As I said a well informed opinion is a well researched one. I will painstakingly listen to both Liberal and Conservative talk.
??? That'd seem like a ridiculous idea. That'd be like trying to get a good take on religion by listening to extremist Zionists in Israel and extremist Muslims in Iran. NPR is almost the exclusive place on the radio where you can get a great sense of liberal and conservative viewpoints. Listening to liberal or conservative radio is a waste of time because: 1) it is probably 1 part content to 2 parts commericials and news reports and 2) no actual in depth discussion on subjects, only judgmental trash. Listening to Schultz is about as painful as listening to Limbaugh.
As an Independent, each side brings something to the table.
That is a false equivalency, at least as far as AM Radio is concerned. Having an opinion doesn't mean it is a justified opinion. You can't give creationism equal time in the science classroom merely because all opinions are supposedly equal.
We just need to sift through there garbage to get that nugget of sense making.
Hence cut the garbage, listen to NPR "Diane Rehm Show" and "Talk of the Nation" where you'll have qualified intelligent libs and conservatives talking about a particular issue for an hour. Too much time to saturate with sound bites, distortions, and lies.
Honestly, it doesn't matter to me if someone is liberal or conservative. What matters is how they get their information and how diametrically opposed to conflicting data they are. The Glenn Beck channel is made for only one type of person, someone that wants to be told something very specific. In the Information Age, there is no excuse for such a channel.