Hate Talk Radio

If Alexandra Petri and I are both having a spot of trouble with misbehaving words, it's in the great tradition of Saturday Night Live's perpetually angry scourge, Emily Litella (Gilda Radner), who (for example) couldn't understand what all the fuss was about "violins in schools.""The American people said they wanted change, but really what they wanted was just a little bit off the top because anything else would frighten their spouses. . .

Daily Kos's ProgLegs notes: "Dog Doody Duty's rates depend on frequency of service and number of dogs.  They do offer a flat fee of $50 for a one time visit, but indicate that certain jobs may result in additional charges.

Some people really try my patience(Bill-O, Howie Kurtz, E. W. Jackson, et al.)[*TO MEET THE JANITOR OF LUNACY, SEE PART 1]by NoahWhat would any Quote of the Year contest be without one of the Republican Party's leading spokesweirdos, Bill O'Reilly? I think the most interesting question about this man is: Is he merely Archie Bunker with a TV show? Or is Roger Ailes broadcasting lunatic Republican propaganda from a remote insane asylum that's buried deep in a lead-shielded mountain somewhere.

Two stories this week in Inside Radio demonstrate, once again, why Hate Talk Radio is doomed. In short, the format isn't reaching a demo and advertisers-- other than adult diaper makers, the NRA and the Republican Party-- want to reach. The key ad target demos don't want to hear bitter old white men screaming crazy, hateful conspiracy theories at them.

Headquartered in Camarillo, California (near an infamous mental institution), the Salem Radio Network syndicates their right-wing "Christian" talk shows to a couple thousand stations, above and beyond the 100 they actually own. They also own a chain of Republican Party propaganda websites like Townhall.com and Hotair.com and stream their hate-and-poison-for-profit to another hundred right-wing websites.

There's no question that the intrepid StopRush and FlushRush activists deserve a lot of the credit for this, but Cumulus, America's second biggest radio chain announced that they can't make any money on Limbaugh's show