WE NEED OUR OWN "NOISE MACHINE"

The GOP has a vast media infrastructure that makes it easy for them to spread their memes and stir up their base. We don't need liars and fools like Limbaugh and Hannity, but we do need a competitive system.

Just look what DeLay can do:

DeLay appeals to court of public opinion
Oct 11, 10:08 AM EDT

Kathleen Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said DeLay has adopted a standard public relations strategy of proclaiming innocence and shoring up his base.

"If you are Tom DeLay, you don't want your constituency to believe the indictments," Jamieson said. "You are reassuring them that this is bogus and you are innocent and you are being hunted by people with partisan objectives."

She said DeLay is helped in his strategy by the larger presence of conservative talk radio and TV, where listeners are sympathetic. Keeping them from losing faith is critical, she said.

"Historically, when people on your side decide you need to go, you go," Jamieson said. "At that point, you can't argue you are innocent."