# "Radio Free America?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 8, 2024, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917 "2024-11-08T10:05:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/1 "2024-11-08T10:05:26Z")
Is there any interest in setting up a “Radio Free America,” on the AM band? Wolfman Jack used to make it big by setting up 500,000 watt transmitters in Mexico that could blanket the US, and as they were in Mexico, were out of the FCC’s reach. Seems to me that we could do the same here in Canada. Yes, according to the CRTC, Canadian broadcasters are limited to 50,000 watts, but if reflectors were added to concentrate the signal southbound, as Wolfman did northbound … what then? So much power that it would drown out right-wing broadcasters on all frequencies. And broadcast anti-Trump propaganda 24/7. And what if Mexico did the same, using the Canadian feed, or their own feed. Might be fun to find out. Heh-heh-heh. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/2 "2024-11-08T10:15:12Z")
Trump would probably just order an air strike on it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/3 "2024-11-08T10:20:15Z")
In a foreign country? He’d be a fool to try, unless he wants to unleash a war. And he has said, he doesn’t begin wars. But he lies a lot, so who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/4 "2024-11-08T10:24:42Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > In a foreign country? He’d be a fool to try, unless he wants to unleash a war. America has nukes and a huge military; Canada has neither. Trump can do anything he pleases to Canada and they can’t do anything about it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/5 "2024-11-08T11:09:54Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > America has nukes … Yeah, good luck nuking your buffer state that Russian nukes will fall on when your missiles intercept them. We’ll suffer, you won’t, and that’s okay? And your huge military? Gee, are all those Arkansas and Alabama and Georgia and Florida boys prepared to fight at -40C/F? That’s a Canadian winter. Our geography and our climate protects us. Not you. Our forces can fight at -40C/F. Can yours? Besides, I’m pretty sure that Canada has a few nukes tucked away, that nobody speaks about, but can be deployed if necessary. Hey, you gave them to us in the 1960s and 1970s, and we never gave them back. Just sayin’ is all. In the end, this line is ridiculous. No matter how many Americans have dreams of taking Canada, there will be no conflict between our countries. We are too close, with friends and family, to do that. Let’s knock this nonsense off, and return to the subject of the OP: Could border blaster radio stations, in Canada and Mexico, affect the American mindset? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/6 "2024-11-08T11:17:20Z")
Once you’ve conquered the menace of AM radio, you can hire some privateers to raid shipments of phonograph cylinders. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/7 "2024-11-08T11:33:44Z")
Actually it is likely that the Trump administration will not support a [bill to keep AM radio in new cars](https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2024/10/08/congress-expected-to-pass-law-requiring-am-radio-in-all-new-cars/) as is being proposed in congress right now. The fact that it cost automakers money to have it in electric vehciles due to the filters neccesary to keep the signal from getting garbled and that it is used to actually help people in emergency situations through the emergency broadcast system would just not sit well with Trump. It would be one of those damn goverment regulations that they hate. By taking it away from vehicles your message will only get to a limited amount of audiance. So he can nullify your broadcast by taking away or limiting the numbers recievers. The right wing broadcaters can set up networks with FM stations to simulcast through internet after they have been given government blessing to do so. You would see AM get removed by the manufactuers of all radios at some point, just like tape decks and CD players in cars. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/8 "2024-11-08T12:37:45Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Yeah, good luck nuking your buffer state that Russian nukes will fall on when your missiles intercept them. We’ll suffer, you won’t, and that’s okay? > > And your huge military? Gee, are all those Arkansas and Alabama and Georgia and Florida boys prepared to fight at -40C/F? That’s a Canadian winter. Such a war would be over long before winter arrived. Canada’s population is concentrated near the border, and its military too small. And Trump thinks Putin is his buddy; he won’t fear Russian nuclear attack. And the America Right thinks Canada is full of “liberals”, who by definition are Satanically evil and should be killed. They’d feel _outright virtuous_ to nuke every population center and send in troops to kill every last survivor, then erase the existence of Canada from the history books. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/9 "2024-11-08T16:06:46Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Is there any interest in setting up a “Radio Free America,” on the AM band? I don’t expect that Trump will shut down news media like MSNBC, the New York Times or Mother Jones. Yet. Plus there’s foreign media like the BBC. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/10 "2024-11-08T17:22:43Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Is there any interest in setting up a “Radio Free America,” on the AM band? Remember Air America, the liberal/progressive answer to right-wing talk radio? Of course you don’t. Founded in 2004, bankrupt in 2006, and a ghost of itself when it finally officially folded in 2010. At it’s peak it averaged about 2 million listeners a week. Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh was averaging about 18 million. Real liberals listen to NPR. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2024, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/11 "2024-11-23T20:13:06Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Trump can do anything he pleases to Canada and they can’t do anything about it. That’s categorically false. My evidence is that Canada still exists. ETA : Sorry for the necro, Discourse made this look like a current thread. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/12 "2024-11-23T20:35:59Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > He’d be a fool to try, I think I see the flaw in your argument… ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/13 "2024-11-23T23:29:46Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > So much power that it would drown out right-wing broadcasters on all frequencies. And broadcast anti-Trump propaganda 24/7. No need for propaganda; just broadcast straightforward reports of what Trump is actually doing. > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Actually it is likely that the Trump administration will not support a [bill to keep AM radio in new cars](https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2024/10/08/congress-expected-to-pass-law-requiring-am-radio-in-all-new-cars/) as is being proposed in congress right now. This would certainly limit the effectiveness, but it’s also the case that AM can be listened to in places other than cars. If Trump succeeds in doing Something Big (false-flag-wise) that would make his declaring martial law plausible, then the availability of truth-telling pirate-AM-radio from Canada could become quite important. Though I’m not sure what kind of advertisers they’d get. Fake-IDs for Resistance operatives, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2024, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/14 "2024-11-23T23:40:48Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > So much power that it would drown out right-wing broadcasters on all frequencies. And broadcast anti-Trump propaganda 24/7. I’m not sure what you mean by “reflectors”, but while an ultra-powerful AM station might cause interference with a neighboring frequency(ies), it’s not hardly going to drown out every AM station. Such high-wattage stations can have a powerfully long reach however. Anyway, interfering with another nation’s commerce has repercussions. The World Trade Organization conceivably might be drawn in. Better idea (well, equally crazy): mount transmitters on hot air balloons sent south to deliver guerrilla programming on set frequencies (an idea suggested in a favorite book on alternative radio, [_Sex and Broadcasting_](https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Broadcasting-Handbook-Starting-Community/dp/0486814491/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3U94PNID7N7FG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.S3ULtl3MznBbX-2lZ_xBQ-zfvOAGl1uZUQhN8IysnTxnkQKHtzGUXlDXJ9R8NQwTRAYpl9IV4GB7UaXg0PAnZMO4C00kqriVuxJ9tUh9QLyzPZA9XBieUo_iEyyamT3nqj9fPY3-u7v0QpQUIHV-rZ4mBU5-yLNYy2MurK_0biHAB9GKrNxl_LyToQ4Le0o2S0us021K9mCoObjz8D1nO5Y34MAsADJLfe8u31yDa6w.JTc80OduuVfpAlLksOyQrn0u5GqP2mJy0qCBZGqGNbw&dib_tag=se&keywords=sex+and+broadcasting&qid=1732405371&sprefix=sex+and+broadcasting%2Caps%2C190&sr=8-1)). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/15 "2024-11-23T23:41:57Z")
Air America debuted a few years ahead of its time. I think it would have done quite well after streaming became more popular and feasible. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/16 "2024-11-23T23:48:32Z")
What’s an AM radio? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/17 "2024-11-24T00:36:50Z")
Not much, what’s an AM radio with you? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/18 "2024-11-24T00:41:53Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > That’s categorically false. > > My evidence is that Canada still exists. He’s not in office yet, obviously. But once he is he could just order any such radio station be bombed to rubble and Canada couldn’t stop him. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/19 "2024-11-24T02:27:59Z")
It might be nice for the illegals in the camps to be able to hear some mariachi on their coffeepots. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917/20 "2024-11-24T04:26:44Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > He’s not in office yet, obviously. But once he is he could just order any such radio station be bombed to rubble and Canada couldn’t stop him. History tells us that jamming is much more likely. And recent history tells us that the internet in general, and VPN’s in particular, have changed the whole picture here. Of course, the OP isn’t thinking about what happens if MAGA destroys independent media, as under communist regimes which then were broadcasted to by Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, the BBC World Service, etc. My opinion of the literal OP idea (“drown out right-wing broadcasters”) is that it is an illiberal attack on the freedom of speech of people who happen to be against free speech. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-free-america/1009917.md?page=2)