"Last of a Dying Breed!"

December 16, 2005 saw the last broadcast of "The Howard Stern Show" on terrestrial radio. Simultaneously, my favorite morning show "Morning Sedition," broadcasted on the Air America Radio Network, aired it's last first-run show. With the passing of these cutting edge, satirical, brilliantly written counter-culture programs comes an end to free speech on broadcast radio. Of course other Air America staples such as "The Randi Rhodes Show," "The Majority Report" and "The Mike Malloy Show" will continue. But as much as I love these three shows, "Morning Sedition" stood out even amongst all liberal forums for its humor, satire and ability to laugh at its own liberal listener-ship. Similarly and for decades before, "The Howard Stern" show has delivered humor and satire aimed at its own infamous host and crew and fringe audience.

What is it about shows that not only poke fun at society, politics and organized beliefs but also poke fun at themselves that the powers-that-be find so threatening?

Satirists and humorists have been the target of governments since...well, I guess the first jesters were hired to parody the first monarchs in Europe. In those early days before their was mass communication, the ruling elite didn't seem too concerned with "fools" saying "foolish" things about them. In fact, the more the ruling elite allowed themselves to be poked fun at the more the people laughed with them and not at them. With the invention of the printing press and the production of news periodicals, cartoons began to appear which were sometimes vicious assaults on the ruling elite. And America was unique because it was the one country where commentators could cleverly assault the machinations of the powerful without fear of retaliation.

When did this end?

It appears with the invention of mass communication via the radio and television that this ability for the ruling elite to laugh at itself ended. Perhaps because, suddenly, the public had the power to see the truth in their agenda once kept behind locked doors. There is no doubt that Chevy Chase's portrayal of a bumbling President Gerald Ford on "Saturday Night Live" in 1976 had an impact on his lossing the presidential election to Jimmy Carter. And prior to Chase, the stand-up Lenny Bruce attacked the government nightly tearing away the shroud of mystery and spilling the guts of truth out on the stage. But surely it was after the Watergate investigation revealed the truly evil nature of the U.S. government the public finally realized..."Holy shit, it isn't just a joke! These bastards really are incompetent!"

Although Howard Stern will begin to broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio beginning January 2006 and "Morning Sedition" co-host Mark Riley will have two hours in the morning preceding Rachael Maddow, who is herself the survivor of the equally biting "Unfiltered" on Air America, who will also have a two hour program, former "Morning Sedition" co-host Marc Maron has a less certain future. Maron has told his auidence he is in negotiations with the same Air America brass who canned his show to create another show likely to air on the weekends or in the evenings from Los Angeles. I hope it happens, because I have become a huge fan of Marc Maron.

I knew almost nothing about Marc Maron before "Morning Sedition." I had seen his one Comedy Central special and thought him an honest, hysterical and unapologitic comic. He had absolutely no experience in radio prior to "Morning Sedition," and in the early days showed, but I began listening to Air America on its first day and I heard the maturation of this brilliant social and political comic. I have also heard the changes in Air America Radio. Like all businesses it went from being a unique experiment in truly liberal talk radio into a business for the sake of making money. As a result, it has killed off it's two most unique shows in favor of less dangerous hosts. Again, I'm not trying to put down any talent still on Air America, as talent has no control over executives, but it disappoints liberal like me who have seen the Democratic Party, in a similar fashion, go from being a representative for the minority voice in this country in favor of pandering to the powers-that-be.

It was Howard Stern in his farewell speech to broadcast radio who put it best. He called himself, his crew and his audience, the last of a dying breed. Howard's right. The fearless voice of truth, humor and criticism is a dying. There is satellite, which at least for now uncensored, but it costs money. There is no longer an truly free outlet for representation of unabashed honesty about the powers-that-be. I hope that Air America Radio will secure a contract with Marc Maron and give him another show. If not, I hope Maron will go the route of Howard Stern and find a vehicle on satellite radio. Whatever the outcome, I believe that a time will come, again, when freedom of speech is not only allowed but encouraged in the mainstream media.

Until then, keep looking to the underground for truth.