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SPEAKING OF DECLINE, the much-ballyhooed liberal answer to conservative talk radio seems well on its way to fizzling just weeks after its inauguration. Air America launched April 1 in Chicago and Los Angeles, but was off the air in a fortnight. Sales offices in both cities were closed, laying off 20 people, and there were reports of financial and management difficulties, according to CNSNews.com.
The network featured comedian Al Franken, a rather vile sort, and other liberal commentators. Its short life was not devoid of the "meanness" the left often decried in conservative talk-show hosts: Jokes about torturing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were heard, and Rush Limbaugh was called a "Nazi."
The Media Research Center notes that "what the national media promoted as the roar of a new liberal lion turned out to be the quiet whimper of a sickly kitten."