Well, we'll just see - or hear

Air America Radio is a startup venture promising a liberal alternative to rightwing talk radio.

The rollout for the network is March 31. It will only be in four markets initially, but they are large ones with potentially enough liberal or at least fed-up-with-Limbaugh-types moderates to make the thing worthwhile: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.

The marquee name is Al Franken, who intends to call his three-hour show The O'Franken Factor.

Whether or not this thing will fly depends on a lot of business factors, obviously. And it's unlikely that a boatload of corporate advertisers are going to be knocking down their doors. However, one hopeful sign is that they've avoided the major mistake previous attempts at liberal talk radio have made: going for the big liberal names rather than people with experience in radio. The result for the most part was bor-ing.

But these people seem to have on-air ability more firmly in mind. Even Franken, while not a radio personality, is an entertainer with a sense of pacing and structure - and is being cohosted (as are the other non-radio people, such as Janeane Garofalo) by an experienced radio person.

One thing to realize is that this is a liberal network - not a radical one, not even a progressive one. What it seems to lack is what such efforts always seem to lack: a firebreather. I'm a big believer in the idea that the left needs it's own flamethrowers, who attack - even go over the top in attacking - but never look back and never back down. On the right, Ann Coulter admits that's exactly what she is.

(Sidebar: It's a telling demonstration of how much the right wing is composed of immature bullies that when they get hit with half of what they dish out they squeal like stuck pigs and mewl their crybaby whines about how "unfair" it is. I've said it many times before but it bears repeating: What sends reactionaries into paroxysms of anguished phony outrage faster than anything else is other people being willing to play by the rules they set down.)

Even so, it still should be worth a listen. If you're not in one of the cities named, the shows are supposed to be available via streaming audio at airamericaradio.com after the 31st.