Vote for the top liberal talk show host of 2009

Like you, I love listening to liberal talk radio, when I can find it, but who are the best liberal talkers? The blog LTR: The Alternative Media Resource, is again running its annual contest to pick the top 10 liberal talk radio hosts.

The contest is pretty simple. Just go to the blog, and pick your top 10 from the list provided. The polls are open now until midnight on Christmas Eve. The results will be announced on the blog on January 1, 2010. So vote today.

Last year’s winner was Mike Malloy, followed very closely by Air America host Sam Seder and –one of my favorites – Thom Hartmann. In the early voting MSNBC and Air America host Rachel Maddow has an early big lead at 63 percent. She finished fifth last year. My favorite, Stephanie Miller, finished fourth last year, but is in sixth to date with a respectable 25 percent of the vote.

If nothing else, you will discover a great blog that does an excellent job of covering liberal talk, and it has links so you can listen to a wide variety of liberal and progressive hosts. Unfortunately, that’s the only way many of us can find quality talk radio.

Here in Michigan we live in a state that has been blue since 1992, but for some unknown reason there is only one station in mid- and Southeast Michigan that carries liberal and progressive talk on a regular basis.

We already know conservative hatemongers enjoy an unfair monopoly on talk radio, thanks, primarily, to media consolidation that has five mega companies owning almost off the 257 talk radio stations in the country. There are 10 hours of conservative talk for every one hour liberal talk. That’s not only unacceptable, but it makes no sense.

Rachel Maddow continues to expose who is really behind the hijacking of townhall meetings

MSNBC host and Rhodes Scholar Rachel Maddow has been blowing the lid off the attempts by rightwing lobbying groups and think tanks to shut down townhall meetings hosted by Democratic members of Congress with some hard-hitting shows the last couple of days.

Right-wingers have been attending townhall meetings to shout down Democratic members of Congress so they cannot answer legitimate questions from constituents, and it has been organized and scripted to look like a grassroots effort, just like the fake Astroturf “tea parties.” In fact, it's the same players. These are professional, highly paid lobbyists stirring up the supporters with false rhetoric, and it includes instructions and scripts on how to hijack the meetings and stop the truth from getting out.

The primary focus of the thugs is health care where the insurance lobby is spending $1.4 million a day to stop real reform as 50 million Americans go without access to quality health care.

On Wednesday night, Maddow reported on a web site called “Recess Rally.com” that is supposed to give you the info on all the townhalls around the country so they can be hijacked by thugs. I have been unable to get on the web site, so hopefully, the publicity sent the snakes back under their rocks.

The false claim is that these "spontaneous” protests are grassroots efforts by regular Americans, and they are non-partisan. It’s true they may be regular Americans, but it is extremely partisan and highly organized by rightwing lobbyists. Maddow listed the supporters of “Recess Rally” on Wednesday, and they include the Republican movers and shakers in Washington and former Bush operatives; even the person behind the anti-troop smear boat veterans.

The right-wingers are pulling out all the stops to combat needed health care reform, and Maddow talks about one in the show. She explains how both Democrats and Republicans supported living wills and end of life decisions for more than 20 without controversy, but now it’s somehow government assisted suicide.

The Right wing PAC “Club for Growth” – you will remember them from when they flooded extremist right-winger Tim Walberg with money in the U.S. Congressional race in 2006 – is running adds pushing that false and ridiculous claim that the health care plan will kill grandma and grandpa.

There are already plans to disrupt and hijack townhall meetings in Michigan, including tonight’s townhall hosted by U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, at 6 p.m. at the Romulus Athletic Center, 35765 Northline Road in Romulus.

Get there early.

A shameless plug for my favorite national radio show

For those of us who enjoy our political commentary mixed with comedy, parody and humor we will get a treat next week by being able to see as well as hear the “Stephanie Miller Show” on MSNBC.

The show can be heard from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday on the radio at its regular time, but beginning Monday, April 30 the show can also be seen where the former Don Imus show aired. The show will be seen from 6-9 a.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week. Producers are not saying whether this is a full-time stint, if it’s just for the week or if it’s just a fill in for the rightwing hack that’s filling the slot now. The show will air on the radio at its regular time during the TV stint.

The biggest difference, in my opinion, between liberals and conservatives is conservatives are somewhat lacking in a sense of humor. This show proves it, and there is nothing on the right that is close to this. By the way, what ever happened to that fake news show on Faux News that was supposed to be the right wings answer to the “Daily Show with John Stewart?”

It may be a shameless plug, but I highly recommend this show. If you can’t watch the program listen on AM 1290 WLBY in Ann Arbor, AM 1310 WDTW out of Detroit or listen to the web cast.

If you have never heard the show before a quick listen will get you hooked.