AIR AMERICA INVITES REPUBLICANS TO DEBATE ON THEIR NETWORK-- WITH NO COMMERCIAL INTERRUPTIONS

I only met Mark Green a few times-- his wife Deni is a friend of mine-- but I've read 2 of his books, Losing Our Democracy: How Bush, the Far Right and Big Business Are Betraying Americans For Power and Profit and The Book on Bush: How George W (Mis)leads America. He impressed me-- when I met him and when I read him-- as a smart, articulate guy who understands the threat our country faces from Republican Party rule. Recently Green became the CEO of Air America Radio. The station seems a lot better already.

Today Green sent letters to Ray Hoffmann, Paul Willis, Katon Dawson and Fergus Cullen, respectively the Republican Party chairs of Iowa, Nevada, South Carolina and New Hampshire. Aside from being surprised that Cullen still isn't in prison, I was really happy-- as I'm sure all Americans will be, especially the wingnuts and hypocrites on the right who screamed like stuck pigs when the Democrats decided not to debate on GOP propaganda outlet, Fox-- to know that Air America is offering to host Republican debates on their airwaves.

As the new president of Air America, I'd like to offer to host or co-host one of your upcoming presidential debates.

Why us? First, this would allow your debate to reach many voters. Combining our 2 million radio audience, along with our satellite, internet and web audiences, means that some 2.5 million Americans would hear or read about the debate..

Second, it would allow Republicans to differentiate themselves from Democrats – embracing a debate hosted by a progressive media outlet after Nevada Democrats canceled a debate scheduled to be hosted by the conservative Fox Cable News Channel. The MoveOn organization spurred 265,000 people to complain about the original plan, calling Fox a "mouthpiece for the Republican Party." In reply, Fox's Mort Kondracke called the Nevada Democratic Party's rejection of Fox a "Stalinist" violation of "free speech and free debate." So should you accept Air America's offer, Republicans would both embrace free debate and stick it to Stalin at the same time.

Third, our offer permits you to include any other national media company as a co-host -- like Fox. For example, a panel with Fox representing the conservative viewpoint and Air America the progressive viewpoint would make for a very "fair and balanced" debate -- not to mention that Fox's viewers per evening are coincidentally comparable to our 2.5 million listeners, meaning that several million unique people would hear your debate (assuming next to no overlap between our two disparate audiences).

We would be honored not only to co-host such an event; but also to broadcast it live without commercial interruption on the day that you choose.

I look forward to your response and to working with you on this important event.

I'll let you know if I hear about Mark getting a response.


RIGHT WING PROPAGANDA FOR DUMMIES

Today Matt Stoller laid out all the reasoning behind progressives' revulsion at the prospect of Fox-TV sponsoring a Democratic debate. The article (at the link above) is well worth reading if you don't understand why it was important to derail the deal between Democratic Insiders and an integral part of the Republican Party's propaganda department. Several clueless Democrats, seeking for one reason or another to curry favor with Fox-- publicity in Dennis Kucinich's case, dirty lucre in the case of Liebermanite Bob Beckel-- have been on TV ranting and raving and confusing the issue. As usual, you can count on Stoller to get it right-- and shove it up their asses.

First, we argued that Fox News is not a news channel, but a propaganda outlet that regularly distorts, spins, and falsifies information. Second, Fox News is heavily influenced or even controlled by the Republican Party itself. As such, we believe that Fox News on the whole functions as a surrogate operation for the GOP. Treating Fox as a legitimate news channel extends the Republican Party’s ability to swift-boat and discredit our candidates. In other words, Fox News is a direct pipeline of misinformation from the GOP leadership into the traditional press.