Public Radio Host: Our Bias Keeps Right-Wingers Alive on the Road

December 13th, 2009 7:35 AM

Public-radio broadcaster/merchandiser/multi-millionaire Garrison Keillor answered "Ten Questions" for Time magazine, none of them challenging to his liberal pomposity. Only one turned political:

What role do you feel public radio plays in America today? – Cameron Homer, Pocatello, Idaho

Its role is to talk to people who are stuck in traffic. And conservatives become incensed enough listening to public radio that it keeps them awake so they don't drive into a fire hydrant. That's what we do: we save the lives of thousands of right-wingers every year. And they never thank us for it.

Besides being the host of "A Prairie Home Companion," Keillor is also an author, including the book Homegrown Democrat. Notice the conservative-bashing from the book jacket:

In a book that is at once deeply personal and intellectually savvy, "Homegrown Democrat" is a celebration of liberalism as the "politics of kindness." In his inimitable style, Keillor draws on a lifetime of experience amongst the hardworking, God-fearing people of the Midwest and pays homage to the common code of civic necessities that arose from the left:

Protect the social compact.

Defend the powerless.

Maintain government as a necessary force for good.

As Keillor tells it, these are articles of faith that are being attacked by hard-ass Republican tax cutters who believe that human misery is a Dickensian fiction. In a blend of nostalgic reminiscence, humorous meditation, and articulate ire, Keillor asserts the values of his boyhood—the values of Lake Wobegon—that do not square with the ugly narcissistic agenda at work in the country today.