radio.


While "progressive" activists receive full- time salaries to monitor and report on conservative talk radio and blogs, on the other side, most are essentially volunteers. On the right, there are no counterparts to Soros, Peter Lewis and the Democracy Alliance backers.

On the O'Reilly Factor this week, Bill has been connecting the dots between Soros, his fellow- travellers and the organizations they have founded in order to conduct ideological warfare. Michelle Malkin, never one to fear the battle, has been working with him on key background research.

In addition, your Radio Equalizer has done previous research into these fat cat donors. Here's a good starting point.

The impact is clear: conservatives are at a 'net disadvantage when it comes to search engine results, fighting back when firestorms are generated against talk show hosts and bringing forward an issues- based agenda. It can even hurt fundraising efforts for GOP candidates.

Money isn't the only issue: by our very nature, we tend to be individualistic, while "progressives" usually take a group approach. Usually, that's not a problem for the right.

Here, however, conservatives sometimes don't provide enough support for one another. When the smear sites have selected their latest conservative target, that can be damaging, as the person is left to fight them nearly alone. With that kind of environment, who stands a chance?

In addition, there's another key difference: while lefty sites overwhelmingly support the Democrats, their counterparts on the right want little to do with the GOP these days.


While your Radio Equalizer strongly advocated for the removal of Don Imus long before nearly anyone else on the Internet, the manner in which he was whacked was disturbing. Though clearly a leftist, this site believes he was targeted by these sites anyway, as a trial run for going after the big guns: Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and others.

For the right, the situation is alarming, according to The Examiner's Robert Cox:

Web 2.0 worse for the right than it thinks

Robert Cox, The Examiner
Apr 24, 2007 10:48 AM

WASHINGTON - For several years now, a common refrain among left-wing online political activists has been “We need to own the Internet the way the right owns talk radio.” Based on recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, it looks like the left has succeeded — with Democratic presidential candidates as the primary beneficiaries.

Last fall in this space, I asked, “When will the right recognize the cost of conceding Web 2.0?” With that cost now readily apparent in the form of online campaign contributions for the 2008 presidential campaign cycle, the only remaining question is whether conservatives can do anything about it in time for the elections next fall. It appears likely the answer will be a resounding no.

In the first quarter of this year, Democratic candidates raised almost $80 million, far ahead of the Republican candidates, who combined raised just over $50 million. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., raised $6.9 million over the Internet from 50,000 individuals, most of whom gave in small amounts. That means they can be tapped again during the campaign. More than 8,000 individuals signed up as volunteers through the Obama Web site.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., raised $4.2 million over the Internet. The Republican candidates did not break out online contributions separately but all of this suggests the gap will only grow wider over the course of the 2008 election cycle.

Joe Trippi, who has since signed on to work for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards’ presidential campaign said, “We built it and they didn’t. Now it’s paying big dividends.”

The first step in recovery for the right is to admit they have a problem. But admitting you have a problem requires you come to terms with just how bad a problem you really have. When conservatives get around to taking a hard look, they are not going to like what they see. The left has constructed a complex web of intersecting points of information and propaganda, which the right may never fully undo.

To better appreciate the dilemma now facing the right in a Web 2.0 world, it may be instructive to look at one example of how the right is losing in the online arms race — the nexus between Google, Wikipedia and far-left blogs and online forums.

Because it reveals real financial damage to the GOP's presidential contenders due to this Internet disadvantage, Cox's piece is particularly on the mark.


But what about the impact of lefty smear pieces on conservative commentators? When the words of talk hosts and television pundits are twisted and distorted, who is there to fight back?

It's no secret that their next target is Rush Limbaugh. When a coordinated attack is mounted against him, will conservatives be ready for the mainstream media's onslaught?

One host who is not taking their bullying lying down is KSFO / San Francisco host Melanie Morgan. A frequent target of Media Matters (there's a whole section on their site devoted to her), Morgan earlier this week had this to say about them:

When the Los Angeles Times noted that the loss of Imus' radio program (and accompanying MSNBC simulcast) would hurt liberal causes and Democrat candidates for office, Media Matters launched an attack on the Times story because it showcased the non-conservative leanings of Imus.

This is standard practice for Media Matters and its incessant war against conservatism and the movement's most prominent media figures.

The list of conservative figures targeted by Media Matters is endless: Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck, Fred Barnes, Michelle Malkin, Oliver North, Ann Coulter, Debbie Schlussel and many others.

Media Matters was founded with the support and funding from key Democrat operatives, including John Podesta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. The group has documented ties to far-left organizations such as MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress – both of which have been funded by far-left billionaire George Soros.

I have lived on the other side of the gun barrel pointed by Media Matters for America for the better part of three years, and I know what it feels like when a bunch of crackpots with keyboards pull the trigger, backed by millions upon millions of dollars in funding from George Soros.

I co-host "The Lee Rodgers & Melanie Morgan Show," a conservative news/talk program on KSFO 560 AM in San Francisco, every weekday morning for four hours. Liberals are disgusted that our conservative program is one of the most-listened to radio programs in the notoriously liberal San Francisco Bay Area. We've endured several vicious campaigns waged against us by liberal activists with the backing of Media Matters for America, as they worked ruthlessly to have us silenced.

Several times these left-wing free speech Nazi's have almost succeeded.

The transcripts and audio files of my comments have been excerpted, misrepresented and reconfigured to take statements out of context, reprinted with lies and distortions, and then disseminated to other liberal media outlets with fierce resolve.

The Democratic Party wants to silence us, and they use Media Matters for America to wage a war against us replete with character assassination, personal threats, lawsuits and efforts to have us fired or suspended.

I can live with being targeted by these "vile, despicable ankle-biters," as Bill O'Reilly calls Media Matters. In an odd way, the attacks against me have energized me to fight even harder for the conservative causes I believe in. One of those causes includes the right to bear arms, a right that had been denied to the students and professors at Virginia Tech University who were unable to defend themselves from a deranged murderer who took no notice of the school's status as a "Gun Free Zone."

Here's their response, complete with a claim that Soros money doesn't fund their operation (perhaps not directly!):

KSFO's Morgan: Media Matters like Virginia Tech gunman


In an April 20 column for WorldNetDaily.com, Melanie Morgan, co-host of San Francisco radio station KSFO's Lee Rodgers & Melanie Morgan Program, compared Media Matters for America to the Virginia Tech gunman who killed 32 people before shooting himself to death. Morgan wrote: "Like that mentally unbalanced and angry gunman at Virginia Tech, they'll methodically march through the domiciles of the conservative movement, targeting the movement's leaders for career elimination -- until and unless we stand up and fight back against their campaign of mayhem against conservative leaders and causes." Morgan also attacked Media Matters as "left-wing free speech Nazis."

Morgan wrote: "I have lived on the other side of the gun barrel pointed by Media Matters for America for the better part of three years, and I know what it feels like when a bunch of crackpots with keyboards pull the trigger, backed by millions upon millions of dollars in funding from George Soros." She added: "The transcripts and audio files of my comments have been excerpted, misrepresented and reconfigured to take statements out of context, reprinted with lies and distortions, and then disseminated to other liberal media outlets with fierce resolve." Morgan offered no evidence to support these accusations. Moreover, Media Matters has never received money from progressive philanthropist George Soros.

Morgan has smeared Soros in the past, agreeing with co-host Lee Rodgers' assertion that Soros "apparently very cheerfully and willingly went to work for the Nazis" as a young boy, and adding that Soros did so to "further his own career." KSFO's program director announced in a subsequent show that Rodgers' and Morgan's comments about Soros "are not accurate, and KSFO regrets that they were broadcast." Morgan also has announced that "[w]e've got a bull's-eye painted on [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's] big, wide laughing eyes."

From this point forward, it's going to take a team approach, as well as fresh ideas about funding and financial viability in order to have any chance at countering this very real threat. Let's not wait until they succeed in yanking Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly off the air, or wiping out prominent conservative bloggers.

Is the right paying attention? Failure to grasp the severity of the situation could be deadly.


Following this post, your Radio Equalizer will be spelling out just where this site stands in the scheme of things. While some will find it self- serving, it should make more sense to others who have followed this work from the beginning.


Will you support the Radio Equalizer?

Your Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, regardless of what you ultimately purchase, greatly assist this site's efforts.

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Technorati tags: talk radio hannity limbaugh ingraham rush limbaugh bill o\'reilly sean hannity melanie morgan ksfo san francisco george soros democracy alliance o\'reilly factor michelle malkin

Some images: AP

Air America, CEO Danny Goldberg, Party Politics, New York, Los Angeles

TOP DOG JUMPING SHIP

After Just A Year, Air America CEO Goldberg Out





Exclusive To The Radio Equalizer

By Brian Maloney

After just over a year at the helm of financially troubled liberal radio network Air America, CEO Danny Goldberg is on his way out. Still unclear is who, if anyone, will replace him as top dog.

The changes take effect Friday, April 7, according to an internal source.

Goldberg, a former record label executive overseeing rap, hip hop and pop acts, joined the ailing network in early 2005.

He's also a partisan activist and lefty book author, contributing to many ultra-liberal politicians, including embattled Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA).


While exiting day-to-day operations at Air America, Goldberg will continue in a minor, contractually-based role, working one day a week from home. Through the end of 2006, he'll be paid $400,000 on an annualized basis for his temporary role as "Vice-Chair".

In addition, he'll receive $400,000 in deferred compensation covering 2005, $100,000 to cover 2006 travel and entertainment, plus ongoing clerical support. An initial share award representing 2% of the company will now become fully vested.

On a light note, if the company makes a profit in 2006 or 2007, Goldberg will be entitled to a share. And if the Radio Equalizer buys a lottery ticket with the winning numbers, we'll be entitled to a cash jackpot!

Until now, Goldberg was working under a contract with a 2010 expiry date, while its replacement runs out December 31.

In his new, hazily defined role as "progressive liason", he'll work out of Los Angeles during the summer. Air America is also expected to cover his costs for this "project".

Given the emerging details of Goldberg's new agreement with Air America, the Radio Equalizer wonders: will Danny merely serve as a paid partisan activist during an election year? This further reinforces Bill O'Reilly's theory that Air America is a political organization thinly disguised as a for-profit corporation.


So what happened? As Air America's financial situation has become increasingly precarious, relying on cash infusions from Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser, joined by Democracy Alliance contributors George Soros and Peter Lewis, management tensions have run high.

Recently, staffers have noted increasingly ugly conflicts between company "suits", especially between Goldberg and COO Carl Ginsburg. On several occasions, this executive-level row was apparent even during staff meetings. Until now, it wasn't clear who would survive the battle of the egos, but the latter has today emerged victorious.

Within the talk radio industry, we've long felt Goldberg was resented. Nobody likes a record peddler telling experienced insiders how the medium should sound.


What's next? Watch for the company to engage in more spin, as the Radio Equalizer again brings forward Air America's true state of affairs. For this announcement, a particular amount of effort has gone into planning a media strategy.

UPDATE: Goldberg pulls out of Media Matters forum also featuring Al Franken. Welcome Little Green Footballs readers.

UPDATE: Company issues evening press release confirming departure, AP picks up the story, spin looking pretty weak here. Check the main page for updates. Welcome Powerline readers, John Hinderaker has a really interesting take on this. Thanks also to Michelle Malkin.

Please check the main page for new updates.

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

Graphics: David A Lunde for the Radio Equalizer. Visit his site today!

George Soros, Democracy Alliance, Air America Radio, FOX News

A LOSS FOR WORDS

Curious Lack Of Response To Air America Bailout Report





With a rundown of the opposition's response, it's always fun to follow up after one of our investigative reports. Will they fire back, or pretend it doesn't exist, hoping the story goes away?

With one botched exception, the left mostly kept its collective mouth shut this time regarding our piece on the impending George Soros/Democracy Alliance $8 million election year bailout of Air America Radio.

With a well-established track record of corporate silence regarding the investigative series undertaken last year by Michelle Malkin and myself, perhaps leftists have wisely learned to steer clear of playing defense for Air America.


Tracking every word that emerges from FOX News Channel host Bill O'Reilly's mouth, Media Matters never gives up an opportunity to take a shot.

Discussed on the O'Reilly Factor last Wednesday, if our report was in any way inaccurate, one could readily expect to hear about it at David Brock's anti-FOX site.

And yet, nothing.

At the partisan, widely-read DailyKos site, where they also never fail to attack an opponent, same thing: nada.

Among the larger leftist media criticism sites, only the rabidly FOX-hating News Hounds tackled the story, but confused the billionaire Soros-backed Democracy Alliance with the decidedly low-rent, Massachusetts-based Alliance For Democracy. Later issuing a retraction, the site's attempt to accuse O'Reilly of sloppiness clearly backfired.

Repeating an increasingly common leftist tactic, NewsHounds chose personal insults over a well-reasoned response:

During a four minute waste of good airtime O'Reilly, who hates Al Franken with a passion, rehashed a story that has been thrown onto the conservative dung heap by a blogger named Brian Maloney, a Boston O'Reilly wannabe who spends his time trying (unsuccessfully) to bring down Air America Radio in the hopes that someone, anyone will pay attention to him.

Even if the attacks were true, what does it have to do with Soro's political contributions? Either there's information that refutes our reporting, or you have nothing. "Dung heap" does nothing to advance one's argument.


Meanwhile, Tom Blumer at Bizzyblog and Newsbusters expands upon our previous reasoning:

At the very end of this post on January 27, I asked this question about Air America Radio (AAR), which at the time was surviving by the good graces of one rich guy's wallet:

Are Al Franken’s ridiculously outsized earnings (including a LOT of money up-front) from a network that is funded by one guy a “clever” way of circumventing campaign-finance law and underwriting a possible Franken run for the US Senate in Minnesota?

My question only concerned Franken. But now that The Democracy Alliance (no working web site; an April 2005 article about the organization's plans is here), a far-left liberal group that includes billionaire George Soros, Peter "the Progressive" (Insurance) Lewis, and Rob "Meathead" Reiner as prominent members, has, according to Radio Equalizer Brian Maloney, promised to underwrite up to $8 million of Air America Radio's future losses, the scope of the question has expanded, and others are asking it, including Bill O'Reilly at Fox News.

In an interview on O'Reilly's TV show (transcript here), Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who specializes in campaign finance law, called AAR's financial maneuvers "money laundering."

By the way, Meathead's in big trouble, here's the story from the San Francisco Chronicle:

Director Rob Reiner has taken a leave as chairman of a state children's commission amid concerns that it may have improperly spent public funds to promote the universal preschool campaign he is heading.

In a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday, Reiner said he would step down from the First 5 California Children and Families Commission until after the June election on Proposition 82 "to avoid any political distractions."

At issue is $23 million that First 5 spent on television and other ads promoting the value of preschool and parent education between November and January, when the initiative qualified for the ballot. The proposition would tax the state's wealthiest wage earners to provide a free year of preschool to all California 4-year-olds.

Thanks for your continued Radio Equalizer support, via Amazon orders that begin with clicks here, regardless of what you ultimately order! In the spotlight: Robert Ferrigno's exciting new thriller Prayers for the Assassin: A Novel. Read the transcript of Hugh Hewitt's interview with Ferrigno here.

Franken/Soros images: Pete at IHillary for the Radio Equalizer