Liberal radio not there yet

The LA Weekly's John Powers gives Air America a try and says liberal talk radio has some growing pains to get through.

Air America has a long way to go. Although its opening days boasted a few amusing moments � Al Franken claimed to be broadcasting from an underground bunker 3,500 feet below Dick Cheney�s � the first programs only made The Daily Show shine brighter. Majority Report�s sharp Janeane Garofalo appeared subdued by seriousness, and when the surprisingly dull Chuck D interviewed Spike Lee, I kept thinking that the perpetually pissed-off filmmaker was the one who ought to be hosting � attitude is one thing Spike�s got 40 acres of. The network�s flagship, Franken, is a smart, funny, decent man, whose Stuart Saves His Family remains an unappreciated gem. But he has trouble knowing when to kiss a joke goodbye � remember his old SNL bit about �me, Al Franken�? � and The O�Franken Factor keeps belaboring his spat with Bill O�Reilly, who many of his listeners have probably never watched...

While most of the left listened to the shows with dawning, er, yawning horror � some of us secretly thinking we would have made far better hosts � we were still willing to cut Air America some slack. The first few weeks were bound to be rocky...Where Air America seeks its liberal audience through a Field of Dreams scenario � if you broadcast it, they will come � it took years of an organic process to produce today�s conservative talk radio.

Also in the Weekly: David Corn on the questions that should be asked about two of the hijackers who crashed Flight 77 into the Pentagon.