Doug asked: "Let me try this with you. What is "the community"? Who defines it? Who is excluded from it? What are the criteria of membership?"
Actually I already addressed this in an earlier post, but I'll try it on you again: Firstly, no one is 'excluded', except people who exlude themselves. Even Casper Weinberger used to be a regular commentator back in the late sixties. The community is largely self-defined; roughly, all people who listen to Pacifica or are influenced by it in some way - both in terms of public affairs, artistic and music programming. During the station lockout, tens of thousands of people demostrated in front of the station and marched trough Berkeley - even Willie Brown showed up at a rally to good natured boos. I doubt that many of these people actually listen to the station on a regular basis, but they recognize its importance. The criteria for formal membership which gives one voting eligibility is for one to be a listener sponsor ($25 a year). This was the basis upon which the station was founded, in order that the station (network) would remain free of the strictures of corporate influence.
Joe W.