While any rational minded person would agree with Mr. Malloy, I found his schtick to be third rate Rush Limbaugh. I think I even nodded off at parts. It just goes to confirm that Air America didn't fail because of liberal disinterest in radio, it failed because it wasn't very engaging or interesting. Hmmmm...if the bar is this low, maybe I can get a show on AA.
 

Well isn't that special.
 

Was that just a cliche' touche'?
 

As an additional piece of irony related to the posted story, I noticed while suffering through Tom Hanks jarringly bland rendition of the Davinci Code that in the opening moments of the movie the Peace Symbol is equated with Pagan worship. It happens during one of Langdon's oh so clever look it's a pitch fork, no it's triton's fork visuals. With the post fresh in my mind, it occurred to me that the simpletons of the homeowner's association may have gotten their lesson in "symbology" from what they could conceivably regard as celluloid heresy. I know it's a reach, but oh.....the irony.
 

Well in the interest of nonpartisan full-disclosure (a momentary lapse, I hope), I did some digging and discovered that the "peace sign" does indeed have a bit of history where the occult is concerned. Most significantly, it closely resembles the "crow's foot" rune of the Teutonic/Germanic system. Here is an amusing, paranoia-filled page that will leave you head spinning. For less tinfoil hat analysis, the Wikipedia page provides a lot of background. The symbol, it turns out, was designed as the specific logo of a British pro-nuclear-disarament group (for which a "rune of death" might make sense?) back in the fifties.

So, actually, yeah, if you were a Pagosa Springs homeowner's association member with a deep interest in the occult and were cracked enough to believe all of the hoodoo stuff about the symbol being pro-death instead of anti-war. . . I guess it's not as much of a stretch as I previously thought!

The point (and Robert Langdon, indeed probably the most personality-less bestselling character of all time, makes this point in the book and the movie) is that symbols can mean whatever you want them to. Look at the pentagram, probably the most common symbol in our media-saturated world. When it appears in outline only, it is linked to pagan worship/Wicca, where it is used in rituals of banishing and protection. Upside-down, it's the star of Satanism. There are fifty of them in our flag, one for each state. A solid red one means, alternatively and among other things, socialism, Heineken, or Macy's! The intent, of course, is the point. The swastika was originally an ancient Hindu symbol of life. . .

As for Mike Malloy, he is grating, often shrill, and barely in control of his emotions. And that's why I find him particularly refreshing. Maybe "cathartic" is a better word. But I know he doesn't exactly "connect" with a lot of people. I think I subject Liz to about as much of his nightly yelling and screaming as she can take. But you seem awfully eager to judge him based on a 4-minute clip, and also to eulogize Air America, which, by the way, hasn't failed. Its shows don't pull in anything close to the ratings of the conservative talk idiot brigade, but it's going strong, despite a little bit of "debt restructuring." WMLB in Atlanta, fyi. :) And speaking of the idiot brigade, I'm not sure what your comparison to he-who-shall-not-be-named is meant to accomplish. The Fat One calls for the murder of Middle-Eastern children and he makes very good money telling gratifying, nationalistic ego-massaging lies to his millions of dittoheads. (Not to mention the hillbilly heroin or the viagra-thons to countries with lax age-of-consent laws, but that's really his business.) And I'm not sure what you mean by "schtick," because frankly this type of programming isn't supposed to be entertainment. Actually, some of the liberal talkers are quite polished and media-groomed. But Malloy is decidedly unpolished and that's one of the reasons I like him. He's a pretty ordinary guy who simply says things on the air which are true, probably important, and for some reason are not said anywhere else (!) in the mainstream media. He loses his cool, a lot. He gets angry. But I submit to everyone whose feathers are ruffled by a middle-class, Toledo-born Irishman with a temper (who's lived in Atlanta for more than thirty years) that some things are worth getting angry about. Like when your government sows wanton death and destruction in other countries in the name of protecting your freedom. Talk radio can play a valuable role in the public forum, even when it's just a place for disillusioned people with a conscience to vent.

And hey, I'll listen to your radio show, but first I think you need to formulate a coherent political point-of-view. Which, by the way, I'm still waiting for. . . ;)
 

Jesus, Allah and Vishnu! Where to begin? Last time I commented on this site I was thanked for my participation, now that I pander a little to the red state mentality (for entertainment purposes) I receive a three page paddling.

Re: Malloy - Your counter argument has is misguided. I did not criticize his content, I criticized his delivery. I imagine that the content of his show has much more merit than our pill popping fat buddy in Florida. I've since listened to more of his show online and found that my opinion remains consistent. He just doesn't bitch and moan as proficiently or entertainingly as the Rep. radio crew. I had hoped he might based on your strong recomendation, as I like listening to all sides of the story. As for "my radio show," I don't have one. At the end of the day, this crap is all spin and narcissism and if you can't take it as entertainment, you shouldn't take it at all. It's sort of like finding your faith by watching Mel Gibson's Passion (I'm looking forward to the sequel where they introduce Leather Face).

As for the peace symbol, I was previously aware of its ocult upbringings. Among other things, it looks like an inverted cross. The humor I was drawing from the situation is that based on all available information, the good people of Pagosa Springs come off as a little...erm...provincial. As such, I felt like they probably needed to be informed by an outside source about the ocult nature of of the wreath. The only reference in pop culture I've encountered lately is the Davinci Code. It cracked me up to suppose that they got the idea from that film since they probably protested it. I like a little hypocrasy in my news, it keeps me laughing through the day.

As for all the ATL referencing, I suspect there may be a Republican or two in California as Ahnold is your governor. So we'll just agree that outspoken people can come from a variety of sunny, warm environments.

I'll resume my homework, since you threw it in my face. Still smarting from the coherence comment, but maybe you were just listening to Malloy while I was talking.