Liberal radio network Air America kicked off yesterday with Al Franken’s show, “The O’Franken Factor,” and reviews are about what one might expect. Jeff A. Taylor at Reason’s “Hit and Run” blog calls it “beyond parody,” while Kos is in love with host Randi Rhodes, on after Franken, whose interview with Ralph Nader ended when Nader hung up on her. The general take across the ‘sphere? It’s not bad, but it ain’t quite ready for prime time.
Bloggers are also having fun with John Kerry’s MTV interview, where Kerry talked about the importance of rap and called it a “reflection of life.” “John Kerry might be the only old school rapper,” says Tim Blair, “whose old school is in Switzerland.”
Billmon highlights a Reuters piece that breaks down the Bush reelection team’s furious fundraising pace. “Bush has been raking in money at a rate of $4.1 million per week, $601,048 per day, $25,043 per hour or $417.40 per minute,” says Reuters. “This is definitely,” says a cynical billmon, “going to be the best election money can buy.”
Satire watch: Instapundit suggests a caption for this Associated Press photo, in which Teresa Heinz Kerry appears to be carrying her marionette-like husband: “Hey, these Kerry mannequins aren’t that heavy!” And check out this picture from the Low Culture blog, featuring an inspiring (and Photoshop’ed) photo of the president standing in front of the stars and stripes and directly below the tagline: “Making Flags BIGGER in 2004.”
The blog “Busy, busy, busy” goes after David Brooks and George Will for “attempting to convey the impression that even before 9/11, the Bush team poured massive additional resources into battling al Qaeda.” Well, are they lying? “Not outright. These guys are sharp — they never forget to pack the plausible deniability … They don’t lie. But they don’t exhibit much adherence to the truth, either.” Meanwhile, the folks at “What Liberal Media” attack MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, claiming that he “not only glosses over (or ignores) questioning Clarke’s role in the failures of the Clinton administration to nail Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, but engages in outrageous leading of [Richard] Clarke into answers that he … wants.”
And Wonkette! posts stills of the extraordinarily bored teenager who stood behind President Bush during a recent speech in Florida — the kid who’s gotten a lot of attention lately from Letterman, CNN, and (possibly) the White House. Campaign Desk has also come across a stirring exposé of Ana Marie Cox, a.k.a. Wonkette!, who, it turns out, is not “an 18-year-old library scientist,” as the picture on her website suggests. We feel so misled. Turns out she’s actually this guy.
–Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is a writer at CJR Daily.