WaPo reported Liberal radio talker Ed Schultz was eagerly anticipating his debut yesterday on Armed Forces Radio, which agreed last month to carry his program to nearly a million soldiers around the world. But at 7 a.m., Schultz's producer got a call from Allison Barber, the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary for internal communications, who said without explanation that the deal was off. Perhaps, Schultz said in an interview, it was just a coincidence that he spent the end of last week chastising Barber for coaching a group of U.S. soldiers in Iraq before a teleconference with President Bush.
If you want to get on Armed Forces Radio, it is not a good idea to ridicule the military"It kind of floored us," Schultz said from his studio in North Dakota. "The fact is, they don't want dissenting voices or any other kind of speech unless it's going to be promotional for them. Obviously, these people are making sure they're not going to have any opinion other than the Rush Limbaughs of the world."
Joe Gandelman blogged The 50 year-old Schultz is occasionally blasted by both left and right. He show is packed with callers offering different viewpoints (he says he only screens calls for audio quality).
Bloggledygook blogged Air America can't compete because instead of bullies, they're peddling brats. Were Hannity is the kid waiting outside for your lunch money, the Air America gang are the sneering rich kids who get off on trashing Daddy's sport scar. With losers like Al Franken and Randi Rhodes, liberal radio has no hope of surviving. The audience of condescending anger is very limited.
Into this atmosphere, Ed Schultz has staked his chances on going after the middle while providing entertaining back-and-forth without the obsequious fawning found in most partisan radio.
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