Talk Radio Killed Conservativism?

In my youth, video killed the radio star.  Now, Nate Silver suggests, conservative talk radio has killed conservatism.   John Ziegler, of whom I've never heard, is apparently an imbecile. QED. This might be the key passage of my interview with John Ziegler on Tuesday, for it is, in a nutshell, why conservatives don't win elections anymore. It is not that conservatism ...

Palin Most Qualified Recent VP Nominee

John McCain is getting some guff for his assertion on the Don Imus show that Sarah Palin is "the most qualified of anyone recently who has run for vice president to tell you the truth."  And, no, not for the syntax but the point itself. Steve Benen is incredulous: Dick Cheney, Joe Lieberman, Al Gore, Lloyd Bentsen, and George H.W. Bush? No, ...

Randi Rhodes Quits Air America Radio

Randi Rhodes is no longer employed by Air America. The company's official statement Last week Air America suspended Randi Rhodes for abusive, obscene language at a recent public appearance in San Francisco which was sponsored by an Air America affiliate station. Air America Media was informed last night by Ms. Rhodes that she has chosen to terminate her employment with ...

McCain Blames Autism on Mercury

John McCain recently "declared that 'there’s strong evidence' that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that was once in many childhood vaccines, is responsible for the increased diagnoses of autism in the U.S." Jake Tapper reports. Megan McArdle terms the assertion "nonsense on stilts" and observes that there is now robust scientific evidence to the contrary. Pondering why McCain would say such ...

Ron Paul Phenomenon Not About Ron Paul

Joe Carter, in an interesting reflection on his 30 days working for the Huckabee campaign, makes this observation: The Ron Paul Phenomenon is Not About Ron Paul -- It will take a more astute political mind than I possess to comprehend this Ron Paul phenomenon. All I know is that it has less to do with the candidate than about ...

A Résumé is Not Enough

Frank Rich notes that established candidates in both parties are struggling against comparative upstarts. We can only imagine what is going on inside John McCain’s head when he contemplates Mike Huckabee. It can’t be pretty. No presidential candidate in either party has more experience in matters of war than the Arizona senator, and yet in a wartime election he is being ...

Don Imus Returning to Radio

To the surprise of perhaps no one but Matt Drudge, Don Imus is getting another shot at talk radio. In a dramatic and dazzling career rebound, controversial radio host Don Imus has secured a deal returning him to the airwaves on December 3 -- this time on the nation's most listened to talk station, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned! "Imus In The ...

O’Reilly: Blacks Order Tea without Cursing!

Bill O'Reilly made some, um, interesting comments on his radio show Wednesday that have sparked some controversy in the blogosphere after being highlighted by Media Matters. Here, in context, is what he said. All emphases from the Media Matters transcript: O"REILLY: Now, how do we get to this point? Black people in this country understand that they've ...

OTB Radio – Tonight at 7

The next episode of OTB Radio, our BlogTalkRadio program, will record and air live tonight at 7 Eastern. I'll be joined by Alex Knapp and Bill Dyer of BeldarBlog. It's a good thing they're both attorneys, as there are a lot of legal issues in the news. We'll be talking about the felony murder rule ...

Rutgers Basketball Player Sues Imus

Kia Vaughn, one of the Rutgers basketball players shock jock Don Imus referred to as a "nappy headed ho," is suing him for defamation. Don Imus is facing his first lawsuit from a player on the Rutgers Women's Basketball team for derogatory comments that cost him his job as a radio host in April, ABC News has learned. Kia Vaughn, star ...

Gay Debate Really Gay

The top candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination appeared last night at a gay rights forum sponsored by LOGO, a "lifestyle cable channel aimed at gay and lesbian viewers." CQ's Sara Lubbes, Josh Stager and Jesse Stanchak describe the setup: Unlike several candidate debates held earlier this year, the Democrats never appeared on stage together, but took questions at 15-minute ...

Rap Commits Suicide

We may be witnessing the death of rap, Tim Shipman reports for the Sunday Telegraph. He notes that sales are "down 33 per cent, double the decline of the CD album market overall." After years of pop culture ubiquity, "The bad boys of rap are now trailing the cowboys of country and the headbangers of heavy metal." The main ...

Neal Boortz May Be Pulled from Virginia Radio Station

David Grant reports for the Collegiate Times that nationally syndicated talk show host Neal Boortz' show may be pulled from Pulaski, Virginia's WFNR AM for some controversial remarks he made in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. Boortz echoed a theme expressed by many that the victims were “standing in terror waiting for (their) turn to be executed.” ...

The U.S.’s Royal Class

Radley Balko has a good post on how many of our politicians see themselves as being above the "little laws" that the rest of us peasants have to obey. It notes that the Royal Governor of the Principality of New Jersey managed to get himself hurt by having his motorcade blast down the freeway at 90+ miles per hour ...

Caption Contest Winners

The Silver Bullet Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over. (AP Photo/Police Handout) The Winners: First: Bithead - I swear there was a naked girl in here a minute ago. Second: Ator - You can lead a horse to water but it's the rider that gets drunk at the pub... Third: Michael - Warning Label: "Operate your Horse only in an ...