MoveOn.Org Message & Al Franken Contest

Al Franken and others are launching a major new progressive radio network this week. It's a big and exciting development, so before we get to a message from him, we want to share the details. If you're in LA, Portland, New York, or Chicago, you'll be able to hear Air America programming starting this minute. (The station codes are at the bottom of this email.) And the daily lineup is pretty juicy: three hours of Al Franken on "The O'Franken Factor," plus Janeane Garofalo, Chuck D, Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the weekends. Air America's got big plans for expansion, but for now if you're not in one of those areas, you can listen in on the web at: http://www.airamericaradio.com

One of the big aims of this new radio network is to counter the claims of right-wing politicians and media figures. When a major right-wing figure says something misleading or something so full of holes it can only be described as dumb, Al Franken and other Air America hosts will call them out on it. A great example is Donald Rumsfeld claiming that he never used the phrase "immediate threat" to describe Iraq -- and then getting caught on national television. That footage is online at: http://www.moveon.org/censure/caughtonvideo/

We can help them out. We're teaming up with Franken on a contest to find the stupidest or most clearly false (or preferably both) statement by a major right-wing figure or Bush administration official. Over the next week, any stupid or misleading comment you hear on the radio or see on TV is fair game as an entry. If your comment is selected by Al Franken as the winner, you'll receive a personalized and autographed copy of Al Franken's book "Lies and the Lying Liars that Tell Them," and you'll be recognized on-air. You can read the complete rules and submit as many quotes as you like at: http://www.moveon.org/franken/

But enough details. Here's Al:

"It's my honor to team up with MoveOn.org, which I am told has made use of the Internet to great effect. While I myself do not have an Internet, my son does, and he says you guys are terrific. Here's the deal. My job is rhetorical jiu-jitsu: I take the words of right-wing jerks, and I use those words to heap scorn and ridicule upon them. It's what I do. And I need your help. These guys say so many stupid and dishonest things every day that no one man possibly can sift through all of them. I need you to be my eyes and ears, so that no right-wing ideologue can ever again safely traffic in distortion and calumny. Yea, I say unto thee. Let the flaming sword of justice rain down blows upon them, that they may rue the day when this contest was announced. The future of our nation rests in your hands. Good luck! Al Franken

You can hear Air America on the air at:

New York, NY: WLIB (AM 1190)
Chicago, IL: WNTD (AM 950)
Los Angeles, CA: KBLA (AM 1580)
Portland, OR: KPOJ (AM 620)
Inland Empire, CA: KCAA (AM 1050)
Minneapolis, MN: WMNN (AM 1330)
San Francisco: TBA (SF call letters will be announced 4/7 and the station will begin broadcasting 4/15)
XM Satellite Radio: Channel 167