I am returning from holidays in La Jolla and the Sarasota area where I listened periodically to talk radio to see how Obama was doing in that medium as I walked the glorious beaches. (I know I should be communing with nature, listening to the Pacific and Gulf tides and seabirds but I am a political junkie.) San Diego County went for Obama in November and McCain just eked out a victory in Sarasota. But in both locales I was unable to pick up NPR or Air America on my headphones. It was a steady diet of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Medved, Bill Bennett, Monica Crowley, Hugh Hewitt, Michael Savage, Mike Gallagher and others. And they all generally agreed that:

Obama was a socialist or communist (Barack Brezhnev); a puppet of evil forces (Axelrod, Emanuel) since he cannot leave his teleprompter; his administration is made up of incompetents and tax cheats; he is an appeaser abroad; he will soon take our guns away; he is a Chicago hack or thug; he lies and dissembles, he wants to kill babies; he is abetted by radical diva Nancy Pelosi; he wants to raise everyone’s taxes, but especially those entrepreneurs who will lead us out of the recession; the pork-laden stimulus package has failed; and the drive-by or mainstream media is in love with him. More generally, FDR’s New Deal did not help end the Depression, the Great Society was a total failure, the current economic crisis was brought about by Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, and Fanny and Freddy, Ronald Reagan’s presidency was a complete success, and above all, using the Fairness Doctrine, the Democrats will soon take all the microphones away from conservative talkers.

We may not need the Fairness Doctrine but there should be some way to encourage or compel stations, in the public interest as per federal regulations, to present an occasional dissenting view, even if polls currently show majority support for Obama. It’s a wonder that any talk-radio listeners in my two locales voted Democratic in November.