Interesting, but scary stuff!

The interview I was most looking forward to this week happened today. One of my must-reads every day is Glenn Greenwald's column at Salon.com. Although all of his columns are worth reading and talking about, I was most interested in talking with him about the piece he wrote on Monday, An emerging progressive consensus on Obama's executive power and secrecy abuses.

Click here to listen to my interview with Glenn Greenwald on Air America.

You can read my thoughts about how it's possible to like a president, but disagree vehemently with some of his policies. And I do!

Today's show wasn't all doom and gloom... We had a little fun too, with Lisa Derrick, who blogs at FireDogLake. We talked about Phil Spector who was convicted yesterday of 2nd degree murder, and dished on lots other stories too. She was getting ready to dress up and go incognito to one of the tea parties, so she checked in at the end of the show with a report. We'll check back in with her tomorrow to get the rest of the story.

I called on my favorite conservative pundit, John LeBoutillier. I met him many years ago when I produced the Bob Grant Show, back at WMCA in NY. John was a newly-former Congressman, and friend of Grant's who would occasionally guest host the show. Even though I disagreed with him ideologically, I always liked him. And I always enjoy sparring with him on the air. The odd thing is that we agree on many points. Go figure! (In addition to his own blog, linked above, he also writes for the ultra-right-leaning NewsMax.com!)

Enjoy the rest of your patriots day... stay away from the teabaggers. They know not what they're protesting!

I'm so conflicted!

I like Barack Obama. I really do. And I shudder to think what would be going on today if he had lost the election and John McCain was in charge.

But I'm still troubled about a lot of what's going on in the executive branch.

I hope to get more clarity today when I get to speak with Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald today on Air America radio (at 1 PM EDT). He wrote a scathing piece about President Obama's DOJ taking the powers seized by Bush & Co. and even expanding them. I know I won't like what I hear, but we need to hear it!

The powers I'm talking about here are the worst examples of the shredding of the constitution practiced by the former administration... domestic spying and warrantless wiretapping, denying habeus corpus to prisoners, blanket immunity from lawsuits for those who've violated the civil liberties of our citizens and, sadly, more.

I liked Bill Clinton too. He, like Obama, is smart. I love that the two of them can speak with authority about whatever issue is before them. Knowledge is power, and intelligence is an aphrodisiac. (Maybe that's what got Bill Clinton in so much trouble!)

But President Clinton made some fatal errors during his presidency. He signed the legislation that repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, which lifted the regulations that were put in place after the depression and could have prevented the dire economic situation we're now experiencing. He also signed the awful Telecommunications Act of 1996 that deregulated the broadcast industry and relaxed ownership rules -- which effectively destroyed the business in which I've worked for 25 years. Yet, I still like him.

So, it's OK to like President Obama, while criticizing some of his actions. I just know that I'd like him much, much more if he'd listen to the people who elected him, and do the right thing.

Dolphins save the day

My favorite news story of the day:

 BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Thousands of dolphins blocked the suspected Somali pirate ships when they were trying to attack Chinese merchant ships passing the Gulf of Aden, the China Radio International reported on Monday.

    The Chinese merchant ships escorted by a China's fleet sailed on the Gulf of Aden when they met some suspected pirate ships. Thousands of dolphins suddenly leaped out of water between pirates and merchants when the pirate ships headed for the China's.

    The suspected pirates ships stopped and then turned away. The pirates could only lament their littleness befor the vast number of dolphins. The spectacular scene continued for a while.

    China initiated its three-ship escort task force on Dec. 26 last year after the United Nations Security Council called on countries to patrol gulf and waters off Somalia, one of the world's busiest marine routes, where surging piracy endangered intercontinental shipping.

    China's first fleet has escorted 206 vessels, including 29 foreign merchant vessels, and successfully rescued three foreign merchant ships from pirate attacks.

    About 20 percent of Chinese merchant ships passing through the waters off Somalia were attacked by pirates from January to November in 2008, before the task force was deployed.

    A total of seven ships, either owned by China or carrying Chinese cargo and crew, were hijacked.

    Tianyu No. 8, a Chinese fishing vessel with 16 Chinese and eight foreign sailors aboard, was captured by Somali pirates on Nov. 14 and released in early February.

    The second fleet of Chinese escort ships arrived at the Gulf of Aden on Monday to replace the first fleet.

Still a bit traumatized, but made it through today's show!

In case you don't know what was so traumatic today, scroll down and read my earlier post. I'll wait.

OK, now you understand. I finished the show, which was a non-stop parade of fascinating guests (details coming in a moment), and ran out back to dispose of the body before my 9 year old daughter got home from school.

I took the advice of the majority of folks who emailed me with suggestions. Although I liked the comment left on the afore-mentioned earlier post, gift wrapping the cat would have required more contact than I was willing to make. I barely kept my lunch down as it was.

And in case you were wondering, a cat dead since 4:30am is most definitely stiff by 3:15pm.

On to more pressing matters....

Today's show began with a visit from a man who should be in Washington DC today. Joe Garcia ran against incumbent Republican Mario Diaz Balart in 2008 and came close, but not close enough to unseat the hack. Joe is a Democratic Party activist, longtime Cuba Policy advocate, and the former Chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. He's always been my go-to guy on all issues related to Cuba, so when President Obama yesterday lifted the restrictions on family travel to Cuba, I knew Joe was the guy to call.

He debated the issue last night on CNN




and after appearing on Air America with me today, he was on MSNBC with Andrea Mitchell.



In today's second hour, I wanted to hear from some of the people behind the teabagging parties that are scheduled for tomorrow, at the urging of Faux News and a group called FreedomWorks.



Much to my surprise, FreedomWorks' VP for Public Policy, Max Pappas, agreed to come on the show. At the beginning of the interview, he was making some sense. But the more I questioned him, the more his whole premise began unraveling.


I'm all for people challenging authority and speaking out in support of whatever they believe. But I don't condone lies and deception. When I asked about the organization, Pappas claimed they were a non-partisan group, but as he laid out their ideas and asked him point blank if he was a Libertarian, he said yes.... and then went on to say that he's not politically affiliated! And when I pressed him on who heads FreedomWorks, he finally admitted that the guy in charge is none other than Dick Armey, former House Republican leader! Non partisan my ass....



Last week, I had my favorite activist David Swanson on the air to talk about this column that he wrote for afterdowningstreet.org. I also asked him about a piece he wrote on April 1 titled, "John Yoo Arrested" that said Yoo had been arrested in Italy and extradited to Spain. I saw the date and realized it was an April Fools joke, but today, I had David back on the show to talk about Scott Horton's piece on The Daily Beast titled "The Bush Six to Be Indicted" which tells us that Spanish prosecutors will seek criminal charges against Alberto Gonzalez and five others from the Bush administration for torture! This time, it's for real!



All that, and I still had another hour to go! Hour three kicked off with a conversation with B.L. Ochman, a marketing strategist and blogger who can be found at WhatsNextOnline.com. She wrote a piece for Advertising Age about Amazon.com removing any LGBT themed books from search and rankings, and told how the story spread like wildfire over the weekend on twitter.



We then moved on to the issue of gay marriage, as the past week or so saw great strides with Iowa and Vermont joining the growing chorus of states legalizing the rights of consenting adults to form lasting, loving family units! I was joined by Matt Coles, director of the ACLU's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project. They're doing great work, and you should check them out when you get the time.

And finally, a three-judge election contest court in Minnesota ruled that Al Franken won the election by a margin of 312 votes, yet Norm Coleman will likely appeal that ruling too! Any time there's a question about elections, I turn to Brad Friedman of the Brad Blog, and did just that today too.

Whew. At least it all kept my mind off of the dead cat in my back yard!

Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow. If you haven't yet read Glenn Greenwald's piece on Salon.com entitled An emerging progressive consensus on Obama's executive power and secrecy abuses, you might want to do so tonight. He'll be joining me in the second hour of the show tomorrow to talk about the powers that Bush claimed and that Obama is holding on to.

We'll also talk with Lisa Derrick who blogs at about politics, entertainment and pop culture at FireDogLake. And we'll check in with folks who are brave enough to head out for some tax day teabagging! I hope you'll listen in. You can call in too at 866-303-2270...

I'm responsible for the death of a cat...

I thought that my lovable, cuddly living teddy bears Sasha and Pooh (pictured below) would just chase the cat away, as they've done before!

I was awakened at 4:30 this morning by my two very loud dogs barking. When I looked out the bedroom window, I saw the black cat lying lazily at the side of the pool. Realizing the dogs wouldn't shut up until the cat departed the premises, I figured I could just let them out and they'd chase him/her away.

But this must have been one very slow cat. I knew it was a bad plan when I heard the cat howl louder than the dogs barked.

By the time I threw on some clothes and found a flashlight, the cat was silent, and the dogs were standing guard over their prey. I pried them away and back into the house, and laid awake for the rest of the night/morning, realizing that I was responsible for the death of the cat.

Now I have a dead cat in the backyard, and two dogs who want to get out there. And I'm on the air in one hour on Air America.

Not my best day!

However, if you get a chance to pick up the Miami Herald today, you'll see a lovely piece about me, the loss of WINZ, the Radioornot.com podcast, and my work on Air America. Happily, there's nothing in it about the dead cat.

Not too bad for a Monday!

Aside from the fact that the three hours flew by on Air America today, it was also a good day thanks to Glenn Garvin of the Miami Herald, who wrote this lovely piece!

On today's show, I spoke with Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State... someone every Christian fundamentalist in this country needs to listen to!

I reached out to Shannon Moriarty, editor of the End Homelessness blog at change.org. She's a grad student at Tufts University, who is studying housing and urban policy, and has done a great job on this blog.

Since animals are also affected by the bad economy, I was moved when I read of Joni Taylor's efforts to help feed some dogs whose owners are having a tough time these days. She's the founder of FIDO (Friends Involved in Dog Outreach) in Clackamas, Oregon, where she also started a dog food bank! If you're in the Portland area and can help or need help, or if you're elsewhere but want information on what Joni's doing in Oregon, you can reach out to her at joni@FIDO-clackamas.org or call 971-678-6928.

In the third hour of today's show, I spoke with Zephyr Teachout, who works as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Duke University, and is one of the organizers behind A New Way Forward.  If you are at all concerned about the bank bailouts and the way the Obama administration is handling the economic crisis in this country, you owe it to yourself and the rest of us to visit that website and, at the very least, become informed.  Or better than that, get involved!

I'll be back on Air America tomorrow from noon-3 Eastern.  We'll kick off the show with Joe Garcia, who'll fill us in on all the developments with Cuban-American relations.

The Times They Are a Changin'

It's certainly a new day at the White House, on this Monday, the day after Easter.

It's time for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, and you might want to ask, "How is this Easter Egg Roll different from all other Easter Egg Rolls?"

For starters, it comes just days after the very first Passover Seder at the White House. Yes, our Christian President and First Lady hosted the first-ever White House Seder.

It's a new dawn that embraces inclusiveness and tolerance.

I remember doing an interview with one of the White House Easter Egg Roll "crashers" in 2006. She and her partner were among a group of "gay and lesbian families" who dared to show up for the "straight family only" event, identified for all the world to see by the rainbow-colored leis around their necks. Today, members of the LGBT community will be there, as invited guests. No special identification necessary to spotlight their inclusion!

If you feel so moved, you can actually watch the 30,000 kids who'll participate today roll their respective eggs along the White House lawn here, as it will stream live on the internet -- another first!






And just in case you're still upset by President Obama's flippant dismissal during his first-ever Online Town Hall Meeting of the question about legalizing marijuana, I think he might be trying to make it up to us today. Ziggy Marley will be one of the musical performers at today's White House soiree. Just a thought....

Looking forward to a new week!

It's Sunday afternoon. Easter Sunday. Since the Sandler household is pretty much non-religious (we didn't observe Passover either), today I took my daughter to the Marlins-Mets game. We were cheering on the Mets, and eager as Carlos Delgado came to bat with the Mets up 2-0, with 2 outs at the top of the 9th inning, figuring he'd once again save the day. But, alas, his double and the one run he was able to eek out weren't enough this time.

In case you were wondering, it was ridiculously hot at Dolphins stadium, making me realize that the Marlins do, indeed, need a domed stadium if they ever hope to get fans in the seats. But I still think they should be paying for it, not tax dollars!

I'm getting ready to begin another week on Air America radio. I'll be hosting noon-3 EST all week, starting tomorrow. Since it's the Monday after Easter and Passover, I thought tomorrow would be a great time to talk about the separation of Church and State. We'll do that in the first hour, with Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. I've had the pleasure of interviewing Rev. Lynn in the past, and promise you'll find it fascinating as well.

We'll also take a look at the issue of Homelessness in America, and lots more...

I'm trying to wrap my brain around a few other issues... pirates, taxes and teabagging are among them. If you have any suggestions for guests and topics you'd like me to try to cover this week on Air America, please email me!

In the meantime, I thought you might get a kick out of this misguided youth, who apparently didn't get the "teabagging" memo...

A Day at the Beach

Literally. The weather is beautiful here in South Florida today, so I'm going to take my daughter, Alison (who's on spring break this week), and head to the beach... the one thing I truly love about life down here.

A day off... what a concept!

One quick programming note -- I'll be on Air America all next week, from noon-3 EDT. Please put a reminder in your calendar to listen online at www.airamerica.com.

I'm sure I'll post something later. But for now, time to get out the sunscreen, a good book, a beach chair and a towel.

What a way to celebrate passover, huh?

Wednesday morning mea culpa

Yes, I have to fess up today to missing yesterday's big story.  Before I get to that, though, a few words from Jon Stewart who, I believe, has become one of our best political commentators.  He drives home his point with a comic touch that makes even the most bitter pill easier to swallow and, metaphors aside, the truth easier to understand.  

That is, of course, unless you're a right-wing talk show host.  

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Baracknophobia - Obey
comedycentral.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

The next clip that you need to see today comes from another of our best -- Keith Olbermann.  He and Jon Stewart arrive at many of the same conclusions and help to inform the more erudite segments of the population (i.e. those who actually think), but get there via different routes.

Keith is more in-your-face, more to the point.  There's not as much of the comic nuance as we get from Jon Stewart's brand of commentary.  Keith leaves little to the imagination.  He calls it exactly as it is, though sometimes we don't like hearing what he has to say. 

And that was the case last night.

I blew it yesterday on this story.  I was speaking with Ron Brynaert, Executive Editor at rawstory.com when I guest-hosted on Air America.  We were talking about the top stories of the day, and I didn't even deal with the headline that read Obama Administration quietly expands Bush's legal defense of wiretapping program.  

You can listen to my interview with Raw Story's Ron Brynaert here 

I knew just by looking at the headline that it was bad.  Perhaps that's why I skipped over it, and opted instead to talk about the story of actor Kal Penn (of Harold & Kumar fame) leaving his cushy gig on the TV show House to join the Obama administration as a public outreach liaison, and other such light fare.  My mistake.

And I made that mistake after discussing with Mr. Brynaert the fact that we, as "progressives and liberals" don't tow the party line unchallenged.  I think my exact quote was "I'll call a spade a spade, and if I believe Obama is wrong about something, I'll call him on it!"   I even had a similar conversation earlier in the show with author and activist David Swanson who, although he voted for Obama, has remained as vigilant about exposing the hypocrisy of this administration as he was the last.  

A quick aside here, as I neglected to do this yesterday.... Although I've interviewed David Swanson numerous times over the past few years, the post that prompted me to invite him on the air yesterday, What's the Real Reason?, is must reading for everyone. 

 And you can hear my interview with David Swanson here.

Back to the main point.  Keith Olbermann covered the story of President Obama and this administration not only defending the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping program but, in essence, expanding on it!  

In the following two clips, you'll hear Keith speaking with Newsweek's Howard Fineman about the story, and then discussing the ramification of it with one of our foremost experts on Constitutional law, Jonathan Turley.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

It's up to us to make sure President Obama hears us on this.  If you want to get involved, I'll once again direct you back to David Swanson's numerous websites -- afterdowningstreet.org, prosecutebushcheney.org and democrats.com as some good starting points.

On another note, I promised that I'd put together a primer of sorts on progressive talk radio that you can hear online.  Actually, the work has already been done.  You can find a very comprehensive listing at www.ltradio.blogspot.com.    I will check with the proprietor of that blog and ask if I can cannibalize his listings and create a page here at Radio or Not to make it easier to navigate your way through it.  But that's a good starting point for you to check out, and bookmark your favorites!

As for the lack of local progressive talk here in South Florida, I promise to use this blog and podcast to pick up the slack.  In the coming days, I will speak with some of Florida's legislators who are still entrenched in Tallahassee for their annual 60-day legislative session.  We'll likely pick that up after the Easter/Passover break.  In the meantime, please check back here regularly, as you never know what will spark my interest.

If there's a local story you think needs addressing, by all means, post it in the comments section below, on the message board, or email me.  I read it all!

Let's get the money out of politics

Click here for today's Radio or Not podcast on Campaign Finance Reform (runtime 28:53)

That's been my mantra for a long time.  I honestly believe that no meaningful change can come without a complete overhaul of how elections are paid for.  Politicians will always be beholden to the people who gave them the most money.  And I also think it borders on criminal to spend so much money on political advertising when those dollars could be put to much better use... education easily springs to mind.

As the economy gets worse and we follow the money, we see that many millions of dollars have gone from the Wall Street mega banks into the coffers of our elected officials.  

Check out some of these facts and figures from Americans for Campaign Reform 

(Source: Center for Responsive Politics analysis of campaign finance

disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission, 1990-2008)

‣ Individuals and PACs in finance, insurance, and real

estate have contributed over $2 billion to federal campaigns

since 1990, the largest sector by a factor of two

‣ Wall Street contributions increased five-fold from $60

million in 1990 to $311 million in 2008

‣ Members of the U.S. House and Senate received an

average $142,663 and $1,042,663, respectively, in

Wall Street contributions as of July 28, 2008

Both Parties Profit from Wall Street Funds

‣ Wall Street donors consistently favored the political

party in power with higher contributions in eight out

of ten elections between 1990-2008

‣ Republicans received 55% of total Wall Street funds

from 1990-2008, compared with 44% for Democrats

‣ The top twenty recipients of Wall Street contributions

include Senators and Representatives regarded as

among the most liberal and the most conservative

Members in Congress

Wall Street Targets Regulatory Committees

‣ Wall Street contributions to House and Senate candidates

in 2008 were heavily concentrated on members

of the relevant banking, commerce, and tax committees

responsible for industry regulation

‣ Nine of the top ten House recipients of Wall Street

contributions in 2008 served on the Financial Services

(6) or Ways and Means (3) committees

‣ Top-ten members of the relevant House committees

received an average $1.5 million from Wall Street in

2008, ten times the overall average in the House

‣ The top ten Senate recipients of Wall Street contributions

in 2008 were either candidates for President or

members of the Commerce, Banking, Finance, and

Budget committees, or in Senate leadership.

‣ Their average in Wall Street Contributions was $14.3

million, or $2.2 million excluding giving to major

presidential candidates.

Top ten Wall Street contributors, 2008

Rank /Organization /Amount

1  Goldman Sachs  $4,287,701

2  Citigroup Inc  $3,438,497

3  JP Morgan Chase & Co  $3,029,568

4  Morgan Stanley  $2,842,517

5  National Assn of Realtors  $2,525,300

6  UBS AG  $2,256,060

7  American Bankers Assn  $2,029,088

8  Lehman Brothers  $1,921,167

9  Merrill Lynch  $1,824,505

10  Bank of America  $1,800,504

Stunning, don't you think?  And we wonder why our elected officials are spending so many of our taxpayer dollars bailing out the banks?  Those same elected officials are owned by the banks!

So, what can we do?  Well, we can contact the people who represent us in Washington and DEMAND a change.  Legislation is already before Congress.  The Fair Elections Now Act was introduced to both houses on March 31.  Introduced by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Representatives John Larson (D-CT) and Walter Jones (R-NC), the Fair Elections Now Act provides a new, small donor-driven approach to campaign finance.

I spoke at length with Dan Weeks, president of Americans for Campaign Reform today on Air America Radio.  Click here to listen to our interview (runtime 28:53)

On Air America today from noon-3 EDT

We have a great show lined up for you today, so I hope you'll listen live at www.airamerica.com/listen, and call in at 866-303-2270.

In the first hour, as I've been threatening to do, we'll deal with the issue of the role of money in elections, and how to fix it!  Campaign Finance Reform is, in my opinion, the most important issue of the day!  I'll speak with Dan Weeks  President, Americans for Campaign Reform.  Find them at www.youstreet.org.

In hour two, we'll look back at President Obama's Excellent European Adventure with Beth Arnold, an American living in Paris.  She's a journalist whose work you can read on Huffington Post, Salon.com and numerous other places, including  www.BethArnold.com.

In the third hour of today's show, one of my favorite guests who always keeps us on our toes, activist and author David Swanson.  We'll talk about issues we should all be concerned with, including the status of the effort to hold Bush/Cheney et al accountable for their crimes, and take a critical look at the Obama presidency.  

David Swanson is the author of the upcoming book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union" and of the introduction to "The 35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush."  He is co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org, creator of ProsecuteBushCheney.org and Washington Director of Democrats.com, a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, the Backbone Campaign, and Voters for Peace, a convenor of the legislative working group of United for Peace and Justice, and chair of the accountability and prosecution working group of United for Peace and Justice.  In his spare time, he also blogs at davidswanson.org.

And of course, we'll take a look at some of the other stories of the day.

Again, listen live at www.airamerica.com/live and call in at 866-303-2270.  And please let your friends know they can listen too!

It's spring break in South Florida...

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean what the title conjures up!  I remember when I was in high school down here (Hollywood Hills High, class of '77, in case you were wondering...), in 11th grade, but looking a lot older than our 16 years, cruising the Ft. Lauderdale strip with my friends, looking for the hot college guys down here on spring break.  Ahh, the good old days, when the only thing you had to worry about was getting pregnant.  But I digress...

Now it's spring break, as in my 4th grader daughter is under-foot all week long!  

Today she went to the beach with the babysitter and her daughter but, after today's show, it was all about us.  

Thus the reason for the very late re-cap of today's Air America show.

What I had intended to be a few brief words on the loss of my former radio station, and the lone progressive radio voice in South Florida, became the whole first hour of the show.  Much of what I said was actually along the lines of my blog entries from Friday and Wednesday of last week.  That's part of the mourning process, I guess.  Venting and letting it all out.

But a big part of it was also challenging the listener to make the extra effort to find your favorite shows online and download them onto your iPod or other mp3 player and take them in the car, or listen via the computer as it's streaming live. 

I promise that, over the course of the next few days, I'll do the homework and post a comprehensive list of the progressive leaning shows, and the links from which you can listen.  

In the meantime, I plan on becoming more South Florida-centric over the coming weeks and months, to fill the void left when WINZ left the format.  Actually, to be completely accurate, that void has existed since I was let go from WINZ back in August...  Although they were a progressive station, there was truly no local presence on the station in the last seven months.  

To those who listen from places other than South Florida, I'll continue to sound off on other things that concern all of us.  And I hope you'll continue to let me know what topics and issues you'd like to hear about on Radio or Not.  We are in this together.

Click here to listen to the first hour of today's show (runtime minus news and commercials 37:44)

In the last two hours, we changed focus a bit.  I'm truly alarmed and frightened by the number of massacres that have taken place in this country in the past month.  

From the AP:

A string of shootings in the U.S. in the last month alone has claimed the lives of 53 people:

_MARCH 10, SAMSON, Ala. — A gunman kills 10 people and commits suicide in a rampage that spanned two dozen miles across the southern Alabama countryside. Police say Michael McLendon had struggled to keep a job and left behind lists of employers and co-workers he believed had wronged him.

_MARCH 22, OAKLAND, Calif. — A man pulled over in a routine traffic stop fatally shoots two officers and then kills two more in a gunfight in which the suspect was also killed. Relatives say Lovelle Mixon, 26, had been frustrated about not finding work and feared returning to jail.

_MARCH 29, SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A man shoots and kills his two children and three other relatives, then kills himself at a family housewarming party in an upscale neighborhood. Investigators don't yet know the motive of Devan Kalathat, a 42-year-old engineer at Yahoo.

_MARCH 29, CARTHAGE, N.C. — A man opens fire in a nursing home and kills seven elderly residents and a nurse who cared for them. Investigators say Robert Stewart, 45, apparently had targeted an estranged wife, a nurse's assistant who escaped by hiding in a bathroom.

_APRIL 3, BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — A gunman bursts into an immigrant center and kills 13 people before killing himself. Police say Jiverly Wong, a 41-year-old Vietnamese immigrant, was apparently upset about losing his job and about people picking on him for his limited English.

_APRIL 4, PITTSBURGH — A gunman wearing a bulletproof vest opens fire on officers responding to a domestic disturbance call, killing three of them. Police say Richard Poplawski, 23, had been upset about losing his job and feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.

_APRIL 4, GRAHAM, Wash. — A man fatally shoots his five children in their mobile home and then takes his own life in his car miles away. Relatives identified the father as James Harrison. A motive was not yet known.

After playing Cheryl Wheeler's If It Were Up to Me, I spoke with Paul Helmke, executive director of the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence and to Bruce Tenenbaum, who wrote Gun "Nuts" for Huffington Post.  

Both guests made good points, in different ways.  I agree with Cheryl Wheeler... If it were up to me, I'd take away the guns.

Listen live today on Air America!

I will once again be on live today. To listen, just go to www.AirAmerica.com/listen . I'll be on live from noon-3 PM EST, 9 AM- noon Pacific (or whatever the corresponding times are wherever you live!)....

I'll be on tomorrow too... but check back after the show for today's highlights, links, etc.

Thanks for listening... and please call in at 866-303-2270!

RIP 940 WINZ

Hear today's Radio or Not podcast by clicking here (runtime 20:50)

This evening at 6PM, they will pull the plug on "progressive talk" in South Florida.  I know I just dealt with this topic on Wednesday, but I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today.  I've been the victim of format changes a couple of times before, and it always hurts.

The difference is, this time I'm not working at the station that's changing format.  But, interestingly enough, it still hurts!  

It hurts because, even though the Democrats control both houses of Congress and the White House, the giant corporation and conglomerates that own and operate the majority of the radio stations in the country continue to push the fallacy that liberal talk radio can't work.  

The fact is that it can.  In cities where the signals of the "liberal" and the "conservative" stations are on par with each other, and where the stations are also on an equal footing when it comes to resources, they are quite competitive.

But let's look at it another way...  Most radio stations are operated by BIG business.  As much as the right likes to label the media as liberal, the fact is that most media outlets are owned by BIG corporations, whose interests are best served by the Republican agenda.  Deregulation, tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, tax loopholes for those same BIG businesses... you get the idea.  

It's no wonder that 90% of the stations that air political talk opt to promote their conservative/Republican ideology.  

Do they have an audience?  Yes.  Is there an audience for an opposing viewpoint?  YES!

We're seeing the growth of the opposing viewpoint on MSNBC.  They just hired Ed Schultz to host a new show at 6pm weeknights.   On the other hand, MSNBC has the right-wing ideologue Joe Scarborough on in the morning, and just renewed Chris Matthews for another four years (I really don't get him at all...).   

They're straddling a fence, but at least giving "our side" a voice.  That's more than I can say for radio where, since the election of President Obama, we've seen the number of "progressive talk" stations dwindle!  It doesn't make sense, unless you realize who controls the purse strings at these stations!

So, on today's Radio or Not Podcast, I take a walk down memory lane, and lament the loss of South Florida's Progressive Talk (even though they stopped using that phrase last year).  And I ask you a couple of questions:

- With the loss of South Florida's only progressive radio voice, would you like to see Radio or Not deal with local issues at least once a week?

-What do you want from Radio or Not?  More politics or more lifestyle/fun/pop culture?  Something else?

-How do you listen to Radio or Not?  Do you subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or download it from the website?  Do you put it on your iPod and listen in the car, or do you listen from your computer?

-Your comments, suggestions, thoughts, feedback about Radio or Not.

You can email me here, post your responses below in the comments section of the blog, or post on our message board.  Any or all of the above.

I do appreciate the extra effort it takes to listen to the Radio or Not Podcast.  I know that the day will come, in the not-too-distant future, when listening to a podcast in your car will be as easy as pushing a button.  Unfortunately, timing is not on our side in South Florida today, where at 6:00 this evening, the option of pushing a button and hearing someone who is politically in line with the people who run our country will be lost.  Somehow, that seems very un-American!

Hear today's Radio or Not podcast by clicking here (runtime 20:50)

The end of an era part 2

Today's episode of Radio or Not is nowhere near as serious as yesterday's and, for some, it may be of no interest whatsoever. But when I realized that tonight would bring us the final episode of ER after its 15 year run, I though it would be fun to take a look back at the medical TV shows that both preceded and followed ER.

So, click here for an audio tour of the genre... from Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare through Private Practice.

And if it's not your cup of tea, I'll be back tomorrow with another episode of Radio or Not!

Today's Radio or Not episode, the end of an era part 2, runs 33:34

It's the end of an era

Today's Radio or Not podcast is my goodbye to a friend, 940 WINZ, which will become "The Sports Animal" this Friday evening. Hear today's podcast by clicking here (runtime 19:26)

I've been waiting for the news for over a month now. We'd been hearing the rumors that the death of the only voice of reason on South Florida's airwaves was imminent, and the rumors had been confirmed to me by a number of people who would know. We were just waiting for the word that the cancer had metastasized.

Today, I heard the word in the most insensitive way possible. Click here to hear what came out of my speakers this morning instead of the local news, which appears to have disappeared entirely. Talk about adding insult to injury!

Of course, your first thought might be "April Fools!" Unfortunately, it's not a trick, but it is a bad, sad joke.

Come Friday evening, WINZ will be the 5th all-sports station in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale radio market, joining WQAM, 790 The Ticket, 640WFTL and 1400WFTL. In case you were wondering, WINZ out-performs all four of those stations in the ratings.

The parent company of the two WFTL stations also owns 850 WFTL. With a powerhouse signal, they show up in the ratings behind not only WINZ and WIOD, but behind WQAM and The Ticket as well. Perhaps one of those stations could be persuaded to give South Florida's progressive community a new home.

Just an idea.

Hear today's Radio or Not podcast by clicking here (runtime 19:26)

A Dick and a Disaster

Hear today's Radio or Not podcast by clicking here (runtime 26:57)

Before we get to the disaster, let me just say that Dick Cheney is, indeed, a Dick! Watch this segment from last night's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, just in case you needed proof!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Now about that disaster... Dick Cheney was one, as possibly the most dangerous VP in our history. But I'm talking about a disaster of nuclear proportions.

Yes, I'm talking about Three Mile Island. This weekend marked the 30th anniversary of the worst nuclear accident on US soil, and it was much worse than our government led you to believe.

Harvey Wasserman has been a frequent guest on this program. He was the man behind MUSE and the No Nukes concerts of the seventies, and has been an activist against nukes ever since. He wrote "People Died at Three Mile Island" for Huffington Post and freepress.org, and joined me today on Radio or Not.

Hear today's Radio or Not podcast by clicking here (runtime 26:57)

Legalize it!

Welcome to Monday.  After two weeks guest hosting the noon-3 slot on Air America Radio, I'm back to my regular Radio or Not home.  

When I returned from my trip to Los Angeles for Radio & Records magazine's Talk Radio Seminar, my mind was still filled with images of all the Medical Marijuana "Dispensaries" that have popped up around California in the year since I'd last visited.  One of my first guests during the two week stint on Air America was Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).  You can listen back to that interview by clicking here.

I truly had not planned to revisit the topic during the two weeks I had on Air America... until President Obama laughed off a question about the topic during his first-ever Online Town Hall Meeting on Thursday.  

See how he handled the most-asked/most-voted-for question for yourself:

With all due respect Mr. President, the "online audience" is comprised of the people who contributed heavily to your campaign and elected you president!

Seriously, I can play devil's advocate here and explain how this president has to play it straight, so to speak, in order to get his bigger priorities through.  But to laugh it off in this matter was wrong, on many levels.

Think about it... If the questions had been about legalizing heroin or cocaine, I don't believe his response would have been accompanied by laughter.  And to make it even more insulting, he didn't even treat the question as a legitimate one;  he threw it in as an aside saying that lots of people asked about it, but pooh-poohed it as something those stoners hitting on the bong while surfing the web put out there as a joke.

The fact it that we're serious.

On Friday, I contacted Jack Cole, Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP.cc),  and he joined me on my Air America show for an eye-opening interview.  After a 26-year career with the New Jersey State Police, twelve of them spent as an undercover narcotics officer, he formed this organization and advocates for the legalization of all drugs.  His reasoning is sound, and his facts and figures undeniable.  Hear our interview here.

After I had already booked Mr. Cole to come on the show, I read an article about legislation that had been quietly introduced by Sen. Jim Webb of VA, and backed by Sen. Arlen Specter, which has the potential to dramatically alter US drug laws.   The thrust of the legislation deals with our prison system, which Webb calls a "national disgrace" and proposes a blue ribbon panel to assess and offer concrete recommendations for its reform -- to "responsibly reduce the overall incarceration rate; improve federal and local responses to international and domestic gang violence; restructure our approach to drug policy; improve the treatment of mental illness; improve prison administration, and establish a system for reintegrating ex-offenders."

You can, and should, read Sen Webb's floor speech to introduce "The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of  2009" by clicking here .

I will likely produce a new podcast tomorrow, but for now, enjoy my interviews with NORML's Allen St. Pierre, and LEAP's Jack A. Cole by clicking on their respective links.

Great political sense, bad hair!

Today while speaking with Matt Taibbi on Air America Radio, I mentioned that Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota was one of only eight US Senators to vote against the bill that repealed the Glass-Steagle Act back in 1999, and went on to say that I was distracted when he appeared on Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC due to his bad comb-over.

Here's the video. See for yourself. But you might have to watch it twice...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Now that that's out of the way, have a listen to today's interview with Matt Taibbi by clicking here!  His piece in the current issue of Rolling Stone should be required reading for everyone.

Today was my final show in a two-week run on Air America.  I'm not sure what will come next, but if you haven't already done so, please sign up for my email list (to your right), so I can keep you informed.

Thanks for listening!!