I listen to both conservative and liberal radio from time to time. Neither one is harmful if you realize the bias. And they are both full of themselves, taking the counterpoint of the other’s misconceptions and faults. But one at least attempts to be factually accurate and use reason instead of bumper-sticker politics that make me shake my head repeatedly. Which one is which? It’s actually surprising.

People equate “Red State” with lock-step bible-thumping good-ole-boys, when it’sactually liberal radio that sounds most like armchair experts at a drunken card game. All emotion and knee-jerk reaction, with a “heck, yeah, you tell’um!” approach, albeit without the Southern drawl and perhaps an iMac and hemp poncho in the next room. The right’s approach is facts and figures skewed and harped on to prove any point that can paint the best picture for their side. Blatant bias, but at least appeals to active intellectual reasoning, while frankly — on the radio at least — the left does not.

I’m not talking about news sources. I think FOX and NPR are BOTH valuable, quality sources of information. I’m talking about talk shows. The right refuses to see the left’s point of view by their assumed superior logic, while the left touts the right as evil, with themselves having a monopoly on our best interests with a hearty, periodic cry of “Think of the Children!”

If I want to know how people feel — popular opinion and sentiment — for the little it is worth — I listen to liberal radio. If I want to know the score (or at least a lot of one side’s real points to consider), I listen to conservative radio. And the latter is better for me because I’m an intellectual, not a wholsale propogandist or opinion vector. The disappointment is that the left ALSO has so much to offer as a counterpoint — real lessons, arguments, and thought out views and values — but you wont find it on the radio.

The liberal side of me is hungry for the same bulk of facts and solid reasoning I currently can only get from conservative radio. Or am I missing something? Please, if anyone of any political bent has any words of enlightenment, I’d love to hear them.