Smashing Pumpkins

It was an uneventful Halloween out here in our part of Fairborn this year. Since the kids are both well into their teens, the days of dressing them up and escorting them around the neighborhood for their one night of 'confectionery extortion' are long gone (although they are now polishing off the bowl of visitor 'leftovers' in the living room as I type). I put up our Democrat yard signs last night so I was curious if they would reduce the amount of visitors to the house compared to years when we remained 'neutral' or if the 'trick-or-treaters' would risk knocking on the door of a scary 'librul' house...boo! Apparently, by the small amount of candy left at 8PM, they weren't the deterrent I thought they might be.

For some reason, this is the first year that I noticed that most Ohioans refer to this annual rite of passage as 'Beggar's Night'. When I was growing up in Pennsylvania, there was no other name used except Halloween. This alternate moniker seems to be a Midwestern thing (when I 'googled' the term, most of the hits were related to events in Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa) and I'm guessing it was given to reduce the connection to the un-Christian aspects of the evening (costumes, characters). Some hits I got referred to October 30th--the night before 'All Hallows Eve'--as being 'Beggar's Night'. The only thing I remember hearing about in conjunction with Halloween was the anarchist phenomenon of 'Devil's Night'. Every year, our local TV stations would feature news stories about wide-scale arson and other public acts of property damage in and around the Detroit, Michigan area. Thankfully, that activity has subsided over the last decade or so but for a time it was something you could set your calendar by.

Speaking of periodic rituals (every even year), our current election cycle is coming to its highly anticipated conclusion next Tuesday. While some of our more notable races (US Senate, state governor) seem to be leaning to the Dems in Ohio (both Brown and Strickland have double-digit leads in the latest polls), there are still competitive races for other statewide and national offices. The tide has turned so much to the Democrats' advantage this year that the president--with a sub-40 percent approval rating--has been forced to campaign in only the most 'blood red' states and districts in order to salvage some measure of accomplishment for the GOP.

I mentioned in a previous post that I just missed of these campaign stops up in Scranton, Pennsylvania for Rep. Don Sherwood, PA-10. Down by nearly 10 points with just under three weeks to go, the president decided to pop up there on Air Force One to hopefully give his campaign a much needed boost. Unfortunately for Sherwood, he is still nine points down in the latest figures. As the sitting representative of perhaps the most conservative district in that state--he garnered 93 percent of the vote against his Constitution Party's opponent in 2004, you would think he'd be a shoe-in for reelection. However, this is the same Don Sherwood that settled a $5.5 million lawsuit out of court with his mistress for his alleged assault at his Washington, DC apartment. In fact, in one of his television spots, the only thing that Sherwood could 'gloat' about to his constituents was that no evidence of assault was ever proven in that case (he does forget to mention that he 'purchased' that evidence). After the rally, Bush joined Sherwood and his wife for some ice cream at a local store. I wonder if he recognized any of the new minimum wage employees his 'robust' economy provided jobs for over the last 4 to 5 years working on the other side of the counter...

The president campaigning with the Sherwood family in northeast Pennsylvania...with a six-figure income, you think he would've
at least sprung for some sprinkles...

In the 140+ hours left before the polls open next Tuesday morning, we can expect to see the unexpected, the bizarre and, in something that happened yesterday in Los Angeles, make- believe. Senator John Kerry-MA (D), during a campaign appearance for California gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, tried to use humor and poke some fun at his 2004 presidential rival. He warmed up by saying that Bush, a Texas resident, now lives in 'a state of denial'. Hearing a few laughs from the crowd, he decided to continue on this tact by saying the following:

“You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

At that point, he continued on through his remarks and turned over the podium to Mr. Angelides to continue the event. It wasn't until this morning's White House press briefing that the fecal matter hit the oscillating air-movement appliance. I won't get into all of the details but Kerry was accused by Tony Snow and other prominent Republicans of belittling our troops. The normal 'wing nut' hangouts (NRO's 'The Corner' and AM talk radio) were rabid in their universal condemnation of his implication that only 'dummies' were fighting in Iraq.

All of this 'righteous' indignation turns out to be false alarm because those previously stated words were misinterpreted by the GOP. He was referring to the president when he brought up the sup-par academic achievement and the resulting 'quagmire' his forces are currently embroiled in inside Iraq. You would think that Kerry's explanation would clear things up...but not in THIS reality! Bush, Snow and a whole slew of others readily sensed a 'red herring' to introduce into the final week of the campaign and they hit it hard and heavy throughout this news cycle. Kerry, apparently the recipient of a backbone transplant since his 2004 'swiftboating', released a scathing response to this smear job; however, this 'genie' was already out of its bottle and, unfortunately, only the passage of time will quell this issue.

"Let's see...if we give Karl this here pumpkin,
he'll make a real scary 'Dem'-o-lantern' out of it...heh heh heh"

I will admit that the first time I heard them, they were out of context (I didn't hear any of his attempts at Bush humor prior to them). Pat Buchannan of MSNBC said the same thing on this evening's 'Scarborough Country' program and we both see it how Kerry meant it to play out. Earlier in the day, with just those words, I was able to produce a logical explanation in some interoffice emails with some RW friends of mine based on my familiarity with the senator. I said I believed that Kerry may still be locked in a 'Vietnam' paradigm, telling the audience of college students that if you did not do well in school you'd lose your draft deferment and be eligible to be conscripted into the military if a draft is reinstituted due to more foreign policy debacles by the current administration. After excising that 30+ year-old 'lens', I was also able to see that he might have been telling folks that in our current economic situation and if college didn't pan out, the military may be the best option to get ahead. What other employer offers entry-level folks a guaranteed paycheck for 4-6 years at a stretch, free housing and extremely low-cost medical care, generous educational benefits and 30 days of annual vacation to start? I was enticed to join the military by these 'carrots' back in the high unemployment, high inflation times of the late 1970s and early 1980s living in the soon-to-be 'Rust Belt'.

What effect will this have on the Dem's chances next week? Every one of their Congressional candidates will have to take at least one question about it sometime in the next day or two and be asked to disavow him and/or his remarks. With the hours rapidly dwindling, that kabuki dance with the media will eat up time that could be better used to further their offensive on the Iraq war, homeland security and Washington corruption--Tim Russert's 'perfect storm' scenario that has played out in the aftermath of the Foley page scandal. This is the GOP's tried and true modus operandi of repeatedly beating up on familiar 'demons'...Bill Clinton, almost six years removed from the Oval Office, still makes the hairs on the back of Republican necks stand on end. The GOP is desperate (never having, in recent memory, faced such a bleak election outcome) and this incident might not be the last one to surface before the 7th...what other 'pumpkins' are they willing to carve up and smash between now and then?

Political Reality Creeping into the Funny Pages

It is a rare event (outside of 'Doonesbury' or 'B.C.' that come at you from different parts of the spectrum) to have the world of the DDN's Sunday comics intruded upon by the political events of the day. So it was surprising to see TWO strips in yesterday's paper dedicate some or all of their allocated space to intersperse things of that nature with the upcoming 'celebration' of Halloween (I'm expecting more next Sunday due to the elections being only two days after that).

The first one was 'Hi and Lois' (courtesy of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer):

'Hi and Lois'...another lame attempt at well-worn political humor

In this offering, we see the eternally bickering Flagston twins (Dot and Ditto) trying to decide what to go 'trick or treating' as this year. Everything that Dot wants to dress up like is matched or trumped by her brother Ditto's counter choice. In the next-to-last (or set-up) panel, Lois tries to put an end to this sibling skirmish by saying that they have to pick get-ups that are the polar opposite of what the other one chooses. As they enter the living room in the final frame, Dot is seen sporting a headband and a vest, with one hand in a 'peace sign' and the other holding flowers. Ditto, standing next to her, is decked out in a black business suit and tie with a briefcase in his right hand. They then both announce their choices to the parents: Dot saying 'I'm a Democrat' with Ditto adding 'and I'm a Republican'. A subtle clue to their 'creative' decision is seen in the faces of Hi (startled from reading his newspaper, staring with his mouth agape sitting in his easy chair) while Lois stands behind him with a smile and arms folded across her chest--Mom is very proud of her little 'flower power' girl (Lois was 'liberated' herself by the strip's creator in the 1980s to reflect the growing number of women in the workforce during that time).

Although it might be good for a small groan, this comparison has already been worn out in television, the movies as well as in other comics since the advent of the 'hippie' movement in the 1960s. 'Hi and Lois' originated during the bucolic 1950s but needs to rely on well-worn stereotypes (the fat, lazy neighbor being nagged by his long-suffering skinny wife--sounds like a lot of sitcoms I watched over the years, the messy teenager's room--although having two of my own brings that one into the realm of fact, the overbearing boss, etc.) to amuse today's dwindling readership. I don't know about you but I haven't seen 'flower children' in quite awhile--and Yellow Springs is just a few miles down the road from our house!

The second strip with a political theme was 'FoxTrot' (courtesy of GoComics):

'FoxTrot'...an excellent overview of a modern day 'horror' story...

Sunday's edition of this strip has Jason (the family's über geek) showing off his Halloween costume--a touch-screen electronic voting machine--to his older brother Peter. In the following two build-up panels, Jason explains to his snacking sibling the 'horror' aspect of this device (imparting very accurate data readily available online about the machine's susceptibility to tampering and its widespread use throughout the country). In the second-to-last scene, the younger boy concludes his 3-1/2 panel monologue by asking the older one if there could think of anything scarier than that device. Finally given the chance to speak, Peter replies that most people don't care about such things. As he walks away in the final frame, analyzing that solicited response, Jason rubs his chin and seems to confirm his older brother's unintentional wisdom.

Of all of the offerings on today's comic pages, Bill Amend's strip was probably the most appropriate candidate to translate this dire warning to a tech-savvy readership. Since the machine already exists, 'Dilbert' and his system development accomplices would have already done their work--and hopefully, for the pointy haired boss' next performance review, on schedule and under budget. The daily editions of 'Non Sequitur' (politics) or the 'The Fifth Wave' (technology) are single panels so cramming that much background information into a confined space would be relatively impossible. 'Beetle Bailey', like the previously mentioned Hi and Lois, is so anchored in the past (Specialist Chip Gizmo the only exception) that I'm guessing that they still use paper ballots and a cardboard box with a slot in the top. Do you suppose that Mort Walker has the same mental picture of the Internet like his octogenarian contemporary Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska--a 'series of tubes' that get filled when you put your message into one?

There have been several surveys released recently that indicate that younger people are looking to 'unconventional' places for their 'hard' news--Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show' is one such source. If the current political discourse in our country continues and more and more of this nation's youth flee the traditional nightly news format or newspapers in favor of on-demand downloads of Jon Stewart or online views at GoComics.com, strips like 'FoxTrot' could start to play a greater role in informing the public of what it really needs to know--bridging the divide between entertainment and information. Maybe it's time that more comics reflect real life instead of the escapist 'vanilla' world of the printed page...

Is Air America THAT Much of a Threat?

It's now been two weeks since Air America Radio declared that they were filing for Chapter 11 protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York but so far the world hasn't come to an end (for liberal/progressives) and AAR is still on the air (to the dismay of most of the right-wing punditry). On the evening of the announcement, I was out at our local Meijer's and decided to purchase a copy of Air America: The Playbook: What a Bunch of Left Wing Media Types have to Teach you about a World Gone Right to commemorate the event (appropriately made on October 13th--a Friday). I waded through it when I got home and was delighted to see that it wasn't just the contributions of Al Franken or the more well-known personalities (Randi Rhodes, Sam Seder). Although Al did write the foreword, almost all of the current and some former contributors/hosts were able to provide their unique perspective on this on-going fight for the minds of the American listening public.

As I've written before (here and here) and as Franken details in the book's introduction, AAR started its existence under a dark cloud of financial difficulties and it was only sheer determination that had them endure that constant strain for almost 2-1/2 years. Now that the filing has finally happened (many detractors predicted this event since the network first went on the air on 31 March 2004), the pressure of operating under such constraints can be temporarily lifted and allow the 'green eye shade' folks an opportunity to right their 'left listing' ship.

Many of AAR's foes point to this issue as an indicator of the idea of liberal talk radio being a commercial failure. However, it can be seen in a different light when compared to what Fox News went through during their start-up. In The Playbook, Franken makes the following statement:

'Capital is important when starting up a major media network. Take, for example, the Fox News Channel...just to get on the air, Rupert Murdoch had to pay cable carriers $11 per viewer. In other words, $5.50 per eyeball--roughly. That cost approximately $187 million. Add to that the $130 million operating deficit in the first two years, and you're looking at more than a $300 million loss.'

Such dollar figures dwarf the $16 million deficit that AAR has declared in its recent bankruptcy filing. For additional context, the Washington Times, that city's 'second paper' and a conservative alternative to mainstream news nationally, received an estimated $1.7 billion in subsidies from its owner (Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church) during that publication's first twenty years of existence (1982-2002)--an average $85 million annual 'bailout'.

Rupert Murdoch & the Rev. Sun Myung Moon...
deep pockets that the right wing 'picked' to fund their media pulpits...

OK, enough about the legal proceedings...let's look at what all this ballyhoo is all about...

In my most recent post, I provided a graphic representation of AAR's presence during my trip through Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Since the network only lists stations in a text-based format, I took the liberty of preparing a map of their national coverage:

Upon examination, it is obvious that AAR has NOT adopted Howard Dean's '50 state' strategy. While no progressive listener is ever truly barred from 'tuning in' (if they choose to stream the audio over the Internet or subscribe to XM satellite radio), it appears that 15 states do not have a station within their borders. Signal propagation from some of the stronger transmitters do provide coverage for those 'forsaken' jurisdictions. For example, I was able to hear (weakly) WWRL's 25,000 watt signal out of New York City in eastern Pennsylvania so I would assume that most of northern and central New Jersey--lacking an affiliate of their own--would be able to tune to 1600AM on their car or home radios. The 'dots' on my graphic only represent an estimated coverage area (most of AAR affiliates are on stations broadcasting at 5,000 watts effective radiated power or less). Weather, time of day, solar activity and terrain are several factors that can affect the signal strength and quality on a day-to-day (and sometimes hour-to-hour) basis.

Several locations correspond to major media markets (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles) but one outlet truly surprised me. According to a wikipedia.org's listing of affiliates, one of KYTI-FM's ('the Coyote') high definition, or HD, channels carries AAR programming to the listeners of the greater Sheridan, Wyoming area. Unlike some smaller stations located in 'red' states that carry this progressive programming to a college crowd (Chapel Hill, NC and Columbia, SC for their respective state's university campuses, Spokane, WA for Gonzaga University--close to the Idaho 'hinterlands'), I could not immediately find ANY overt reason why that community (the town only has one junior college and its claim to fame has been its selection as the #1 Western town in the nation--not a very liberal haven) would broadcast AAR, let alone be the only one in the US to offer it via HD radio. However, when I looked at the broadcasting coverage map for their transmitter, I noticed that it extends over the Wyoming border into southern Montana. With the influx of business and entertainment moguls into that part of the country since the 1970s and the use of a new technology that is somewhat pricy to the standard radio listener, I'm guessing this programming will be heard only by those 'Hollywood' expatriates or rich vacationers from the East and 'Left' coasts. If Dick Cheney ever heard about the 'treason' that was going on back in his 'home' state, I'm sure he'd roll over in his grave...oh wait, he's not dead...he just resembles it...

AAR's 'Wild Wild West' outpost...
I wonder if Wyoming's 'favorite son' is aware of this???

If you look again at the national map, you will see that there isn't a whole lot of 'blue' out there. If I were to take the time to plot out all of the stations that carry, say, Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, that graphic would be bleeding bright red. Since their take-over of AM talk radio in the late 1980s and early 1990s (fueled primarily by Reagan's veto of placing the FCC's existing 'Fairness Doctrine' equal time policy into law), conservatives have had a stranglehold over this medium to the near exclusion of any liberals or progressives in the national arena (still had pockets in traditionally Democratic strongholds--New York, San Francisco--and current personalities Randi Rhodes and Ed Shultz honed their craft during this period).

With such overpowering assets (hundreds of stations and millions of listeners), I scratch my head and wonder what conservatives can possibly be afraid of. Some say that AM talk radio is simply a 'guy thing', a place where 'boys will be boys'. A rough and tumble environment that liberals supposedly detest (unlike FM, where NPR holds sway over the nation's ear). Others say that liberal talk radio is not 'entertaining' enough to capture and hold a steady audience. Still more think that the format is exclusively for them to wage combat against the alleged liberal media and its bias when presenting news and current events through the other traditional mediums (television, newspapers). Since their conquest of the AM dial, conservatives have made strides in cable news (although recently slumping, the Fox News Channel is the highest rated on television today due to the mass congregation of GOP viewers to that sole 'citadel' defending against the influences of the 'mainstream media') as well as on the 'internets' (a plethora of news sites and blogs dedicated to pounding out the right wing drumbeat on a 24/7 basis to a ever-growing constituency).

Conservative America's multimedia 'drummers'...

So what does all of this mean for AAR? Since they went in 'for a pound' and decided to create a full-fledged network back in 2004, they now have one of two choices. They can either secure additional funding (pledges like PBS does, premium services for web-specific items, etc.) to properly establish a true national network to carry their programming (the advent of HD radio could provide them an avenue into EVERY market) or they must cut back and limit themselves to producing programming to be marketed to one of the various national syndicators (currently in an arrangement with 24 Clear Channel Communications stations).

What if AAR can't make it back? There is a possibility but hopefully a very miniscule one. However, if the network did fold, I don't think that liberals and progressives will do their best 'lemming' impressions and head off the nearest cliff. What Air America has done during its short existence is provide its listenership with the tools to go out and fight for the hearts and minds of independent-minded Americans. Time and time again, they have exposed the 'man behind the curtain' on important issues over the past 2-1/2 years (Iraq, Katrina, signing statements, current GOP scandals, etc.) and, in conjunction with other media outlets who have recently 'rediscovered' their spines, have led a full-flanked attack on individuals and a party that have hijacked our country's reputation and resources in the pursuit of an agenda favoring themselves.

I might be dating myself here, but the song for my graduating high school class was 'Freebird' by Lynyrd Skynyrd. In the lyrics, the question is asked: if I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me? In Air America's case, if the worst does happen, I can happily answer 'yes'...

Radio Excursion through 'Red' America

Between October 17th and October 23rd, I had the unfortunate experience of spending at least almost an entire day--nearly 24 hours-- behind the wheel of a rental car. These road-bound periods were normally during daylight (late morning through the early evening) hours. Since the car only had terrestrial radio (no XM or Sirius satellite receiver) and a CD player, my entertainment options were somewhat limited. For this trip, I purposely bought a portable DVD player that has a DC adapter for plugging into an automobile power port. My plan was to listen to the lectures from a set of educational discs I recently purchased entitled 'The American Mind' during the long stretches between Ohio and Baltimore and from Wilkes-Barre back to Fairborn. Those were to take approximately 18 hours to play through the 36 lessons--almost matching the anticipated drive times exactly. In my driveway, I set up the player in the passenger seat, put the DVD into the device, and pushed the 'play' button. Unfortunately, it took less than five minutes to me to realize that my careful calculations failed to consider one crucial element--road noise! Even at the player's maximum volume level, there was no way I would be able to make out what the professor was saying. Sadly, I reached over, pushed the 'off' button, and resigned myself to relying on the AM & FM offerings along the way to keep my company on the drive.

Zones of 'blue' relief in an otherwise sea of 'red'

The graphic above shows what I had to 'endure' during my trip (traveled on I-70/I-76 straight through to Baltimore, took I-95 to I-83 to I-78 and then I-476 to Wilkes-Barre, drove back to Dayton via I-81 to I-80 to I-76 to I-71 back to I-70). The 'blue' areas represent coverage zones for AM radio stations that broadcast Air America Radio programming. I included the 'purple' zone around Pittsburgh because I 'found' Thom Hartman's show (syndicated via AAR as an alternative programming choice to Al Franken) playing on WPTT (1360AM) when I was driving through on on the afternoon of the 17th (station features talk hosts from all parts of the political spectrum). Except for those occasions when I was lucky enough to be within in proximity to those labeled transmitters, I was at the mercy of programming one might call 'non-progressive' for the majority of my drive time. I shaded the map a reddish hue for a reason...

One let-down I had during one of my 'blue' spells was my first (and hopefully last) exposure to Stephanie Miller. During my outbound drive through the Columbus area, I rolled up on WTPG (1230AM) and expected to hear either Sam Seder or Jerry Springer--AAR's two program offerings during the 9AM-12 noon timeframe. I was somewhat intrigued when I heard a woman taking phone calls and expressing a progressive bent in her opinions. However, this initial interest was quickly dampened when she started a raucous studio discussion with two male co-hosts and took a call from someone who recorded themself producing flatulence-imitating music during their freeway commute. Based out of Los Angeles--3 hours behind listeners in the Eastern time zone, she gives her listeners a 'morning show' routine in the same vein as Bob & Tom or Howard Stern (before he went to Sirius). During the almost 90-minute stretch before the station began to fade, I must've counted at least four plugs for her current or upcoming appearances on cable television (once you look at her photo, you can immediately see why she is invited). Maybe it's just me but perhaps radio is NOT her preferred medium.

Stephanie Miller...a disappointing show...
and a poor choice of wardrobe

Before anyone can call me a sexist pig (as if anyone actually reads my blog), I do admire other female progressive/liberal hosts but I base my loyalty on the content of their words and not just on their outward appearance. Randi Rhodes, a self-made radio personality, puts in the time and researches her subjects (a self-professed 'C-SPAN junkie', she assigns her audience 'homework' to let them judge for themselves the information she discusses on her shows). Katherine Lanpher, Al Franken's former co-host, had a long career in journalism and a short stint on Minnesota Public Radio prior to joining the AAR team in March 2004. Rachel Maddow, originally teamed with rapper Chuck D. and comedy writer Lizz Winnstead for Air America's 'Unfiltered' morning show from March 2004 to March 2005, is probably my favorite radio host. After 'Morning Sedition' (the show that replaced 'Unfiltered') was cancelled at the end of last year, she was given the hosting duties in January 2006 for a 7-9AM show that made my commutes more bearable. She now is on in the evenings (6-8PM) but also is a regular commentator on cable news. Being a Rhodes Scholar allows Dr. Maddow to readily impart credibility and gravitas into her somewhat manic on-air persona. The local AAR affiliate (WSAI-1360AM) doesn't carry the new program but I do stream her broadcast every now and then. In all the time I've listened to these three women, I can't remember ever hearing a fart joke...

Speaking of foul-smelling and forcefully expelled gas, my map above indicates the inordinate amount of time I was vulnerable to the overwhelming presence of conservative AM talk radio programming--honchoed by the king of all right-wing bloviators, 'El Rushbo' himself. On the two days I had the longest drives (17 and 23 October--both weekdays), I was unfortunate enough to be outside of the designated 'relief' areas during most of the 12 noon-3PM timeframe. On his show on the 17th, I was 'fortunate' enough to hear his interview (more like a scripted 'love-in') with the vice president. Until I found that Pittsburgh station, I must've scanned through nearly a dozen stations on the AM band that was simultaneously airing his program in the eastern West Virginia and southwest/central Pennsylvania region. Most of those same stations immediately followed with Sean Hannity's show; however, a few reverted to their regular programming (one was for a big-band 'oldies' station--a telling indicator of Mr. Limbaugh's target demographic). I was also listening on the 23rd when he made his now infamous comments about Michael J. Fox's political ads supporting Senate candidates that favor embryonic stem cell research. If someone was driving by me at that very moment, they would've seen me screaming at the dashboard in response to Rush's tactless and erroneous claims about Fox's condition and motives. Luckily, I was rapidly approaching northeastern Ohio so I was able to tune to Akron's 'Radio Free Ohio' offerings on WARF before I blew a gasket...or worse!

From a January 1995 copy of Time Magazine...
just look how accurate their prediction really was!

I will admit that I do listen to Limbaugh from time to time--mostly for the entertainment value. Last year, I was in Arizona on a business trip and was driving with a co-worker between Sierra Vista and Tucson. With limited scenery (and even more limited radio programming), we decided to put on his show for something to listen to. At first, he played a musical number (supposedly Hillary Clinton singing 'Try to Remember') which I thought was rather amusing; however, that jovial mood was cut off by comments he made about a reported poll tax initiative in Georgia (legislation stated that citizens are to show a photo ID card--that they must purchase themselves--in order to vote). He was also in 'defense mode' for comments he made about Katrina victims earlier in the month (just like he is now with Fox). As soon as he would say something, I immediately shot back (to those within earshot) with proof that his words were untrue. As for my traveling companion--a somewhat 'red' person, that turned out to be a rather long drive that day.

Sometimes, I wasn't given a choice. When I lived overseas, the local AFN affiliate--the only audible station in the vicinity of my house--carried the first hour of his program from 5-6AM. Since I woke up at 5:45, it made for a quick wake-up routine...getting my hand to the 'off' button of my clock radio before I could start to listen to his screed du jour. When he checked into rehab in October 2003, I sent him an email stating that, on a human level, I cared about him and wished him well during his recovery. I was hoping that the experience would temper his outlook on life--apparently, he never read my words. A third divorce, getting fired from his ESPN gig for borderline racist comments, being addicted to prescription pain medication and enduring on-going health problems would weigh down the strongest of men--even someone with an ego the size of Limbaugh's. His most recent 'transgressions' (the Viagra issue and now the Fox comments) portray a person willing to risk everything to either prove his twisted points or to keep himself in the public spotlight.


One pleasant surprise came at the end of my journey. Due to the placement of the three AAR affiliates in Ohio, I enjoyed almost seamless coverage (some fading near Mansfield) during my drive from the northeast to the southwest along I-71. I rarely use that route but progressives who frequently drive between Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati can travel along that major artery serene in the knowledge that they no longer have to expose themselves to the 'dark side' of the radio dial if they fail to adequately plan for their highway entertainment needs...like someone I know...

Straying from the Course

Dang! Another long break in my 'blogorhythm' has occurred...although not as bad as my previous 5-week absence, this one had a couple of mitigating factors behind it. As I mentioned in my previous post, I started to frequent the DDN's 'Speak Up!' message boards just a little too much. Many nights (and some days, too) would be spent checking up on posting activity--some might call it 'lurking'--to either my original posts or my replies to other topics. I just had to be able to respond rapidly to someone who would either condemn or congratulate me for my expression of personal opinion in that forum. My world began to revolve around the 30 or so frequent posters and the dynamics between our two online 'tribes'.

The only thing that was able to break me of this habit was a combined business/personal trip back east (Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania). Since my transportation would be on the company's 'dime', I decided to rent a car and drive the 8-9 hours each way. The drive was rather scenic (eastern Ohio and almost all of Pennsylvania were ablaze in autumn's fiery hues), despite the rain (and one patch of thick fog right around the Maryland border) that lasted almost the entire drive to the Baltimore area. I stayed in Maryland the first night and in northern Virginia for the second and was treated to political theater the likes I haven't seen before...except maybe in Ohio this year. Maryland and Virginia both have hotly contested US Senate races and Maryland's GOP governor is seeking re-election (with a blind woman as his running mate). The regional television stations must've been taking both DNC and RNC checks and heading straight to the bank. I didn't get a respite from politics in Pennsylvania, either (Senate and gubernatorial elections plus two contentious US House races featuring ethically challenged Republican representatives Curt Weldon and Don Sherwood). I just missed President Bush's 'fly-by' campaign stop for Sherwood in the Scranton suburbs but the papers had a field day with the photos and accompanying articles.

I was further kept from my 'cybersquatting' by a long-overdue visit to see my siblings and other relatives back in the Wilkes-Barre area. It was over two years ago that I brought the kids with me to see their aunts and uncles and nephews. I packed a lot of activity into those 80+ hours back home. The ride back (almost 500 miles straight through) was exhausting and I had to return to the office the following day. Only now am I able to put my thoughts to the keyboard on these and other events from the past 3 weeks.

In the following days, I will comment on some of the things I experienced on that trip (to include the excruciatingly limited options of terrestrial radio on long car journeys--especially through eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania) as well as a review of newspapers I picked up along both directions of my drive. This blog was started as a outlet to respond to our local paper here in the Dayton area so I thought it might be appropriate to see just how the DDN stacks up against other comparable dailies around the region. Hopefully this short respite will re-energize my blogging efforts (again) and allow me to provide my unique perspective on the issues of the day. Make sure to check back in a few days...

"Speak Up!" Is Addictive

Another Sunday night is here and it's usually the time when I sit back to ponder what I accomplished over the past two days. If I subtract the hours I was asleep, I probably had approximately 30-32 hours available for me to use.

Let's see...we went out for Chinese on Friday night. I did my usual weekly 'chore' (grocery shopping) and found time to read newspapers both Saturday and Sunday morning. I took our son to buy a 'school photo-worthy' shirt for his class pictures and took him to some other places during a quick errand run. I continued dubbing our home movies over to DVD--a tedious process. I bought a copy of Frank Rich's new book "The Greatest Story Ever Sold" and read the first chapter last night. I've been watching football both yesterday and today--well, it was playing in the background (like it is now). However, the activity that occupied most of my waking moments was participating on the DDN's online forum, aptly titled "Speak Up!".

I first visited this site earlier in the year when I signed up for a user account for accessing the paper's online services. Previous to this, I've never been that involved with any online message boards and conserved my words for emails and IMs. I started off as a 'lurker'--someone who simply went through the listed subjects of discussion to read the exchanges between the more extroverted users. As a political 'wonk', I gravitated towards titles reflecting that particular type of activity might be present. As I started my reading, I noticed that there appeared to be two distinct online 'tribes'--corresponding to the major competing political ideologies of the day. Needless to say, I began to empathize more with the 'blue' group and was able to identify the 'red' members very readily. I can't remember what my first posting was about but I did receive a 'high five' from one of my future compatriots for my support on that issue. That kind act reinforced my desire to join in on this 24/7 discussion on a more regular basis.

And how true that has been! As I'm writing this, I'm checking the boards every few minutes to see the latest responses and check if anyone is taking me to task personally. I've taken up a 'vigilant' posture--if someone posts something that doesn't jibe with my understanding of our current version of reality, I take it upon myself to address the poster's issue and either correct them or refute their assertions. There are a few from the 'red' tribe that add items just to stir up a response from us (I won't mention their online 'handles' but if you look through the exchanges, they'd be recognized rather easily) and some of us 'blues' have started to do the same thing. Some exchanges get rather heated and people do step right up to the line drawn by the site concerning appropriate behaviors. I have to take mandated breaks from "Speak Up!" when I'm at work (my employer would not like me spending my entire day in contentious online debates) so I cannot keep up with other users who are retired or have more amenable working environments than I currently have. As with other 'manias', this one shall pass...

I wasn't selected as the winner in last week's "Open Mike" contest so my identity still remains cloaked in mystery. My submission had the person saying "he was what he was"--a take-off of one of his more famous catch phrases. The winner mentioned spinach and the deceased's long-suffering girlfriend. I got a headstart on this week's entry (pictured below) on Friday evening--as of this posting, I've submitted 16 different entries. I now have to wait until Tuesday to see if I've again earned the board's favor.

Right now, I'm not looking so good for winning my third straight fantasy football game. Two players that I was undecided about had very good games today; unfortunately, I benched them right before the 1:05 kickoffs in favor of more dependable guys who didn't perform as expected. As of 4:00 left in the 3rd quarter of the Bears-Seahawks game, I'm down by 26 points (my opponent and I each have one player involved in this game and we have others that don't play until tomorrow evening). Granted, one of my Monday night participants is Donovan McNabb--the highest rated player in our league--but he'd have to have an extraordinary evening (300+ yards, 4-5 passing/running TDs) just for me to get close. My opponent has one of McNabb's favorite targets (WR Donte Stallworth) as a starter so Donovan's success will probably involve him. I believe that the Warbirds winning streak is history...ah, but it's only a game!