If you live within the United States the chances are very high that you also reside within an area covered by a radio station inviting listeners to call in and express their opinions on topics such as politics, economics, sociology, and religion.  If you have ever called one of these programs you have probably experienced the frustration and lack of democracy permeating the entire encounter.  Having called numerous hosts on various programs I can attest to the fact that hosts often dominate the discussion, interrupt with questions and comments at any time of their choosing, interject that which is tangential or ancillary to the central issue, forestall the reading of anything you or others have written, and terminate the dialogue at any time of their liking usually with no forewarning and especially when they are losing the argument.  Callers are often abruptly cut off and thrown away as one would discard used tissue, implying the caller�s only purpose is to provide hosts with something to discuss.  The entire arrangement reeks with inequities and inequalities often with a liberal sprinkling of rudeness, curtness, and insensitivity.  To allege the situation is odious and reprehensible is to utter the obvious.  For that reason I would encourage ALL left and progressive forces in the Nation to call their local call-in station management and STRONGLY recommend the following program be added to their programming schedule in order to make call-in programs more democratic, more user friendly, less intimidating, and less uncertain.  ABOVE ALL IT WOULD ALLOW CALLERS TO SAY WHAT THEY WANT TO SAY WITHOUT FEAR OF INTERRUPTION.  A new program needs to be established on call-in stations throughout the United States which could be entitled CALLERS FORUM or CALLERS SPEAK OUT.  The mechanics of the program would be as follows.
         Everyone calling in would be given a set period of time (3 minutes for example) to say anything he or she desired on any subject.  Callers would be assured that:
             (a) he or she would not be interrupted by any questions or comments at any time
             (b) he or she could read anything he or she had written or something he or she had found in such sources as the Washington Post or the Nation magazine
             (c) he or she would know exactly how much time he or she would have, so rehearsals would be advisable.
             (d) he or she would not be in verbal competition with talk show hosts nearly all of whom are so in love with their own voice that they often dominate the conversation and give callers little time to speak.
         Callers would be subject to the normal rules regarding profanity, slander, threats etc. that are imposed by the FCC.
         One would think this kind of program would be supported by rightists as well, since everyone would have an equal opportunity to get through on the phone.  About 3 months ago I called my local National Public Radio affiliate and suggested this format be established.  Since NPR is partially funded by taxes and I and all other tax-payers own a piece of the station, we should certainly have a voice in its format and access to the public via its facilities.
         In effect, this program would turn the talk show host into little more than a traffic cop as he or she would only be monitoring for improprieties what is said and making sure callers stayed within the allotted time limit.  If a caller used less than 3 minutes, the host would simply proceed to the next call.  The beauty of this new program is that it would allow callers to BY-PASS TALK SHOW HOSTS ENTIRELY and go straight to the people at large thus enabling callers to speak to tens of thousands without being censored or edited, a privilege currently enjoyed by all talk show hosts.  If Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Randi Rhodes, and Al Franken can go on the radio every day of the week, speak for 3 hours saying whatever they desire on any subject without worrying about interruptions, questions, or diversions, the average American citizen should possess the same power for at least 3 minutes every day.  This new program would turn call-in radio into a far more democratic enterprise by placing it on a par with the open Internet.  As conditions currently stand, callers to radio stations are completely at the mercy of the host and can be censored, interrupted, diverted or axed at any time of the latter�s choosing.  Hosts can make the most ridiculous and erroneous of comments without fear of any correction.  In effect, they can tell you grass is red and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.
         Right-wing Vice President of Sinclair Broadcasting, Mark Hyman, comes on national TV many evenings in many markets as a commentator and after spewing his noxious fumes on an unsuspecting audience invariably ends by telling listeners that they can contact him at his email address if they have any pro or con comments to make on his statements.  My immediate reaction always is:  Why on earth would I want to contact him.  He obviously has a vested, financial interest in spreading his social poison and is not about to change his philosophy.  What I want to contact are all the people he just injected with some ideological garbage and I want to do it without interruptions, questions, or comments as he just did.  That can only be done if the program I am suggesting is created.  As conditions now stand contacting call-in radio is often so obnoxious, undemocratic, rude, uncertain, and repulsive that there is little incentive to participate.