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Friday, November 04, 2005

James Wolcott: Morning Sedition Crusader
Posted by Jill | 4:13 PM

As the newly anointed MVMSFB(Most Valuable Morning Sedition-Flogging Blogger), I'm happy to announce that I will be sharing my throne with none other than the great James Wolcott, who has given over his soapbox, which gets a much larger audience than mine, to the crusade to save Morning Sedition:

When an injustice is about to be done, when an outrage is about to be perpetrated, I become infused with the spirit of Emile Zola and raise my fist in protest.

Therefore I cannot remain silent over the impending removal of Marc Maron from Air America's Morning Sedition.

I have followed Marc's comedy career for years. I saw him bravely take on a clubful of bridge-and-tunnel yahoos one night on the upper East Side, snapping his oneliners like a lion tamer and silencing their obnoxious drunken hubbub. I sat rapt during his one-man show The Jerusalem Syndrome, a tour de force worthy of Philip Roth. I have long admired the lengths to which he explores his own hypochondria, that minefield of neurosis and physical paranoia best captured in the title of fellow hypochondriac Albert Goldman's article "Doctor, What's This Bump on My Nose?" And, of course, I have been a devoted listener of and an occasional guest on Morning Sedition, which he co-pilots with the unflappable and easy-pouring Mark Riley.

[snip]

But now, due to dunderheaded mismanagement on the part of Air America, Marc is being forced to pack his parachute and prepare to jump. His contract option was not renewed and he has only a few more weeks on the air.

The problem? Word is that Air America major supremo Danny Goldberg doesn't like the show, doesn't like Marc as an on-air personality, doesn't "get" Marc's or the show's humor, and wants to crumple the program up into a wastepaper ball and chuck it into the basket.

Now Danny Goldberg may have many fine qualities. I sort of liked the book he did a bit back about how the Democrats had lost youth appeal. But he's not a radio guy, and if he can't find the funny in Marc, Lawton Smalls, and Sammy the Stem Cell, he needs to hire a psychic detective to locate his missing sense of humor.

Can anything be done to keep Morning Sedition going and prevent Marc from being pushed into the cold wintry streets of a town without pity?

Well, you can always write to Danny Goldberg at dannyg@airamericaradio.com

Or to the person I'm informed is the big mover on the AA board, Rob Glaser of Real Network. His email address is rglaser@real.com

Should you decide to petition these gentlemen in support of Marc, Mark and Morning Sedition, be concise, polite, and positive. Don't go wailing like a bunch of Freepers. Love-bomb them with eloquence and enthusiasm.

Because a world without Sammy the Stem Cell is a world that might as well stop revolving.


Amen, brother.

I've covered the Goldberg beat twice already. Now I'm off to storm Rob Glaser's Bastille. Who's with me?
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