(EDITOR’S NOTE: “Malcolm on the Right” is a weekly audio column from legendary conservative columnist Andrew Malcolm, found exclusively at RedState VIP. This week’s edition is a special VIP preview; to continue to have access to Andrew’s columns and other great RedState VIP content, join here and use code “SAVEAMERICA” to save 50%.)

When I was young, AM radio was ubiquitous. The media everyone used, literally everyone. In those prehistoric days when roaming dinosaurs were a recent memory, there was no Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, WhatsApp, TikTok, and the other social media that so often seem the opposite.

There were adult stations with Perry Como and Percy Faith music that were boring.

However, among teens, certain local AM stations were cooler than others. They were played louder with open car windows as auditory badges of coolness. And their disc jockeys were huge Kardashian-level celebrities whose personal appearances drew large Saturday crowds at county fairs and automobile showrooms.

If by some interstellar stroke of lightning, said disc jockeys read your song request and dedication on the air one evening during homework hours, your social status was elevated several notches.

However, whenever you heard that loud, annoying Emergency Broadcast System alert, all chatter stopped. You knew to listen closely because something bad was afoot, bad as in Tornado.

So, I was shocked to learn from my good friend, John Phillips, that the Ford Motor Company, among numerous others, has decided to stop installing AM radios in the new electric cars that our president never uses but is mandating that everyone else buy.

This struck me as one of those cockamamie decisions inflicted on Americans for big corporate and political reasons that have nothing to do with customer service.

And so, after reading John’s column on the outrage, I decided to tape this audio op-ed to explain this goofy choice, for my own catharsis, and for those who might want to factor this little-known but major change into their decision-making when buying or leasing a new car.

And yes, I know satellite radio is blessedly free of this problem. I love it myself. But I’m not holding my breath for the day SiriusXM breaks into the Classical Music channel with a severe weather alert for my county.

Salem Media Group, the parent company of RedState, owns more than 115 commercial radio stations, many of which can be found on the AM dial. On Wednesday Allen Power, Salem’s President of Broadcast Media, published an open letter urging listeners to contact their legislators and urge them to advocate for keeping AM radio in new vehicles. And, the owner of New York City’s WABC started a Change.org petition site with very informative videos on the issue.

In the most recent audio commentary, I examined another news development sparsely covered by our selectively vigilant news media.

Remember Joe Biden’s disastrous and deadly Afghan exit back in 2021, the one that left thousands of refugees at the Taliban’s nonexistent mercies that Biden says was “an extraordinary success”?

Like you perhaps, I thought that meant we were finally done with that godforsaken land. But it turns out, Joe Biden is still spending money there — $8 billion, in fact, just since we left.

You might ask why in the world we need to send that many (or any) taxpayer dollars to a land run by religious fundamentalists who don’t believe females should go to schools.

What is Joe Biden buying, bribing, or paying off there? Not Hunter’s child support payments; they go to Arkansas.

That’s the same question asked by the Inspector General created by Congress in 2008 when Joe Biden was a member. This IG is charged with monitoring U.S. government expenditures there as an independent watchdog.

But the Biden administration refuses to answer that question. Stonewalling. Openly defying a legal request from a legal arm of the government. That’s what I examined here in MOTR, Ep. 60.

Another VIP commentary that attracted many listeners looked at a second Biden mystery, What Is It About China That Prevents Joe Biden from Being President? That’s tuning out to be suspicious too.

My most recent VIP column, which now publishes Sunday morning, looked inside what I consider the worst, most long-lasting screw-up of the many that Biden has engineered. That may give him too much credit for planning.

Finally, a personal note of appreciation to RedState’s VIP subscribers for your ongoing support in the face of determined censorship efforts by big tech and the Biden administration.

Today’s commentary is outside the paywall to tempt some to join up. With the special subscription discounts available (SAVEAMERICA for 50% off) the monthly cost is less than a Starbucks. Actually, it’s less than half the cost of the vente mocha frappuccino I prefer.