Air America Radio... Coming Soon to the Airwaves Near You!

Al Franken is baiting the conservatives again, and this time he's bringing along friends to back him up...

Franken will be the lead personality on Air America Radio...

Franken will be joined by fellow TV comedian Janeane Garofalo, both of whom will have co-hosts for their live three-hour shows. Other shows will be hosted by Randi Rhodes, a radio personality from southern Florida, and Lizz Winstead, a co-creater of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central.

"Bush is going down in November," Franken said. "We're not ceding this territory any more. To their credit, the right wing has captured radio. We're going after them, and we're going after them hard."

The backers of Air America announced their programming lineup on Wednesday and said they planned to launch the network on March 31 in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.

Mark Walsh, the CEO of Progress Media Inc., the company backing the network, said they have yet to sign any firm deals with advertisers but that several nonprofit organizations and progressive groups have promised to advertise.

He said the company hoped to raise "upward of $30 million" by the time the network goes live, which would allow them to operate for about 2 years before turning a profit. He declined to say how much they had raised so far, but he said "we are well on our way" to reaching the goal.

Walsh acknowledged that the starting base for the network was small, though positioned in key markets. "We don't expect to get giant numbers right away. This is one brick at a time."

Best of luck to Mark Walsh, Al Franken and the Air America crew! We'll all be listening...