When Air America started broadcasting, it was heralded as a much-needed response to the unintelligible drivel being spewed from right-wing talk-radio hosts like convicted Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy and former Iran-Contra intermediary Oliver North. Liberal talk radio, it was promised, would bring reasoned discussion to the airwaves, absent of hyperbole and open to the free exchange of ideas.

Just over a year later, it seems the promise of reasoned debate has been routed by the hordes of angry liberal ideologues. Instead of an exchange of ideas, these ideologues tend toward the rhetorical, swatting at conservative arguments as if they were flies buzzing but never making a point.

Madison's own Air America affiliate, The Mic 92.1 FM, showcases the interesting paradox that is liberal talk radio. On the one hand are Al Franken and Ed Schultz, who have no problems admitting legitimate sources of disagreement between liberals and conservatives. They will look at the whole of an issue while bringing the listener slowly toward their own viewpoint, even if they admit its weaknesses or sources of disagreement.

Then there are hosts like Randi Rhodes and Stephanie Miller.

Mesdames Rhodes and Miller epitomize the problem with the vast majority of liberal talk-radio hosts. Like the first little pig, they build their arguments out of straw, piling hyperbole on top of witticism, only to find their house crash in at the breath of logic.

What is the necessity to reference the "Bush crime family" every five minutes? While it may seem amusing, it invariably alienates those who may be on the fence, while galvanizing those on the right. Supporters of such rhetoric argue that fiery language will excite the base, yet when the base claims to be intelligent and rational, how can such language help?

The truth is that hosts like Mesdames Rhodes and Miller have no interest in truth — at least not truth in the strictest sense of the word. They are interested only in being right. In an almost stereotypical fashion, they cannot understand those who may disagree with them and in turn lash out, barely hiding their contempt of even the most thoughtful on the right side of the aisle.

Yet in acting out, they damage their own cause and benefit their detractors. The hypocrisy of claiming that the right is full of hate, that it only wants to be morally superior and wants to impose its views on the whole of America while simultaneously attacking conservative callers for expressing their view is obvious enough to make it onto G.O.P. direct mailings. The arrogance of claiming that the right doesn't value anything but Judeo-Christian teachings while viciously attacking anyone suspected of the horrible crime of "religion" is horribly apparent.

That liberal talk-show hosts like Mesdames Rhodes and Miller and others can't see that they have become exactly what Air America was founded to combat is comic. That there are those who argue that a "progressive Rush Limbaugh" is exactly what the left needs is tragic.

It is legitimate to be angry at the Bush administration and the Republican Party. It is valid to feel that we are being lied to, that our future is being sold up the river and that the federal government has been largely indifferent to domestic problems. It is even perfectly reasonable to be angry and emotional when considering the last five years.

The mission of Air America and like-minded talk stations has been to provide a viable venue to discuss progressive views and debate issues. It was never supposed to be the liberal cousin of Rush Limbaugh.

Being progressive means looking forward. It means keeping an open mind and addressing each issue with intellect and understanding. While stations like The Mic 92.1 FM may claim otherwise, Ms. Rhodes and Ms. Miller are anything but progressive. They are simply liberal reactionaries, looking at the past with venom in the voice.

Madison deserves better. The progressives and liberals of the United States deserve better. Our ideas deserve better.

Charles Parsons ([email protected]) is the editorial page editor and a senior majoring in literature.