I could put up a bit of a fuss, but what’s the point? My guest today, Air America morning radio host Lionel, is waaaaay smarter than me. I’m not going to offer any pretense that I can battle him to even a draw in a battle of wits: I can’t. Lionel—Michael LeBron for those in the know—has been a voice heard on my radio for some 20 years. I first heard him as a frequent irritant—I mean caller—to host Bob Lassiter on WFLA 970 AM in Tampa. Sometimes, as I remember it, he agreed with Lassiter. But mostly, he drove him nuts. Lassiter was a smart guy, one who was always right—in his mind—and always smarter than his callers. But he wasn’t smarter than the law student turned lawyer who called himself “Lionel.” LIONEL podcast excerpt: "One of the greatest con jobs ever is the influence of talk radio on politics (and) society... Most people don't listen to Rush Limbaugh and couldn't care less... What societal force is this man who never wins anything he advocates?"   Eventually, Lionel became a talk show host himself—anyone who heard him in those days knew it was as inevitable as Barack Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize in his first nine months on the job—okay, more inevitable than that perhaps. He left Tampa, eventually becoming a popular host in New York City—a career opportunity that probably gave the late Bob Lassiter fits. Today, Lionel is the morning show glue that anchors the line-up at the liberal radio network known as Air America. Lionel • •