Welcome to the Straight Dope Assizes, where the wise and learned Dopers do pass judgment on persons, places, ideas–nothing is sacred in the Assizes!
Today I charge you all to consider Randi Rhodes, the Air America Radio talk show host and former Army member.
The rules of the Straight Dope Assizes are not dissimilar to that pantheon of great debate, Thunderdome. Only instead of two men entering and one man leaving, there’s like… talking. And scones. (If you have scones at home.) You just study our subject in frightening detail. Or, if you prefer, pull something quite from out your arse–we’re not a judgmental group. But we have scones. I love scones!
Sorry.
At the end of your post, you simply record your vote. YEA or NAY. Let none question the judgment of the Assizes, under penalty of torture!
Actually, I believe Randi was an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force.
She is certainly shrill at times, she doesn’t invite the opposition into her discussions as much as I’d like (Al Franken and Thom Hartmann are great at this), but she knows her stuff and can annoy Bill O’Reilly enough that he apparently talks about her on his show.
I find her exhausting to listen to, and annoying when she pursues lines of thought that I know to be fallacious. And if I know it, I’m pretty damn sure she knows it, because she’s obviously well-informed. She knows her stuff. She’s more entertaining than an amateur wannabe like Rachael Maddoe. So I gotta go
By a margin of 1 to 9, with one abstention, Randi Rhodes is, henceforth, ANATHEMA. Let her name be wiped from the annals of history! Let her be blotted from our hearts and our minds forever! Such is the judgement of the Assizes!
And now: What Did I Learn Today…
I learned that Dopers, by and large, do not like talk radio. I learned that being loud and shrill does not help you get your point across. And I learned that when holding a Straight Dope Assizes, it is good to check your preconceptions at the door. After a twenty-four hour period, fair and square, a major-league liberal has been given the thumbs-down. I’d have laid money the other way. Veddddy interestink!
The Straight Dope Assizes Man/Woman of the Match Award goes to the poster who, IMOIO*, best represents the spirit of the Assizes in his/her post (that spirit being integrity in debate and appropriate skepticism). For the first Straight Dope Assizes, the Man of the Match is…*
drumroll
BrainGlutton, for denying his urge to vote for Randi Rhodes based solely on his admitted left of center leanings. He had not heard the show, therefore, it was only good form to abstain. Good show!
*In My Own Insignificant Opinion
