Left-wing talk: out in the ratings cold

[BillFranklin]

I tuned into 1520 yesterday.

All I got were repeats of Leslie "I talk about myself a lot, because I'm not getting any callers" Marshall, Stephanie "Always nice to have sound effects and a hyena to laugh at my Bush-bashing" Miller and Ed "No, I'm not Sargeant" Schultz.

What's new?

I send my condolences to listeners of good talk programming who have come across this wasteland.

I can't get WHLD's signal, because I live about 35 miles due south of Rochester.

However, I can understand what some of you are experiencing with Air America.

Entercomm-Rochester has an Air America affiliate, WROC-AM, but it can't draw flies.

It attracts just enough listeners so its country station, WBEE, can brag about having the market's biggest audience.

I was about to discuss selling air-time and paying for an hour or two of my own talk-show with the GM at WHLD, but that was before "Niagara Indepedent Media" reached its MLA with 1270.

It's not much different back in Rochester, where the village idiot of the airwaves, "Brother Wease," said the ever-popular "n-word" during a chat with a fellow left-winger this morning.

One would have thought Alan Levin would have been chastized for such a remark.

But, no, he gets away with this garbage, while Bob Lonsberry gets fired for talking about an orangutan running for Monroe County Executive.

No self-procclaimed civil-rights leader goes after Levin for making insensitive remarks or airing "comedy bits" involving minorities or homosexuals.

Why?

Because Lonsberry is a conservative and Levin is a left-winger!

It's that simple.

Will anyone on this board say anything about this?

NOTE: this post comes from someone who would love to show everyone else in WNY how talk-radio is done. However, this writer doesn't have the connections to get into the business.

 

[Bob1370]

> I tuned into 1520 yesterday.
>
> All I got were repeats of Leslie "I talk about myself a lot,
> because I'm not getting any callers" Marshall, Stephanie
> "Always nice to have sound effects and a hyena to laugh at
> my Bush-bashing" Miller and Ed "No, I'm not Sargeant"
> Schultz.

Oh, you mean Stephanie "I got better ratings than anyone else at KABC while I was in Los Angeles radio" Miller? (And yes, she did...which got her a national TV deal on cable, and eventually, the national radio syndication deal through Jones Media that she has now...she got to where she is now the hard way, by proving she could draw an audience.)

> I can't get WHLD's signal, because I live about 35 miles due
> south of Rochester.

Than presumably you'll hold off on commenting about it, as I will since they're blocked off to us by the local sports talker next door on 1280?

> Entercomm-Rochester has an Air America affiliate, WROC-AM,
> but it can't draw flies.
> It attracts just enough listeners so its country station,
> WBEE, can brag about having the market's biggest audience.

That's precisely why they're doing what they're doing with it. Its signal is terrible, the worst of any fulltime signal in the market by a long shot, but it has its listeners and it helps out a lot with Entercom's overall cluster strategy. What's more, its listeners tend to spend more time with the station than the audience of the previous lineup of second and third tier right wing talkers.

> I was about to discuss selling air-time and paying for an
> hour or two of my own talk-show with the GM at WHLD, but
> that was before "Niagara Indepedent Media" reached its MLA
> with 1270.
>
> It's not much different back in Rochester, where the village
> idiot of the airwaves, "Brother Wease," said the
> ever-popular "n-word" during a chat with a fellow
> left-winger this morning.
> One would have thought Alan Levin would have been chastized
> for such a remark.
> But, no, he gets away with this garbage, while Bob Lonsberry
> gets fired for talking about an orangutan running for Monroe
> County Executive.

It's all about context. If the context is totally different, the meaning, the significance, and the capacity to hurt changes completely.

> NOTE: this post comes from someone who would love to show
> everyone else in WNY how talk-radio is done. However, this
> writer doesn't have the connections to get into the
> business.

And how would you propose to do talk radio differently?

I'm serious.

What ISN'T being done now, anywhere in this region, that you'd like to do if you had a couple hours of daily air time at your disposal?

Maybe you have ideas---if you do, and they're worth pursuing, someone in the business here in western NY would undoubtedly be willing to try them out, or try you out doing them. Share them here. There are people seriously involved in this business who come to this board all the time, who'd be willing to give your concepts an objective look and tell you if, in their considered and experienced opinions, they would have a chance to work.

 

[sammy10002]

> Oh, you mean Stephanie "I got better ratings than anyone
> else at KABC while I was in Los Angeles radio" Miller? (And
> yes, she did...
>

I think he may mean Stephanie "got better ratings than any of the low ratings getters at KABC" Miller.

Her show is okay, but would be a lot better if she eased up on all the cutesy little noises (not sfx, mind you) and expressions she makes. It's almost non-stop---which makes it somewhat annoying.

I have never liked paid laughers, which she has a few of.

 

[BillFranklin]

> > It's not much different back in Rochester, where the
> village
> > idiot of the airwaves, "Brother Wease," said the
> > ever-popular "n-word" during a chat with a fellow
> > left-winger this morning.
> > One would have thought Alan Levin would have been
> chastized
> > for such a remark.
> > But, no, he gets away with this garbage, while Bob
> Lonsberry
> > gets fired for talking about an orangutan running for
> Monroe
> > County Executive.
>
> It's all about context. If the context is totally different,
> the meaning, the significance, and the capacity to hurt
> changes completely.
>
Context, context.

You'll bring up any excuse for Levin or any other left-wing talk host who takes this road.

As long as it's a left-winger doing it, it's fine.

When a conservative says something critical of your side without even coming close to "Wease's" trash-talk, all hell breaks loose.

You have no qualms when the "Weases" of this world attack conservatives, but you'll whine, bash right-wingers and make excuses for your icons when the right fires back.

> > NOTE: this post comes from someone who would love to show
> > everyone else in WNY how talk-radio is done. However, this
> > writer doesn't have the connections to get into the
> > business.
>
> And how would you propose to do talk radio differently?
>
> I'm serious.
>
> What ISN'T being done now, anywhere in this region, that
> you'd like to do if you had a couple hours of daily air time
> at your disposal?
>
> So you want me to share my ideas with you?

I wouldn't share them with you, at least, for now, becuase you'll likely label me as a bomb-throwing, Bob Grant/Michael Savage/Morton Downey, Jr. hybrid nutcase.

The beauty of Bob Grant's longevity (over 35 years) in New York radio is that he wasn't politically correct.

He laid it on the line without any pretenses, which is much more than what I can say for most hosts in WNY.

Lonsberry, for what faults and strengths he may have, is folksy.

Alan Harris? Don't make me laugh!

Mr. Milquetoast kissed a lot of rings while he was on WROC-AM, and he was, at best, wishy-washy on WHAM, and then, WROC.

And that's being kind.

As for Baurle on WBEN, I can't comment, becuase I haven't had enough chances to listen to him.
>
Sandy Beach? A DJ who, until the change at KB, wore two hats for Entercomm-Buffalo. He doesn't do it for me.

As for "Wease," he's a pathetic Howard Stern rip-off artist.

If anyone in the business is serious about talking to me and possibly hiring me as a talk-host, that person can contact me at this board and eventually make the proper arrangements.

P.S.: Stephanie Miller was a lackey of "Wease."
So was B.J. O'Shea.

Levin has enough connections in the industry and enough stroke (I wonder why?) to say "yea" or "nay" to what happens to someone who worked for him who wants to take the next career step.

As for another crony, the one who slapped a sexual harrassment suit against Levin, no one knows where she is.

 

[Bob1370]

> Context, context.
>
> You'll bring up any excuse for Levin or any other left-wing
> talk host who takes this road.
>
> As long as it's a left-winger doing it, it's fine.

It's not an excuse at all. We have, at this stage, only your assertion as to what he allegedly said, without knowing who he said it to, who he said it about, when he said it, and how it came off. Everyone reacted to Lonsberry's decidedly unacceptable remark only after they not only heard it live, but having heard extended replays of the comment, in context, replayed endlessly on almost every medium you could imagine---plus being quoted verbatim at length in print. We've seen no such reports and commentary on this alleged incident yet.

And of course, we also have your clear political animus toward Wease, which you implicitly admit in your postings. That may or may not color your hearing of the broadcast.

While I frequently do listen to Wease I have yet to hear him use that word in a broadcast---can you tell us exactly what he said, and when, and to whom, and in what context, he allegedly said this?


> When a conservative says something critical of your side
> without even coming close to "Wease's" trash-talk, all hell
> breaks loose.
>
> You have no qualms when the "Weases" of this world attack
> conservatives, but you'll whine, bash right-wingers and make
> excuses for your icons when the right fires back.

This speaks more to your political anger with Wease's contrary views than to whatever he may have said. Again---help us here. What did he say, to whom did he say it, when did he say it, and why did it stick out in your mind when you heard it? And why didn't anyone else report it in the media? When Lonsberry made his comment, even the newscasts of his Clear Channel sister station, Channel 13, were on the story and the controversy the very same night. Nothing on any of the main TV station newscasts tonight about this incident you report---not even on Channel 13, which is owned by a competing company that would be all too happy to embarrass a CBS station if it got a solid opportunity to create controversy and pull away ad revenue to its own stablemates.

> > So you want me to share my ideas with you?
>
> I wouldn't share them with you, at least, for now, becuase
> you'll likely label me as a bomb-throwing, Bob Grant/Michael
> Savage/Morton Downey, Jr. hybrid nutcase.

How do you know that? You can't judge anyone unless you've heard or read him. I wouldn't. Based on your postings here, however, you seem given to making prejudgments about how others will react to you. Why?


> The beauty of Bob Grant's longevity (over 35 years) in New
> York radio is that he wasn't politically correct.
> He laid it on the line without any pretenses, which is much
> more than what I can say for most hosts in WNY.

Grant's time is long past, which is why WOR encouraged him to retire from fulltime broadcasting and scale his appearances back to short daily commentaries last month. His popularity had begun to decline well over a decade ago as the initial shock of his views and his venom wore off. (There are those who believe his mentor Joe Pyne really did it better anyway---but Joe Pyne has been gone for over 30 years now, and anyone else who does what he did is just an imitation of the original.)

> Lonsberry, for what faults and strengths he may have, is
> folksy.

Lonsberry WAS folksy back when he was at his best some years ago...he had a real gift for telling human stories in print and on the air, in the manner of his obvious early model (and predecessor at the D&C), the late Mike McAlary, who would become a Pulitzer-winner at the NY Daily News. Lonsberry had the same potential. He decided instead to stop telling those human stories that could make you laugh or cry but would always make you think, and start trying to imitate what he thought made Limbaugh a star. Bad idea. Being himself, and playing to his strengths, would have been a better route to stardom.

> As for "Wease," he's a pathetic Howard Stern rip-off artist.

Since Wease on WCMF long predates Stern's arrival in national syndication in 1993, he's hardly a ripoff...he was doing his thing, being himself on the air, at a time when no one more than 75 miles distant from the Empire State Building had even heard the act for which Stern became well known in recent years (a distinctly different show from his brief run on WNBC in the early 80s, which was basically an imitation of early Don Imus). So it's highly unlikely Wease's stream-of-consciousness style borrowed anything from Stern.

> If anyone in the business is serious about talking to me and
> possibly hiring me as a talk-host, that person can contact
> me at this board and eventually make the proper
> arrangements.

Unless you have credentials in the form of media experience and familiarity specifically with broadcast procedure, you're not likely to get far. The days of amateurs getting a shot at a radio gig are pretty much past---there are no new Lionels getting the chance to move from cranky regular caller to regular host these days, because there are no gamblers like the 1980s-era Gabe Hobbs holding down PD jobs these days. But if you DO have that knowledge, and have the chops, you probably have an aircheck and resume credible enough to get you at least an interview with a station manager or PD somewhere. Let us know how you do.

 

[dampier]

> All I got were repeats of Leslie "I talk about myself a lot,
> because I'm not getting any callers" Marshall, Stephanie
> "Always nice to have sound effects and a hyena to laugh at
> my Bush-bashing" Miller and Ed "No, I'm not Sargeant"
> Schultz.
>
> What's new?

Absolutely nothing... it's the same complaints from people that wouldn't be listening to liberal talk in the first place. And what exactly is your notion of good talk radio?

A local show that's less than 10 days old that flipped to the format with almost no advance notice, and it's hardly surprising the phones aren't melting down. Miller's ratings growth tell a story very different from the one you present. She's picking up considerable steam with her "Bush bashing."

What's new? Why a completely different perspective for talk radio listeners that don't want to hear a lockstop recitation of talking points and excuses, that's what's new.

> Entercomm-Rochester has an Air America affiliate, WROC-AM,
> but it can't draw flies.

Its ratings are about on par with what they were with the old conservative second tier format they ran before Air America. Bill O'Reilly, Laura Ingraham, and the collection of the other conservatives WHAM didn't want "didn't draw flies" either under your formula. WROC is a turnkey operation with a low power signal with zero promotion. It's never going to come close to challenging the dominant talker in the market, no matter what they put on it.

> I was about to discuss selling air-time and paying for an
> hour or two of my own talk-show with the GM at WHLD, but
> that was before "Niagara Indepedent Media" reached its MLA
> with 1270.

Oh well.

> It's not much different back in Rochester, where the village
> idiot of the airwaves, "Brother Wease," said the
> ever-popular "n-word" during a chat with a fellow
> left-winger this morning.
>
> But, no, he gets away with this garbage, while Bob Lonsberry
> gets fired for talking about an orangutan running for Monroe
> County Executive.

If it happened this morning, isn't it rather early to suggest the torch-bearing mob be brought out and the firings occur? Lonsberry compared the mayor of the city of Rochester to an orangutan and that didn't get him fired, just suspended. He then pseudo-apologized then went on a rampage on his website and refused sensitivity training. Then Clear Channel put him in the punishment corner for a few months until the heat died down and put him right back on the airwaves. Some firing. During this period, he continued doing his "family values" talk show on the Utah Family Values Network, which was of course bemusing considering his Marriage of the Moment when he deflowered his new bride, then secretly fled the state. A quickie divorce followed and the matter would not have become public had the bride's family not taken out the equivalent of missing person ads in the paper regarding the marriage.

So Lonsberry spent his time at a deluxe suite of Hypocracy Hotel, but is now back on the air. He's more mellow these days and I doubt we're going to hear much more from him in the press unless he puts his foot back in his mouth, does a publicity stunt, or quits.

Jesus at the crucifiction he isn't.

> Because Lonsberry is a conservative and Levin is a
> left-winger!
>
> It's that simple.

Not really.

> Will anyone on this board say anything about this?

Yes.

> NOTE: this post comes from someone who would love to show
> everyone else in WNY how talk-radio is done. However, this
> writer doesn't have the connections to get into the
> business.

Not to worry. If you can read the talking points and make excuses for the administration and blame everything on Bill Clinton, you can land a job with thousands of other conservative talk show hosts who get hired to do their dog and pony show everywhere.

 

[dampier]

> You'll bring up any excuse for Levin or any other left-wing
> talk host who takes this road.
>
> As long as it's a left-winger doing it, it's fine.

The NAACP will chase anyone who spreads around the "N" word, regardless of their political affiliation.

> You have no qualms when the "Weases" of this world attack
> conservatives, but you'll whine, bash right-wingers and make
> excuses for your icons when the right fires back.

Actually I suspect Bob doesn't listen to Brother Wease much. I don't myself. I didn't hear the comment, so everyone in our boat has to take your word for it. Why are we being asked to comment on things we haven't heard anyway?

> I wouldn't share them with you, at least, for now, becuase
> you'll likely label me as a bomb-throwing, Bob Grant/Michael
> Savage/Morton Downey, Jr. hybrid nutcase.

Bob Smith probably wouldn't do that, but I would.

> The beauty of Bob Grant's longevity (over 35 years) in New
> York radio is that he wasn't politically correct.

So that's what we're calling it now.

Interesting that you would take Brother Wease on for using the "N" word, but turn Bob Grant into some kind of "tell it like it is" kinda guy fighting against political correctness.

Well, let's look at the record.

While you are screaming about Wease, why the silence over Bob Grant repeatedly calling black people "savages."

He denounced a federal judge for being "one of them" (6/9/93): "You know Sterling Johnson has been made a federal judge only because he had that marvelous commodity called melanin." Grant says he's been praying for the death of Magic Johnson (10/1/92): "Why is it taking so long for the HIV to go into full-blown AIDS?"

Haitian refugees are "swine" and "sub-human infiltrators" who multiply "like maggots on a hot day" (3/20/92). AIDS in Haiti, according to Grant (6/28/94), is "not prevalent enough; there's too many of them."

African-Americans are not the only target of Grant's bile: He remarked after a gay pride parade (6/29/94), "Ideally, it would have been nice to have a few phalanxes of policemen with machine guns and mow them down."

Charmed.

 

[dampier]

> I have never liked paid laughers, which she has a few of.

She has Jim Ward, who does the voice work on the show, and Chris Lavoie who is the producer in the background. "Paid laughers?"

 

[sammy10002]

> > I have never liked paid laughers, which she has a few of.
>
> She has Jim Ward, who does the voice work on the show, and
> Chris Lavoie who is the producer in the background. "Paid
> laughers?"
>

Sorry. Paid sycophants.

 

[Bob1370]

> The NAACP will chase anyone who spreads around the "N" word,
> regardless of their political affiliation.

And the Lonsberry incident proves the media will behave likewise, even if the offending comments are made on a station which is a corporate stablemate. I'm sure it was uncomfortable for Channel 13 to report critically on Lonsberry, who was also part of the Clear Channel broadcast cluster in Rochester, but to their credit, they did so, and did so thoroughly, just like everyone else.

> Actually I suspect Bob doesn't listen to Brother Wease much.
> I don't myself. I didn't hear the comment, so everyone in
> our boat has to take your word for it. Why are we being
> asked to comment on things we haven't heard anyway?

Actually you'd be surprised how many people who list WXXI-AM in their Arbitron diaries as their primary preferred station, list WCMF and Wease in particular as one of their principal alternate choices. Virtually no one listens to a single station to the point of being able to lock his tuning dial with Krazy Glue. Broadcasters in particular sample what the other guys are doing all the time, so we can react to any change in the competitive conditions in which we operate. We all pay attention to WCMF because we often share more audience with WCMF during a given Arbitron survey period than we do with WHAM. And we do know what Wease does say, and also what he's NOT likely to say.

> > I wouldn't share them with you, at least, for now, becuase
>
> > you'll likely label me as a bomb-throwing, Bob
> Grant/Michael
> > Savage/Morton Downey, Jr. hybrid nutcase.
>
> Bob Smith probably wouldn't do that, but I would.

Hey, everyone will reach his own conclusions. I'd suspect we won't get a chance to hear what our poster would do with his own slice of airtime, any time soon.

> > The beauty of Bob Grant's longevity (over 35 years) in New
>
> > York radio is that he wasn't politically correct.
>
> So that's what we're calling it now.
>
> Interesting that you would take Brother Wease on for using
> the "N" word, but turn Bob Grant into some kind of "tell it
> like it is" kinda guy fighting against political
> correctness.
>
> Well, let's look at the record.
>
> While you are screaming about Wease, why the silence over
> Bob Grant repeatedly calling black people "savages."
>
> He denounced a federal judge for being "one of them"
> (6/9/93): "You know Sterling Johnson has been made a federal
> judge only because he had that marvelous commodity called
> melanin." Grant says he's been praying for the death of
> Magic Johnson (10/1/92): "Why is it taking so long for the
> HIV to go into full-blown AIDS?"
>
> Haitian refugees are "swine" and "sub-human infiltrators"
> who multiply "like maggots on a hot day" (3/20/92). AIDS in
> Haiti, according to Grant (6/28/94), is "not prevalent
> enough; there's too many of them."
>
> African-Americans are not the only target of Grant's bile:
> He remarked after a gay pride parade (6/29/94), "Ideally, it
> would have been nice to have a few phalanxes of policemen
> with machine guns and mow them down."
>
> Charmed.
>
Now you know why Grant's been put out to pasture. Those comments built and built until, 10 years ago, TPTB at WABC heard his riff celebrating the death of Ron Brown in an airplane crash and decided his pathological hatred had just cost them too much in public good will and advertiser support (hardly anyone among the NYC market's big ticket advertisers wanted to advertise on his show toward the end). His audience was also aging. He landed at WOR but never managed to rebuild his audience over there. It continued to dwindle until this fall, WOR also decided it had had enough of the loudmouth who first learned his rant from the late Joe Pyne---though Pyne never took it (or himself) seriously, never spewed race hate (he reserved his venom for his ideological and cultural opponents), and always knew how to keep it entertaining.

 

[JohnGalt]

> The NAACP will chase anyone who spreads around the "N" word,
> regardless of their political affiliation.
>

Unless you're a former (BLEEP) member and anti-Civil Rights Act filibusterer who hails from West Virginia.

 

[Bob1370]

> > The NAACP will chase anyone who spreads around the "N"
> word,
> > regardless of their political affiliation.
> >
>
> Unless you're a former (BLEEP) member and anti-Civil Rights
> Act filibusterer who hails from West Virginia.

Which I guess means in your eyes, no one is allowed to apologize for his past mistakes, and no one should forgive them.

Byrd has apologized, profusely, and tried to atone for and undo the damage he helped do as a young man. I'd rather see that, than see the Bob Grants and Byron DelaBeckwiths of the world stubbornly refusing to admit their errors.

 

[SirRoxalot]

MOSTLY on Target

Just a few minor notes....

> What's new? Why a completely different perspective for talk
> radio listeners that don't want to hear a lockstop
> recitation of talking points and excuses, that's what's new.

Actually, that would be "a completely different perspective for talk radio listeners that want to hear a lockstep recitation of talking points and excuses from the other side of the aisle, that's what's new."

> If it happened this morning, isn't it rather early to
> suggest the torch-bearing mob be brought out and the firings
> occur?

IIRC, the torch-bearing mobs were calling for Lonsberry's firing before he finished his air shift. Not that they didn't have a good reason...

> So Lonsberry spent his time at a deluxe suite of Hypocracy
> Hotel, but is now back on the air.

Where, incidently, he has plenty of company. In fact, I heard that Rush and Randi are fighting over who's penthouse is bigger.

> Not to worry. If you can read the talking points and make
> excuses for the administration and blame everything on Bill
> Clinton, you can land a job with thousands of other
> conservative talk show hosts who get hired to do their dog
> and pony show everywhere.

Actually, there may be more positions available reading talking points and making excuses for the Democrats and blaming everything on George Bush. More and more liberal dog & pony shows are opening up across the country, as demonstrated at WWKB an WHLD.

Phillip, you seem to think that the neo-cons and ultra-libs aren't opposite sides of the same coin. You can't possibly be that naive.

Next, the torch-bearing liberal mobs will be out for Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman, those darn centrists. Oh, wait, is that smoke I smell?

PS - It all means that Hillary will have to make some hard decisions on which way to move - farther left, or more toward the center. The left seems to be winning this week.

 

[dampier]

Re: MOSTLY on Target

> Actually, that would be "a completely different perspective
> for talk radio listeners that want to hear a lockstep
> recitation of talking points and excuses from the other side
> of the aisle, that's what's new."

But you forget Democrats will claw away at our own when they are bad. Witness what Ed Schultz did to moveon.org when they opposed Democrats who voted for the credit card bankruptcy bailout, or what a -lot- more talkshows did with Democrats who threw Paul Hackett under the bus last week. You don't hear too many kind words for Joe Lieberman on Air America. That's far different from the earth-stopping event of Rush Limbaugh attacking the Bush Administration for anything.

> Phillip, you seem to think that the neo-cons and ultra-libs
> aren't opposite sides of the same coin. You can't possibly
> be that naive.

This ignores the fundamental truth about Democrats. We never move in lock step on anything. There are major disagreements even among talk shows about issues and elected officials. When I listen to conservative talk radio, there is remarkably the same message coming out of every show I hear, and you never hear sniping back and forth between different hosts. On Air America, Randi Rhodes war with Ed Schultz is legendary and she takes pot shots at Al Franken regularly as well.

I am aware of the circle of political belief with extremists being the flip side, but I am dwelling more on radio here, not politics in general.

 

[dampier]

> Sorry. Paid sycophants.

So you don't think their comraderie on the air might go beyond a paycheck? What evidence do you have of that?

 

[JohnGalt]

> > > The NAACP will chase anyone who spreads around the "N"
> > word,
> > > regardless of their political affiliation.
> > >
> >
> > Unless you're a former (BLEEP) member and anti-Civil
> Rights
> > Act filibusterer who hails from West Virginia.
>
> Which I guess means in your eyes, no one is allowed to
> apologize for his past mistakes, and no one should forgive
> them.
>
> Byrd has apologized, profusely, and tried to atone for and
> undo the damage he helped do as a young man. I'd rather see
> that, than see the Bob Grants and Byron DelaBeckwiths of the
> world stubbornly refusing to admit their errors.
>

Nice straw man, Bob.

Nowhere did I say that one can't atone -- that's irrelevant to the argument. What I was pointing out was that the NAACP does not "chase anyone ... regardless of party" for using the N-word. When Byrd used it twice in 2001, the NAACP did not call for his resignation the way they did when Lott made his stupid comments at Thurmond's birthday party -- and Lott didn't utter the N-word.

 

[JohnGalt]

Re: MOSTLY on Target

> That's far different from the earth-stopping event
> of Rush Limbaugh attacking the Bush Administration for
> anything.

I guess that means the earth stopped yesterday and a few times last week.

> When I listen to conservative talk radio, there
> is remarkably the same message coming out of every show I
> hear, and you never hear sniping back and forth between
> different hosts.

You obviously don't listen that much, or you wouldn't make such generalized and wrong statements. Michael Savage, who had on Chuck Schumer as a guest on Friday, BTW, regularly criticizes Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and Hannity on his show.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Bullseye

> You obviously don't listen that much, or you wouldn't make
> such generalized and wrong statements. Michael Savage, who
> had on Chuck Schumer as a guest on Friday, BTW, regularly
> criticizes Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and Hannity on his show.

NOW you're just trying to confuse Phillip with facts that don't fit his political perspective.

The Dems aren't the only ones who eat their own young (ex. Pat Robertson & other far-right wackos).

In fact, when you find yourself slicing and dicing moderates, that should give you a clue that YOU'RE the one at the extreme.

 

[dampier]

Re: MOSTLY on Target

> You obviously don't listen that much, or you wouldn't make
> such generalized and wrong statements. Michael Savage, who
> had on Chuck Schumer as a guest on Friday, BTW, regularly
> criticizes Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and Hannity on his show.

That's because Michael Savage is an invented persona made for Hot Talk-style formats. I don't, for a second, believe he actually believes half the stuff he says on the air. Michael Savage is sort of a cross between Morton Downey, Jr., Don Imus, and Bill O'Reilly. He has his own category, apart from the establishment-connected conservatives.

I remember listening to the end product of the conservative show hosts who all went to Iraq to broadcast "the true story" from on the ground. They all said the same things, often right down to the exact same statements. It was more rehearsed than a Bush "impromptu" video conference with our troops.

 

[BillFranklin]

Mr. Smith:

Thanks, but no thanks, to working for a "broadcasting welfare" organization.

A conservative who is not afraid to speak his mind like me would not be a fit for public broadcasting.

For me to even consider setting myself up for WXXI management to blow me out of the water before being considered for work would be akin to slicing my own throat!

Besides, I thought you weren't concerned over ratings.

As for your assertion that "Wease" is an original, what makes you think he didn't listen to any shock-jocks while he was in Philly or some other city years ago and copied bits of their styles?

By the way, I tried getting into media right after I got my degree years ago, and I "played by the rules," as was suggested by those on the inside.

No luck.

Face it: if you don't know the right people, or if those in power don't take a shine to you, forget it!

This was before I realized that I was programmed like most college grads into being "liberal" and found my roots.

Unfortunately, I don't have recording devices hooked up to my car radio while driving to and from work.

Nor do I, Dampler, have access to transcripts or recordings of what someone may have said so I can respond with quotes, fabricated or otherwise.

I do, however, recall an incident on 1/7/05 in which Alan Levin said he wanted to call black people the n-word. This was during a discussion with his sidekicks about comic Dave Chappelle and how he and other black comics frequently use the "n-word."

I've heard him call columnist Ann Coulter a (w)itch.

I've heard him repeatedly bash conservatives and use coarse language and sexually graphic material.

I doubt that you, Bob, would closely listen to what Levin says, and just follow blindly to what everyone else in local media says and thinks of "Wease."

If you can spare a day off or two or three from WXXI, why don;t you listen to a few shows in their entriety.

It's obvious, Dampler, that you hate conservatives.

You're jealous over the fact that Limbaugh has 600 affiliates, Hannity had 500, Savage has closeto 400, etc.

Like it or not, their success has led to other conservative hosts finding success on-the-air, both locally and nationally.

You ilk has dictated what can be said and played in media for close to 50 years, and your side is now losing.

You can't stand the fact that talk-radio, the web and other alternative media are gaining listeners, viewers and readers, so you start whining that there's no voice to counter the right.

You have had the forum for half a century, and now, you can't stand competition.

I have news for both of you: conservative media provides an entertaining and informative alternative to "legacy media," and, as a result, is increasing in audience size.

As for the fallacy that Democrats don't goose-step, Joe Lieberman is being chased out of the Democratic Party, because he supports our role in the Middle East.

Zell Miller was run out of politics for the same stand Lieberman has.

You're wrong, Dampler!

I know all about the Lonsberry deal, and if it weren't for the left-wing goons (gay and lesbian groups, Bill Johnson, Rev. Raymond Graves, etc.) who called WHAM several weeks after Lonsberry's remarks were made, we wouldn't be talking about it!

Dampler, you're pathetic.

As for you, Bob, again, thanks, but no, thanks.