I remember it like it was almost yesterday. I was sitting at my computer at work, headphones on... I don't remember what was playing, but the anticipation was making me jumpy. For months I'd been reading about it: a new liberal radio network to counter the messages of the right-wing noise machine... and it was going to have Al Franken!... and Janeane Garofalo!

Suddenly, I heard the intro. Al Franken's voice came booming through my headphones with his usual deadpan grandiosity and then those magic words: "AirAmerica Radio is on the air".

My grin must have confused my co-workers as I listened to him skewer Bill O'Reilly and all the other liars, providing actual facts while also doing his endearingly lame comedy bits. I didn't want to go eat lunch, and eating lunch at my desk became a common thing for me.

After that came my introduction to Randi Rhodes. That was a bit of a shock for me, especially after Al. My initial reaction was, "ok - she's a bit harsh". Over time I would come to appreciate her, her passion and knowledge, although I still found her hard to listen to sometimes.

I was unable to listen at night (don't ask), so I never really got a chance to get into Majority Report, and I was only able to catch the last half hour of Morning Sedition.

But Unfiltered... That was the show for me. It was the right mix of information, humor, cerebral musings, and had a sort of "looseness" that reminded me of a college rap session (rap as in talk, not the "music"). I fell in love with it almost instantly. In fact, after listening to that for 3 hours, suddenly Al Franken seemed old and tired, as did his humor.

I joined up at AAP a week after they opened shop, and discovered the joy of live blogging. It was an amazing thing to discover that there were all of these other liberals out there in the world. I was not alone! I dove deeply into the AAP message forum (something I had not really done before), made new friends, battled with conservatives... it was like finding something that had been missing from my life that I had not even realized I was missing.

I took joy in hearing about every new station that picked up AAR. I stopped listening to music altogether. I was energized.

Then came the announcement that Mike Malloy was going to become part of the lineup. Mike Malloy used to be just a local guy in Atlanta during the late 80's, and I used to listen to him at lunch at work. I was excited that he would get a national voice, and disappointed that it was late night when I would rarely get to hear him. Fortunately, AAP was providing podcasts of all of the shows, so I began skipping Randi, and listening to Malloy from the night before.

Finally came the Best News Ever: Atlanta was getting an Air America station!... and not just one or two shows - we were getting the entire lineup, 24 hours a day. It was a weak AM signal, but I could listen while going to and from work, and I didn't have to miss any of Al if I went out to run errands at lunch.

Life with AAR was good... for a while.

Then came the signs that there were problems. Stations began dropping shows (or the entire lineup). There were reports of financial problems. Then - changes in management.

The tipping point was the removal of Lizz Winstead from Unfiltered. We should have recognized it as the canary in the coal mine, but we didn't really want to think the unthinkable. This was AAR! It was too new... it was still building and growing, right?... right?... sigh....

Unfiltered was cancelled and it was like the heart and soul went out of the network. We soldiered on with the blog, waiting to see what was put it in it's place, what the suits at AAR thought was good enough to take the place of a vibrant, intelligent, fun show. They replaced it with...

Jerry Springer.

I tried to be a good soldier. I tried to listen. I couldn't. It was awful.

Over time, it became apparent that AAR management was not interested in entertaining radio. The cancelled Morning Sedition, they got rid of Janeane, they fired Mike Malloy on the phone as he drove into work!

The shows and hosts became revolving doors, with Sam Seder and Rachel Maddow being bounced around like basketballs. It became harder and harder to defend the suits, who didn't really seem to have a clue as to what their liberal audience wanted to hear.

And now... now they've pushed Randi Rhodes - their last marquee star - out the door, and it looks like Sam Seder is following her. Rachel Maddow has been a regular on MSNBC, and may end up getting her own show. AAR is left with a handful of B-listers and Thom Hartmann who is really not an AAR employee.

NovaM radio network and the Jones radio network have provided a venue for liberal radio darlings like Stephanie Miller, Mike Malloy, and now Randi Rhodes. How fitting that NovaM is based in Phoenix, AZ, because - like the phoenix - it is rising from the ashes of what was once AAR.

R.I.P. AAR....