Air America was going down with Franken at the helm, mailing it in until he could start running for Senate. They couldn't have picked a better man than Thom Hartmann. I'll start listening again. Oh and Air American, while you're overhauling, bring Stephanie Miller to New York's Air America.

by Russ Wellen (58 articles, 1029 quicklinks, 66 diaries, 335 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 30, 2007 at 6:02:39 AM

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I will never forget the day I discovered Thom Hartmann. I was exploring iTunes after downloading it to my computer in the early summer of 2005. As I scrolled through the talk radio selections, I saw "Radio Power - Talk Radio for the Progressive Mind". I fired up the player and there was this voice - using common sense, quoting the Constitution, recounting actual history to make coherent points, and doing it all in a very matter-of-fact, conversational style. "This is exactly what we need," I thought to myself. Thom Hartmann will make Rush Limbaugh look even more like the pompous partisan fool he really is. I hope all the Rabid Righties of the talk realm have their resumes up to date. Something tells me a lot of them will be looking for work before too long. Congratulations Thom, and thanks so much for the inspiration this old rock radio guy has to get behind a talk microphone.

by John Perry (31 articles, 32 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 81 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 30, 2007 at 8:36:24 AM

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A great move for Air America Radio to have Thom Hartmann replace Al. Thom's books are well-researched, extremely informative and knowledgeable---I've read several (Last Days of Ancient Sunlight, etc.). I've enjoyed listening to his program when he's replaced Al here in L.A. on 1150 am, KTLA, and he does have highly intelligent and listeners who phone in. I will, however, miss Al Franken and the guests he has had on his program: Tom Oliphant, Joe Conason, and Melanie Sloan (from Crew). I think his service to our troops in Iraq (he's been there at least 7 times to entertain them) has been compassionate. He's shown his disgust at what has been happening to our democracy because of the current administration, which has reflected many of his listeners feelings. I love his sense of humor and his ability to call truthfully a "spade a spade" in a world of news-spin. He has a lot of young researchers for his programs and information, bringing young citizens into the political arena to help it stay alert and vigilant. Air America Radio has been a life-saver to many progressive and liberal citizens. Thank you, Al Franken, for your service to our democracy. And I wish you well on your probable run for the Senate from Minnesota. The Senate can well use your intelligent and zany humor, bringing truth and awareness to its often insulated bubble. And, Al, please maintain your integrity in seeking out the truth. Don't become over-politicized so that your message is tainted by the influence corporate and military-industrial complex power centers.

by Yogini (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 30, 2007 at 4:57:07 PM

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to AAR for making this wise decision. I have been an ardent listener to Thom Hartmann since his first day on the radio here in the Bay Area. He is knowledgeable, passionate, and people must think me nuts to see this loaded flatbed tractor trailer whizzing by with the nut behind the wheel applauding ..............give him a try folks, if you are lucky enough to get him on air or on streaming audio. PS, he has a website for those with java script...

by ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2377 comments) on Tuesday, Jan 30, 2007 at 7:25:37 PM

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This is GREAT news. As much as I like Al Franken, Thom Hartmann is better. Thom is, by far, the most intelligent, most articulate, "talker" on either side of the radio dial. AAR listeners are in for a real treat.

by Krashkopf (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments) on Wednesday, Jan 31, 2007 at 11:01:49 AM

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I'm thrilled. Thom is a breath of fresh air.

by Amy Fried (45 articles, 127 quicklinks, 77 diaries, 247 comments) on Wednesday, Jan 31, 2007 at 4:36:19 PM

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I am not sold on Thom Hartmann as effective to the progressive cause. Let's say the progressive cause is nuclear disarmament, all disarmament, and the defunding of militarization, and the redirecting of funds to social betterment, unity, establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, promoting the populace welfare, mutual defense, and passing along to future times a heritage of prosperity, just off-hand. I'm not sure Thom is down with that. Let's say the progressive cause includes abolishing the CIA. I'm not sure Thom is down with that, or airs promoting it. Let's say the progressive cause is NOT the Democratic Party's infrastructure. I'm not sure Thom is down with that. Let's say the progressive cause leads on to wider understanding and practice of socialist manners and methods, (as developed in my Comment here), and that true people's radio (or TV) broadcast is commercial-void, listener-supported, like, you know, public access public broadcasting ... I'm not sure Thom is down with that ... having his salary a matter of public oversight. He seems happy making the big bucks, and is along for the cause up to a point -- the point where income is redistributed. Hartmann seems not much more than a leftwing-lite gatekeeper. Sounds lefty, seems lefty, but not personally going activist beyond the capitalist middle. Sure, that's refreshing -- hearing lefty sounds -- but ultimately ineffectual and in the meantime between now and ultimately, keeps the audience from addressing actual radical reform in a revolutionary scope. It's difficult to include all the experiences I have had with him which combine to give me qualms about his positioning. In my opinion, he seems like a CIA-type 'plant' in the left milieu, always urging 'holding back' and 'moderation in political practicality,' which insures nothing authentically left-going is ever accomplished. It is difficult to enumerate all the experiences which inform my opinion. He came -- out of the blue -- to Portland, from a pat set-up in Vermont (NH ?) where he had done a syndicated talk program for a few years, out of his in-home radio studio. He has done the 6am - 9am 'drive time' Portland-only program, and then in the afternoon his national syndicated program, (double-duty ... hey, give someone else a turn, how come it all has to be Thom's calm corral keeping leftism back from doing anything really effecting change?), since about March 2005. I don't know if he is going to keep the Portland-only programming. You can listen live HERE, 6 - 9, PT. He entertains points of view but champions none. Except civil debate and democratic vote, as long as he can limit the agenda for the debate and vote. No conclusiveness on Nine-Eleven Op. No conclusiveness on Impeachment first, Iraq withdrawal to follow as a consequence. No conclusiveness on illegitimacy of FLA 2000 and Ohio 2004, and all enactments being illegitimate successive to those fraudulent ballot counts -- the PATRIOT Act is unconstitutional and can be ignored, need not be obeyed, by citizens. Come on, get real, and make the law mean the law, whereas fraudulent elections mean nothing is law. Congress bring articles of Supreme Court impeachments. He co-authors a new book, ten years in process, on the JFK assassination, which concludes Oswald was a lone gunman. No conclusiveness on Earth's oil is used up in the very near future, (say, 5 years), and is the MOST SERIOUS political discourse of our time, and MOST needs broadcasting consciousness-raising of it. Any point may be discussed, but he seems to stifle or sidetrack -- "thanks for listening, caller, we got to go to a break, now" -- before anyone can conclude anything that might set commitment enough to change anyone's behavior and affect everyone's life. His uppermost commitment seems to be pandering to whatever lipservice helps the sales dept. sell more commercials. Screw corporate-sponsored broadcasting: go social-conscious publicly supported broadcast. (Compare Portland's venerable REAL People's Radio, which lost audience to Hartmann at first and now is getting it back.) Hartmann simply does not seem radical enough, conclusively convinced and convincing enough, to ever actually make a difference in the world. Like lefty chewing gum for the brain. No nutritional nurturing value, but keeps synapses busy from thinking creatively toward overthrowing and redesigning the political system. Now, I level almost all the same criticisms at Al Franken, who I've spoken with, too, about it. And at Randi Rhodes -- oh, she has vitriol in her rants, but, somehow, I just don't see her standing her body in the breach confronting and stopping a column of tanks. Celebrity-ness means never having to say give me liberty or give me death. And I think my criticism of 'too soft, ineffective,' has been born out by the tepid ratings and unimpressive penetration into America's political consciousness. That, plus AAR fighting off bankruptcy. I realize the rightist fascism has moved heaven and hell to sabotage AAR and steal all media oxygen not dittoheaded propagandizing. But when they / we / you get a slot for some airtime, if the content does not change people's understanding and behavior, and not cause every corporate commercial sponsor to cancel its ads in a panic of having its private wealth redistributed, then they / we / you are not saying anything that is ever going to make a difference toward saving humankind from enslavement under capitalist totalitarianism. I'll suspend judgement of Thom, for now, and just caution everyone to not get our hopes up for much more than what Franken achieved. Now, standing for election as US Senator, that makes a difference. Hartmann should, too.

by meremark (1 articles, 3 quicklinks, 30 diaries, 572 comments [22 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Feb 1, 2007 at 1:39:59 AM

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Read some of Hartmann's books to find out who he is. Unlike every other talk radio host on the left, Hartmann has written a slew of books that actually tell a lot about who he is. Check out Screwed, We The People, Unequal Protection, What Would Jefferson Do? and then, read the 100 articles we've published by Hartmann on this site. You'll have a lot of your questions answered. And what the hell do you know about how much Hartmann is paid? I know he struggled for years, doing his show on his own, paying for satellite time, staffing, etc., before he started as an alternate with Air America. And even now that he's taking over for Franken, you have NO idea what he's being paid.

by Rob Kall (952 articles, 4177 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Saturday, Feb 3, 2007 at 11:23:30 AM

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