In fact, I loved it before it even went on the air, specifically at the very moment when I learned that the new network would displace all the programming on its flagship affiliate, New York's WLIB-AM -- a station with a long commitment to Afrocentric issues.

WLIB's black-themed programs are largely gone now. Instead, Air America Radio features a lineup of white liberals including Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo, whose stated goal is to promote progressive causes.

See why I love it? You just can't buy that kind of irony.

We may not have Air America Radio around for long, however. Tom Joyner, the Yoda of local talk show hosts, predicts the liberal network will last a year at most. "It's destined to fail," he says.

(Quick point of clarification: There are two radio guys named Tom Joyner, and they come in ebony and ivory versions. The Tom Joyner quoted above, and again below, is the now-retired fellow who was host of a popular conservative talk show on Raleigh's WPTF in the mid-1990s. He's the ivory edition. The other Tom Joyner has a nationally syndicated radio program, and surely would have thoughtful things to say about Air America Radio. But given the choice, I went with the homeboy, mostly because I was pretty sure the homeboy would return my call.)

Joyner's pessimism about Air America's prospects is partly rooted in history -- liberal news/talk programming has never found much audience traction, as failed talkers Phil Donahue and Mario Cuomo can attest -- but otherwise it's a simple business judgment. The handful of stations that Air America could be heard on for its debut are "dogs," Joyner says, "and to say [that] is to do a disservice to the canine population."

Radio Business Report, which publishes a daily online newsletter, likewise sees problems. It concedes that the early days will be great -- "after all, the hosts have had months to prepare" -- but points out that keeping an audience tuned in for the long term is much tougher. RBR also says the fact that Air America is heard live only on the East Coast, while other parts of the country hear it on a tape delay, is proof that the network is being run by people who don't really understand the concept: "The shows are supposed to be LIVE! The whole point of talk radio is for the listeners to be able to call in and actually talk to the hosts."

D'oh!

I hope the experts are wrong. I want Air America to succeed for two reasons. (Three, actually, if you include the obligatory nod toward the value of having many voices heard, importance of political diversity, blah blah blah.) First, Air America's success will hopefully put an end to liberal whining about how Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and other conservatives have come to dominate the airwaves. It's hard to complain about being shut out of the game when you've got a team on the field. Second, I like having Air America around because liberals tend to be unintentionally hilarious. For instance, community activists in New York are wondering how liberals -- with all their respect for multiculturalism -- can explain the fact that Air America's white announcers have displaced WLIB's black community programming.

Al? Janeane? Somebody want to jump in here? The answer should be a knee-slapper.

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