Morton Downey succeeded where earlier talkers like Wally George and Bob Grant failed. He turned conservatism into both a rock concert and professional wrestling theater. Out of this innovative mash-up came the slick, in-your-face production values and jingoism of Fox News Channel.

Glenn Beck is building an amusement park called -- what else? -- Independence Park. But he's pitching it to be much more than a roadside tourist trap with a tilt-a-whirl, concessions and skeeball. Beck wants his herd of followers to believe it's a real city -- his own version of Ayn Rand's "Galt's Gulch."

What happened to talk radio in Boston? I would point to three factors. And I would suggest that none of these are unique to our part of the country. Boston may be on the leading edge, but these same trends could sweep away talk elsewhere, too.

In Milwaukee five right-wing talkers on two stations directly supported Republican candidates 15 hours a day, five days a week. But these are public airwaves, not Republican airwaves, so the Media Action Center filed a legal challenge with the FCC to deny WISN and WTMJ their licenses.

It won't surprise you that I blame the media for this reality. What will probably shock you is that I fault the conservative media more than any other entity.