Bunker Mulligan "Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

One of my regular readers here in Corpus Christi informed me that Air America is now on our radio dial. So, I listened for a bit today. Well, when I got the chance.

For a little while at work I heard some of Al Franken’s show. He had a segment about dittoheads, which is apparently a regular feature, where he plays a clip from Rush’s show, and has a conservative friend comment. All I got to hear was Rush saying something about the Democrats being the party of slavery and segregation. Al’s co-host was quick on the draw: “That’s a snapshot in time!” I didn’t get to hear the remainder of the segment to see how it all played out.

On the way home I listened to Randi Rhodes. Well, during my twenty minute trip she gabbed and played a clip of Hannity and Colmes which she previewed with, “Listen how Hannity pauses so you can hear the protesters behind him chanting. Either they are really close or Fox News put microphones on them!” Well, they were probably close, but certainly not wired. And Hannity never paused for us to hear them during the clip she ran.

I’ll try to listen again sometime. It was all really pretty boring. Even tedious. No wonder Air America doesn’t do well. Rhodes, in particular, repeats herself, and what she says becomes a litany. Beyond that, most of what I heard today were commercials. A lot of them. New York City commercials. I certainly intend to run right down and sign up with the natural gas company in New York!

Capt Trevett has them all pegged.

Received the latest edition of Texas Monthly today, opened it up and saw That Blog Won’t Hunt. My first read of the issue.

Over the years, Dan Rather, the subject of Gary Cartwright’s cover story (Dan Rather Retorting), has withstood the criticism of presidents, members of Congress, and fellow journalists. But when CBS aired his 60 Minutes Wednesday report on young George W. Bush’s career in the Texas Air National Guard last September, Rather found himself assailed, and ultimately brought down, by an entirely different group of critics—the bloggers, anonymous commentators on current events with pseudonyms like “Hindrocket” and few, if any, media credentials, except access to the world’s biggest printing press: the Internet. Even while the 60 Minutes report was still being aired, bloggers were already attacking the authenticity of the documents on which it was based. As everybody knows, the bloggers were right and CBS was wrong.

Anonymous commentators? Well, Bunker Mulligan is the name of this site. My name is easy enough to determine if you care to know. I kept my moniker because my boys were, and will again be in dangerous places. No need to provide free intel about them. I’d hardly consider Hindrocket anonymous. Actually, his name is probably far better known than Paul Burka’s, the author of this piece.

Paul Burka joined the staff of TEXAS MONTHLY one year after the magazine’s founding. A lifelong Texan, he was born in Galveston, graduated from Rice University with a B.A. in history, and received a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.

Excuse me, Paul. I didn’t see any “media credentials” listed there except that you became a member of the staff. Does the janitor have media credentials, too? Sounds like your credentials and John Hinderaker’s are similar.

I like Texas Monthly. It’s similar to The New Yorker, only better. And geared toward the high-dollar folk in Houston and Dallas. They do throw a few bones our direction on occasion.

For those of you outside the Lone Star State, register and take a trial view. The access code this month is the name of a Texas city mentioned in the last paragraph. You’ll get a chance to read the last article before the next election by my candidate for governor, Kinky Friedman.

Patterico has a thought for those in the media who disparage the blogosphere:

I have a very simple suggestion for mainstream media types who feel in any way threatened by bloggers: whenever you hear the word “blogger,” think: “reader.”

Yes, we are readers. Customers, if you will.

I read a lot. I have subscriptions. I pad site traffic on those sites–both subscription and gratis. That helps increase ad revenue.

The difference is that I can comment on my site about something on their sites. They don’t like it. They want a fanfest, I guess.

I once visited a site dedicated to David Arquette to find out who he was. I think he is a terrible actor, and couldn’t understand why anyone thought otherwise. Others who visited that site felt the same, and said so. One frustrated fan responded, “If you don’t like him, don’t comment. This is a place for people who like him to come talk about how good he is.”

I assume that’s why traditional media don’t care much for bloggers. And that’s a shame.