Cleaning House at Air America

Mike Malloy has been fired from Air America radio.

This is what he has to say on his website (http://www.mikemalloy.com/):

"There will be no Mike Malloy program on Air America Radio as we have been terminated as of 8/30/06. We are as shocked as you are, especially since as recently as last Tuesday we were told we had the go-ahead to announce our return to NY airwaves and that our contract was "on the way."We are told its a financial decision. Here's the phone number to call: 212-871-8290 or email to: comments@airamericaradio.com. More details to follow as we hear them ourselves. Members of the press can contact malloyproducer@aol.com to schedule interviews."

There has been a lot of talk as to why Malloy was let go by Air America. He apparently had on an adept of Lyndon Larouche who made statements that were not rebutted by the host that were considered to be over the line. People have said that he was too critical of Israel (and in particular its incursion into Lebanon) for the powers that be at Air America.

What do I think? Well, I've listened to Mike Malloy off and on since Air America came on the air, and I do have an opinion on the matter.

Air America made the right call.

Whenever I've listened to Mike Malloy I've been profoundly uncomfortable with his brand of fire-breathing rhetoric. At times he comes close to sounding like a left-wing Ann Coulter in masculine drag. Do we really need that? Is a left-wing hate monger somehow better than a right-wing hate monger?

Progressives are at a crossroads. It certainly looks like the Democrats are about to recapture the House and possibly even the Senate. It's time to think positively and try to turn this country around. A scalpel is needed, not a bludgeon.

So I'm in agreement with the management of Air America, except that not only would I have taken Malloy off the air, I wouldn't have hired him in the first place. It's ridiculous that someone like Stephanie Miller, one of the smartest, savviest people in radio, is not on Air America. With any luck this might give the management at Air America the ability to put her on their network.

And while they're at it, they might want to rethink Jerry Springer as well.

Tom Moran