Air America Complaint Department [Air America founder blasts Dem "elites" and Hollywood "phonies"]

Liberal site | Aug 25, 2006 | Sheldon Drobny

[summer]

Sheldon's new book, blasting "elites" and "phonies" in Dem Party who were too cheap to help start Air America

Believe it or not, I am not trying to offend anyone with my posts.

... many criticisms have been directed at me for the “problems” that Air America has had during its “birth pangs.” Almost 5 years ago I started the Air America project and invested over $3 Million on the start of a liberal radio network. In fact, Arianna invited me to her house in November, 2002 to present some of my ideas with a group of Hollywood elites trying to save Salon.com. At the time, I was a big donor to the Democratic Party and had personal contacts with Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as Al and Tipper Gore. They opened the door for me to meet with everyone on both coasts to try to raise some follow-on money for our project.

We had hundreds of meetings with the kind of people and organizations that collectively were worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Not a single one made an investment with us although many promises were made. The reason that happened is something I wrote about in my book, Road To Air America. I also had introductions to public and union pension funds with promises made to me that never came to pass. The reason was simple. I was not a part of any inner circle in the political or entertainment world. The cronyism is so horrible in the Democratic elite that they have no time for new faces or new ideas. So they continually talk to the same people over and over again with the same result. Nothing ever happens.

My new book is scheduled to be published in the fall and is pictured in this article. My last book was tame in comparison to my new book. The details will be much more informative to the people who look up to these power elites. You will all be shocked at the cronyism and incompetence in that world. Because of the lack of financial support we were obligated to turn over the project to another group that was totally responsible for the early problems of AAR. When we came back to help save AAR, I was the first to give almost $800,000 to save what I thought was a worthwhile project. While there have been substantial investments in AAR since that time, without my business skills and financial contribution in the summer of 2004, AAR would have been out of business.

The money that I put up for AAR was all that I could afford. I am not a mega millionaire nor do I need any handouts from the phonies in the elite to survive. I am doing fine in my business. I was misguided in the belief that these people really cared enough to support a noble project. AAR is going to be successful despite its shortcomings. I am no longer a part of management nor do I have anything to do with programming. I agree with many of the criticisms of AAR, but I am only a minority owner. As a result, my wife and I started a company to acquire radio stations to support the liberal talk format. We have stations in Phoenix and Little Rock and we saved Air America in Phoenix after a Christian radio company bought the AAR affiliate in Phoenix. With the help of the community and our resources, we paid $500,000 to get AAR back on the air in Phoenix. We handle our own programming in Phoenix and Little Rock and some of it is the best that Air America offers.

I do know how to run a business well and syndicated talk radio is not difficult. The program managers on most broadcast media are followers rather than leaders. They are not visionaries and generally look in the rear view mirror for programming ideas. If I were to have had control of AAR with the help of a little backing, things would be much different for AAR’s performance. I do think they are now going in the right direction and our radio company will do a lot to help the cause. The lack of financial support was a major disappointment for me and another example of the fact that “there is no good deed that goes unpunished.” I did not need to do AAR to make a livelihood. I did it because I was frightened about what was happening to our country.

As to Bill Maher and the other Hollywood phonies, please don’t count on them to help. They only care about themselves. It is interesting that shortly after I wrote my book about AAR, my publisher hired the finest PR firm to get some guest appearances for me. One of the firm’s contacts was to the Maher show. At that time, AAR was one of the biggest media stories in the country. And it was mostly positive and well supported. I watched with great interest that season the Ann Coulter premiere interview on the Maher show promoting her new book about how all liberals are insane perverts. That took precedence over a book about AAR, which could have helped publicize the network for the greater good. I did not write the book to make money and in fact I have spent close to $100,000 to get the AAR story publicized for the sake of some balance.

If anyone has any complaints about AAR, please direct them to the phonies in Hollywood and in broadcast journalism who grease each other’s palm instead of doing the right thing. Yes, I am angry with these people for their selfishness and disregard of the struggling constituency that they pretend to support. I actually was a true believer before this all happened. And for those of you who criticize me for my lack of tolerance of these crazy hateful people and their enablers, keep on watching these shows and make them all rich while your life goes down the drain.

Economics is a zero sum game. That is a fact and whatever share of the economic pot the wealthy elites have comes right out of your pocket. It is time for everyone to open up their windows and scream out, “I’m as mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore.”

[DaiHuy]

You said: "He sounds like a sane person. But he has some insane beliefs."

Yes Okie01, he is a Democrat after all.

[rock58seg]

Let's see... They have to pay the stations to put ERR America on the air, because they have no listeners, and consequently no sponsors.

He has had to do a vanity publishing act to get his book published.

He had to buy the station in Phoenix to keep a semblance of ERR america on the air.

Then he tells he is an intelligent businessman.

[Awgie]

"Economics is a zero sum game. That is a fact and whatever share of the economic pot the wealthy elites have comes right out of your pocket."

What an egg-head. I don't have a degree in econ or accounting, but it is totally obvious that "the economic pot" is not some "fixed and absolute" quantity. This is an absolutely horrible assumption that promotes a cascade of depressing conclusions, for example class envy and fatalism.

I would love to hear is defense of this position.

[LtKerst]

hm...he says nothing about the $ they stole from that kids' charity, does he?

Yes... This sounds alot like Ray Nagan's excuses for His Incompetance.

[LtKerst]

"which could have helped publicize the network for the greater good. I did not write the book to make money and in fact I have spent close to $100,000 to get the AAR story publicized for the sake of some balance."


A Leftist Excuse for Failure, is "Ballance" to What?

Al Frankin's Diatribe? Thats Like Castro is Ballance to
Karl Marx!!!!!

[LtKerst]

Air America, the flying one, involved itself in the southeast Asia area supplying various anti-communist allies like the Montegnards, our "secret war" allies in Laos and Cambodia's Prince Sihanouk.


Yes...and Thank You for all that You Did.
it's a shame that stinking Liberals would steal such a great Historical name and stain it with their Commie filth.
But when You consider the Sarcastic Mockery of Al Frankin...

[LtKerst]

Sheldon Drobny thinks Err America can be a commercial success. Delusions of grandeur?

They are dropping off the Map even in New York!!!
The epicenter of East Coast Liberalism.

[LtKerst]

hold your nose, go out, and buy several copies of this ignorant, but oh-so-useful, screed.

Ill wait untill it is in the 99 cent bargan Bin at Barnes and Nobel, next to Clinton's bomb..That Huge "Door Stop"
My Life?? My Way? My Failure??

[LtKerst]

He would have been better off starting up a Conservative station

yes!! They can Run Rush Limbaugh 23 hours a day..to pay for 1 hour of Air Amerika from 4 to 5 AM.

[hgro]

The Hollywood "elites" must not be as stupid as they generally appear.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"yes!! They can Run Rush Limbaugh 23 hours a day..to pay for 1 hour of Air Amerika from 4 to 5 AM."

I believe it was the Senator from Iowa (Harkin?) who wanted to pass some bill that would give equal air time on Armed Forces Radio. Apparently running 23 hours a day of NPR wasn't equal to the one hour a day that Rush was on the air.

[CometBaby]

Does anyone know if Air America ever paid back that loan to the Boys & Girls club? I know they *said* they would. But did they?

[Joan Kerrey]

Sounds like Juan Williams, who has discovered to his shock and dismay that liberals actually launch nasty personal attacks against those who challenge the received marching orders.

It is funny, isn't it? Juan actually is SHOCKED that liberals would attack him as they have.

[Jackie]

.
Drobny, et al., rounded up the most self-destructive saboteurs they could find to man AA radio stations around the country and expected them to attract advertisers??!!

MoveOn and MediaMatters are only a couple more sabotage-minded groups which are floundering for lack of support.

'Dinejad would probably be happy to fund AAR if asked.
.

[EQAndyBuzz]

I could run Err Amerika and turn a profit within 6 months.

The formula is simple. Talk about issues. Actually someone on this thread said it best. Run it 23 hours a day as a conservative station to fund the one hour of Lib talk time.

I would have 23 hours of libs calling in bashing conservatives. Take them on en masse.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

Their idea is still to buy stations under they idea that if their product isn't selling, then they'll buy their own stores and sell it. I don't have any business training but even I can see this is a moronic idea.

Ya think?

Hell, if this works, I'm gonna buy me a store and sell Pet Boulders.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

I would love to hear is defense of this position.

I'll give you a one-sentence refutation.

The level of per-capita wealth in America has risen steadily and continues to rise -- as evidenced for example by comparing the standard of living of 19th century Americans with that of 21st century Americans -- even though population has also swelled steadily from small numbers to 300 million people; therefore, economics is not a zero-sum game.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Much better than pet boulders;

http://origamiboulder.com/

[Luke Skyfreeper]

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Yeah, if this works, I'll buy my own store and sell origami boulders.

[summer]

Re your post #112 - I don't know.