What Happens the Day After They Spill Blood?

When does inciting violence toward anti-war protesters become real enough to matter?

Does someone have to die? Does getting punched or tackled count?

If you gather a group of people for the express purpose of "fighting back" against peaceful protesters and someone then is hurt or dies, are the people who used the public air waves to assemble them responsible?

Are the bosses of those people, who are aware of and encourage these activities, responsible?

I ask these questions because the other day Phoenix Woman, writing at Fire Dog Lake, wrote about how a peace protester was assaulted by a group from Gathering of Eagles. (link)

I heard another similar story about what happened at the September 15th protest by the Move America Forward Chairman, Melanie Morgan.

Morgan is quite proud of her "Fighting Debs" for punching a die-in protester on Sept. 15 in D.C. (Listen at 3:45 minutes in to this audio link is 7 minutes long (don't want to be accused of being "out of the context!") You can hear how happy she was that an anti-war protester got punched.

Hear how excited she was that "the crowd was so riled up after our rally was over" and since they were all fired up they had to "take it to the streets, I mean they had some 'tudes going on" so of course they go looking for trouble at the die-in. (She sounds like she envisions some kind of Jets/Sharks rumble.)

You will note in THEIR description of Deb Johns punching out this middle-aged member of the "moonbat" contingent, that it was clearly self defense. Is that how it really happened? I don't know, I wasn't there, I don't have video. But in their world when someone shoves you, you escalate it, you punch them.

What if Something Really Happens?

MAF has sponsored counter protest events before and they are planning to do it again. They promise the TV media some shouting and dangle the possibility of violence and the cameras show up. They WANT something to happen. They are the ones setting up the scene.

They were down right giddy the last time the media fell for it in the Bay Area. You can bet they will do it again. The media got their juicy footage of a father of a dead Iraq soldier screaming at the little old woman who owned the land at the Lafayette hillside memorial. With that kind of exciting footage who can resist?

Right now Melanie Morgan of Move America Forward has alerted her "one million member pro-troop" organization to the event below. I want you to note her links to her good friend Michelle Malkin. This was also posted on Malkin's website, Melanie Morgan's website and on the KSFO website.


This following is from Move America Forward's website.

STOP Harassment of Military by Anti-War Activists!

CALL TO ACTION:We will rally to support our troops and denounce efforts by Code Pink and others to 'chase' the military out of Northern California. We make our stand at the Marine Recruiting Center in Berkeley which has just been defaced by anti-war protestors.

Code Pink has a rally planned to denounce the miltiary [sic] on Wednesday, October 17th. We are calling on YOU the patriotic mainstream of this nation to join with us and counter their effort with a pro-troop show of support for our military men and women! Bring your American flags and signs supporting our troops and our veterans!

[snip. Location information]

From Move America Forward Chairman, Melanie Morgan:

Folks,

I have a favor to ask.

Code Pink has vandalized the Marine Recruiting Center in Berkeley, California and is harrassing [sic] the landlord to cancel the lease for the 'illegal, immoral, unjust' war machine--calling our guys 'TRAITORS.'

Code Pink says it is going to demonstrate there until the Recruiting station is driven out of Berkeley.

I am furious about this insult to our troops, and I am organizing a counter protest for Wednesday, October 17th at high noon. I am planning to bring as many of our KSFO audience as possible, plus do a big Move America Forward push for a large crowd.

Tip of the hat to Michelle Malkin - HERE and ALSO HERE.

Enough context for ya? If you wish to see the whole alert you can go to the website www moveamericaforward com.

This is not a, "we will use the public air waves to gather people for peaceful assembly" This is "Hey, I'm furious at those smelly hippies. Let's get some angry people together to provoke the hippies until one pokes us back so we can let them have it in "self defense"." kind of message. And if you don't believe me you can check out of some of the comments on Malkin's page:

On October 5th, 2007 at 1:34 pm, trinitytim said:
Lock em up!

Code Pink has NO patriotism. They are idiots who can’t spell or think. They are not worthy of the protection we provide them.

Lock em up or better yet, as Fasternu426 said, Fix Bayonets!

People told me not to worry about them, they are harmless, they won't REALLY do anything rash, it's all just for show, but with the video that Phoenix Woman had and the audio I have ( link), I conclude that they are just one step away from serious violence.

During the week of the Sept. 15th protests, a group from GOE showed up on the doorstep of Medea Benjamin, of Code Pink. Did they do that so they could have a "market place of ideas" discussion? No. They wanted to let her know they know where she lives and that they can get to her whenever they want.

People ask me if the FCC cares about this. Not really. Not until someone dies, and even then nobody is going to lose a precious license if the management moves fast enough and fires enough people. However, what the FCC may or may not do isn't what the new head of ABC Radio should be paying attention to.


Follow The Corporate Sponsors -- out the door
In the corporate world when your spokesperson does something wrong, spokesperson money dries up and goes away.

If someone is seriously injured at a MAF/GOE event that was promoted on your station by your employees, who do you think they are going to come after financially? Remember the radio stunt where a woman died from drinking too much water? It wasn't just the DJs that got fired.

We do know that James M. Robinson, president of ABC Radio Networks, is aware of all this. He knows that KSFO encourages and supports the MAF activities on their radio station. He knows that KSFO management has given its blessing, its facilities as a meeting space and a TON of free advertising (about 5-7 minutes in every hour) to MAF so they can gather a group of people together for the express purpose of "fighting back"against the anti-war people.

Maybe its because I'm only half human, but I can tell the difference between a group of angry pro-war counter-protesters and a peaceful non-violent protest. (NOTE: I try not to use the word "mob" because it has other connotations, but a group of angry pro-war counter-protesters might be considered a mob to some.)

Of course Robinson probably doesn't care about the inciting violence aspect of this because nothing "real" has happened yet. He's a bottom line kind of guy. Will this cost him money? Will it make him more money than the potential cost? What are the odds? What is the history of these people at this station? Do they follow reasonable guidelines?

Robinson doesn't have to do any preventative action, that is not how corporate managers think. Most wait until AFTER something bad happens, and say, "Nobody could have anticipated..."

If I was a time traveler from the future I could say that Mr. Robinson might consider this his August 6, 2001 PDB. I believe the headline would be, "Morgan determined to strike anti-war protesters".

Fox Radio Host calls Oprah a Nazi racist for her Obama support

Some high-level discourse from the right wing "marketplace of ideas" in advertiser-supported broadcast talk radio.



On September 14, 2007 at about 3:22 pm Bryan Suits, talk host from Fox radio station KVI* in Seattle said that Oprah is a racist for supporting Obama. He also calls Oprah a Nazi.

Bryan Suits, KVI, Seattle:

"Does the fact that only Barak Obama is so er well that the only presidential candidate that will appear on Oprah's show, does that make her a Nazi racist? Is it mutually exclusive that a black woman can be a also a Nazi? I don't think so. I frankly think she is a Nazi."

(short Audio clip MP3) (Short Audio clip WMA)

I think she has a right to do what she is going to do, I think it makes her a racist though. And I'm not goin' use any kind of coded language or whatever. Anyone can be a racist, we all understand that right? Anyone can be prejudiced and I think she's prejudiced. I I don't think that Barak Obama is anything except a guy who's capable of of well-delivered high sounding rhetoric, but when one asks him for specifics eh his depth suddenly shows itself.

So, the fact that Oprah not only, and I don't have, I throughly understand why a racist would support someone of their own race. I get that, but the fact that she's excluding other candidates first of all-- as someone with a talk show I'll tell you yeah it's her right but it means something, it is revealing something, it's revealing that you are close minded. So if somebody can take her side, and like I say, I know that none of you watch Oprah, certainly no men do, but your friends do, so if you can explain to me why your friends don't think that she's a racist Nazi fraud, I'm curious, but like I say, it is her right.

(short audio clip MP3) (short audio clip WMA)

Here is the seven minute full clip in two formats.
(Audio link WMA) ( Audio link MP3)

I don't usually focus on name calling on right-wing talk radio, if I did it would be like counting tribbles after a quadrotriticale feast. But I stumbled upon this guy while discussing right-wing talk radio in other parts of the country.

The usual hosts I track, Lee Rodgers, Melanie Morgan, Brian Sussman at Tom Benner "Officer Vic" at KSFO are busy calling for the death of Ron Paul supporters and mocking McCain's POW
status or joking about rape right before interviewing the Raider coach.


Ad Hominem Attacks

When I first heard someone describing this kind of name calling as ad hominem attacks I asked, 'What does Jackie Gleason saying 'Hummana, Hummana, Hummana' have to do with name calling?" Then they looked down their "I took Latin and you didn't" nose at me and explained that ad hominem can mean attacking an opponent's character rather than their argument.

Any time I hear someone on right-wing radio bemoaning the lack of decorum and crying about name calling on the left I just have to wonder, "Don't they have ears?" Two seconds after being OUTRAGED at the left for name calling and disrespect they will summon the worst possible slurs they can get away with, as well as a ton of garden variety ones.

But some words are different. There was a time in this country when calling someone a Communist could destroy their career. Yet it is casually tossed at people on the left today. There are words that can do the same today, they are different ones, but there are still words that can be used or abused.

I don't want totally to address name calling at public figures, because the rules are different for them. But I do wonder about name calling of non-public figures. Who is a public figure these days? Everyone? Everyone with a blog?


What name calling is okay and what crosses the line?

I recently had a great discussion with some women about how really damaging name calling can be to people. I thought about that and wondered who leads the way? Who "normalizes" name calling, who ratchets it up to new levels of viciousness?

Frank Luntz and Newt Gingrich understood the power of name calling. They focus group tested names to use as weapons against political parties and groups of people. There is a reason that they told everyone on the right to call it the Democrat party and it wasn't to save time talking. ("It rhymes with rat! Get it? DemocRAT? HA! I crack myself up Newt.")

Intelligent people can even admire the linguistic creative powers of someone like Rush Limbaugh, and still be disgusted at how he has applied his powers.

Interesting note: Rush credits Tom Hazlett, a Professor of Law & Economics at George Mason University with coining the term Femi-Nazi. I just looked at his CV. No mention of that creation, I'll bet his students and telecom clients would WANT to know what he is REALLY famous for rather than some dusty policy papers. Can you image? "Hi Ms. VP of marketing I was the one who told Rush to call you a Femi-Nazi, now get me a cup of coffee and let me tell you how to run your telecom business. And get me my 50K fee check while you are at it!"

What about calling someone else a liar? There was a time when people actually cared about their reputation enough to say, "No I am not a liar. Take back what you said." But it is hurled at ordinary people and journalists by talk radio hosts with nary a thought.

I think that for people who want to be known for their honesty in dealing with people calling them a liar can be pretty damaging. Sometimes people's reputations mean something, and even famous people like Oprah might be hurt when someone crosses the name calling line.

I don't expect Oprah's people to do anything about this. I don't expect Obama's people do to anything about this either. They will see this as an attempt to get ratings and won't engage. But who should care? Everyone who associates with the name caller. This is your guy. You OWN him. He works for you. Every commercial he reads, every advertiser who wants to be on the Bryan Suits' show should know, "I'm supporting the guy who called Oprah a racist Nazi." They may be fine with that, I don't know their demographics or their stated value systems. It's their choice, but they should know.

Sticks and stones can break my bones, but please... don't throw sticks and stones.
-Old joke, author forgotten.

People always have and always will call others names. It's a way to belittle others and "put them in their place." I'm not a total pearl clutcher, I've even indulged in some name calling myself at times, I try to be aware of the line, but I'm only (half) human.


*Note: KVI is a Fox station owned by Fisher Communications, which also owns several CBS TV stations and one ABC TV station in Seattle. They have stations in WA, OR, MT and ID.

Who REALLY disrespects Vets and POWs: Conservative edition

From conservative talk radio station KSFO, 6-11-07. Lee Rodgers and Melanie Morgan.
(Audio link WMA) (Audio link MP3)

Rodgers: Here is what John McCain, that two faced phony, from Arizona said on the TV show yesterday, and I know this only from reading the transcript of it, regarding the first round loss and lets hope it was also the last round. The loss in the Senate of the immigration bill that he co-wrote with Teddy Kennedy. I mean if that isn't enough to poison the well for every Republican voter in the country I don't know what else it would take, maybe it would take this. He said er the reason why it lost in the Senate last week, 'I think the more conservative, anti-immigrant anti-legislation group were very well backed up by a very vocal group of people eh who were supporting them.'

That would be people like us, I guess

Morgan: Uh huh

Rodgers: We're fairly vocal about it, but listen, 'conservative, anti-immigrant' here's another dumb SOB who is apparently unable to distinguish between the word legal and the word illegal. If you don't believe in open boarders and giving amnesty to people whose first act on entering this country was a crime, you're anti-immigrant. He is just beneath contempt.

Morgan: You know it would be really really cool to see a pay-per view dust up between you and John McCain. That would be amazing.

Rodgers: Yes it would. It would.

Morgan: I would love to see that.

Rodgers: It would, it would.

Morgan: It wouldn't make any difference, because the guy, as you said, he's finished politically in this country. Absolutely done, cooked, over, toast. And the only one who doesn't know it is John McCain. Apparently he says over the weekend that he is going to be raising or has commitments for another 12 million dollars, but basically his campaign is out of dough.

Rodgers: Yes.

Morgan: He's busted he's broke,

Rodgers: They are scraping the bottom of the barrel. While he has been able to skate through in the Senate, for I don't know how many terms he's been in there, but he has been able to coast, strictly on having been a POW during the Vietnam war.

Morgan: Well..

Rodgers: He himself said it in his own book. I'm not a hero, I got my plane shot out from under me. Alright, take him at his word. Just because you were a prisoner of war, doesn't mean you are qualified to be a US Senator or a dog catcher for that matter.

Morgan: He has..

Rodgers: There are a lot of people in this country who have served time in war time as prisoners of war who don't make any pretense at being qualified to be a Senator much less President of the United States, and it's about time he learned it. He's had a free political ride for a long long time because of the "Oh, poor John he was a POW in Vietnam" syndrome. But I think the country is getting pretty well fed up with that.

Morgan: Well the thing that his major legacy as far as legislation is concerned has been his McCain Feingold act which has been an unconstitutional bane.

Rodgers: A disaster.

Morgan: It's been a complete utter failure and I don't know how he could look anybody in the American public with a straight face and claim what a wonderful piece of legislation that was.

Rodgers: The guy is stupid. I mean there is no other explanation. He's just plain bleeping stupid.

Morgan: Politically tone deaf, that's for sure.


I expect McCain supporters to ignore this because it is clearly just a ratings ploy and an attempt to get McCain to buy ad space or go on the show. That is the great trick of conservative radio. They can insult their listeners, supporters, advertisers and potential advertisers and the conservative candidates will still suck it up and go on the show.

Sorry for the long transcript, don't want them to throw the dreaded "out of context" at me (even thought they use shorter snippets all the time).


-----------------
Lee Rodgers is NOT Fred Rogers

And just so you can hear what else goes on at KSFO following this discussion, next they segue to celebrity talk where Lee Rodgers jokes about savagely beating a child.

Lee Rodgers: I thought we were going to enter the arena this morning with out any new sleaze to titillate you, Mel.
Morgan: Oh no it's been a
Rodgers: You know we got the Paris Hilton stuff but uh, but that's getting to be a very very tired story. By the way I would say this to any parent in America. If you have a child who admits to admiring Paris Hilton

Morgan: (Laughs)
Rodgers: You have my permission to beat that child savagely
Morgan: (Laughs)

Yes, that last bit was clearly an attempt at a joke. Even a logical person could see that.

I will note that the California Teachers Association is an advertiser on KSFO but since this is a conservative radio station, known for both their lack of support of teachers unions and violent rhetoric, I don't expect them to care. I guess they believe in the the old, "Fund you attackers!" game, with the hope that the attackers will be less vicious if you pay them off. Psst, Barbara E. Kerr President of CTA, it's not working!

Attn: Ron Paul Supporters. Lee Rodgers Wants you Dead!

Allow me to reach across the ideology aisle for a moment. For a long time I've been monitoring the violent rhetoric that comes out of KSFO Radio, 560 AM.

So it's really no surprise that on September 6th at 5:27 am ABC Radio employee Lee Rodgers yet again talked about killing people on the advertiser- supported broadcast airwaves. I guess the only twist this time was in addition to his desire to see liberals, journalists and Muslims dead, he now wants to see conservative listeners dead. Welcome to the club Ron Paul's people.


Background And Transcript
Melanie Morgan, Lee Rodgers and "Officer Vic" (who is neither an officer nor named Vic) were talking about a recent Republican debate and how they thought that none of the candidates have a chance of getting the nomination. Rodgers mentions Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter, Mike Huckabee and John McCain as people he didn't think had a chance at winning.

Rodgers: You are using up all this time on people who ain't goin' nowhere.

Morgan: Yeah. They need to thin the herd

Rodgers: Yep. Time to cull the herd

Morgan: Especially get rid of that Ron Paul. Gosh he irritates me.

Rodgers: Oh, he's a moron.

Morgan: And his people, don't email me. If you do I'll just delete you. I'll hit delete, delete, delete.

Rodgers: Oh come on, go with the real threat, "We'll trace you back, run you down and kill you like a mad dog. Go ahead say it Mel, that's what you really want to say."

"Officer Vic": Oh dear, oh dear

(WMA audio link) (audio link MP3)

What Can You Do?
So Ron Paul supporters, what will you do? You can't write Morgan, she will delete your emails. Rodgers wants to trace you and "kill you like a mad dog". Morgan's husband, Tom Swanson, is the operations manager, so no help there. Rodgers has stated on numerous occasions that ABC Radio/Disney and now his new employer, Citadel Broadcasting, support him. (Audio link)


Do you think you could get him to apologize? Actually, it might work for you. Why? Because you are conseratives and the supposed target audience. I'd like to think that they would listen to you.

You could really show your power if you could wrangle an apology out of Rodgers or get management to give one of those "we regret it was broadcast" bogus apologies for him like when he defamed George Soros. (link) (Wow, talk about powerful! Even Imus did his own apologies.)

Of course if he was forced to apologize for this, then by Rodgers' definition that would mean that Citadel Broadcasting management are "little frightened wussies" who apparently speak with a lisp too. (Audio link short) (Audio link longer) You see, in Rodger's world, radio management who ask hosts to stop insulting listeners or call for their death are "gutless weasels" (audio link)

Of course Rodgers didn't apologize for his other violent comments such as the suggestion that they torture a common criminal and then "blow his bleeping brains out". (audio link)

Sounds like a bit of a double standard to me. It must be because it's okay to talk about killing a black man, liberals, Muslims and journalists but not Ron Paul's people. (Oh and by the way, that man that Rodgers suggested be tortured and killed was black, Rodgers' claim that he didn't know he was black at the time of the comment might be valid, but the claim that he STILL didn't know he was black months later when he refused to apologize, strains credulity.)


Who Might Care: Advertisers and Your Boss
Now you could write a few advertisers to let them know what they are paying for while they are trying to reach YOU, KSFO's self-selected conservative audience. You could also suggest to Ron Paul that KSFO wouldn't be a good place to place ads, why should your candidate pay the salary of the hosts that hate you, think your guy is a moron and want you dead? And they aren't just down on Ron Paul, they have trashed every single Republican presidential candidate with the exception of Tom Tancrado, Duncan Hunter, or Fred Thompson.

My suggestions:

• Ask advertisers if they are aware they are paying for this kind of talk
• If they were an advertiser who went away then came back, like AT&T, see if they were promised this kind of violent rhetoric from KSFO hosts would stop.
  

  Maybe the advertisers believed the sales reps who said that the hosts wouldn't talk like that any more. (Surprise Mercedes, Lexus, Chevrolet, Kaiser and AT&T! Someone didn't keep their word that Rodgers would stop talking about killing people on the air! Maybe you should have gotten that promise in writing.)
  

  
  
• Ask them if these type of comments are reflective of their own values.

If they say, "Well the hosts are just trying to piss off liberals and if you don't like it to change the station." Please let them know that you aren't liberals, this is your conservative station and that you don't think it is funny or a wise business move to advertise on a station that wants to kill their listeners.

Here are a few specific advertisers who Rodgers is the voice of on KSFO.
AT&T (audio link) from 8/30/07
Lexus (audio link) from 8/30/07
Select Comfort (audio link) from 8/30/07


Good luck!

UPDATE: 9/21/07 4:30 pm
Greetings Ron Paul supporters!
It appears that several people have picked up this post about KSFO.

I will politely suggest (as I've stated above) that you do NOT engage with the hosts at KSFO. Do not call them, do not email them. I also want to STRONGLY condemn any kind of threats of violence toward anyone connected with this station. I've said the same to my liberal friends and I'll say the same to you.

I personally am not a fan of profanity, however since you are not part of an advertiser-supported broadcast radio station which has a 7-second delay (and the threat of $350,000 fines over your head), your situation is different. Some may choose to use strong language, that is your choice.

However, no matter how well reasoned, polite, thoughtful (even logical) your comments may be, they are not really interested in hearing from you. I will say the same for management.

ABC Radio management is very much aware of everything these hosts say. In the past management has attacked people who contacted advertisers to alert them to this kind of talk. ABC/Radio Disney had my blog shut down in January of this year simply to prevent advertisers from hearing what they are paying for when advertising on this station.

If any of you college students want to read about ABC Radio/Disney's actions curtailing speech, please note, it was ABC Radio/Disney management who had my blog shut down and my speech silenced using a bogus copyright claim. (link to Electronic Frontier Foundation)

The hosts on KSFO have a history of violent rhetoric. ABC Radio management profits from it so they turn a deaf ear to the violent comments directed at multiple groups of people and individuals. Ron Paul supporters are simply the latest group to be attacked. Make no mistake, people at the highest levels at ABC Radio, Disney and now Citadel Broadcasting know of these comments. They have done nothing, they will do nothing.

That is why in the past I took this information to the advertisers and asked them, "Do these kind of comments reflect your values as an advertiser? Listen for yourself, if not, perhaps this is not the show for you." I did not suggest anyone boycott the advertisers, most advertisers had no way of knowing that they were paying to be associated with these kind of violent, cruel and crude comments. Many advertisers agreed. A large number pulled their ads. This is the marketplace at work.

Note: Some advertisers who never "officially" stopped advertising, but did curtail their purchase on other grounds, have returned. Others who replaced the advertisers who left may have been given assurances that either the hosts have apologized (which Rodgers clearly did not), that they will not talk like that in the future, or that the offending host will no longer read their commercials. As you can hear, none of those assurances appear to have been met.

To aid those who want to politely contact advertisers:
AT&T
Wendy Clark, VP-advertising, AT&T wendy . clark @ att . com

AT&T's dodge in the past to avoid association with Rodgers was to give the commercial reading duties to Melanie Morgan, maybe it was after Morgan threatened to cancel her AT&T business they came back (audio link).

You may want to contact Eric Hausken in AT&T Corporate Citizenship
ehausken @ attnews . us

LEXUS
Deborah Wahl Meyer, Vice President Marketing, Lexus Division

It's the local dealers who buy into the advertising on KSFO. They might be interested when they find out that it's not just liberals KSFO hosts attack, but their own conservative audience.

Select Comfort (Email form)

Sleep Train, Dale Carlsen, (retail sales of Select Comfort beds and a KSFO advertiser (dale @ sleeptrain.com) (Audio of Morgan saying they couldn't torture her into giving up her bed. Nice brand loyalty I suppose, but the mental image of the product being associated with torture isn't really appealing to me.)

Kaiser
Arthur Southam, Senior vice president, Product and Market Management
Debbie Cantu is responsible for this area. debbie . cantu @ kp . org

Kaiser is another advertiser who no doubt was given assurances that their "Thrive" campaign would not be run while violent controversial remarks were made. Maybe they need to review their relationship with KSFO, maybe even with the larger organization if this is how ABC Radio disrespects their wishes.)

You can listen to their podcast to see which other companies are advertisers.

I will write more later, right now it is fascinating to note the process that goes on when the radio hosts have their own words reflected back to them. Today at about 15 minutes into the program the name calling starts, the denial that Rodgers even SAID the words he said. He calls everyone liars for accurately repeating what he said.

First he believes that sincere Ron Paul supporters are misguided.
But the rest of you are:
"psychotic lunatics who are pathologic liars"
Then he says that nobody from other parts of the country would listen to this program.
Of course this contradicts his bragging on 8/31/07 at 5:25 am that people listen on the internet and he hears from people "all over the place". (audio link) I would send you to their podcast of that comment but alas, down the memory hole.

Now what is interesting is how he calls his own comments about Ron Paul supporters, "flat out lies" and says that another comment about him joking about lighting a dog on fire a rumor. Well if it is a rumor, he started it since he said it. (audio link long Officer Vic's memory needs to be jogged since he was the one who made yelping sounds of the burning dog after Lee Rodgers joked about setting its "ass on fire") And you will note that although I'm sure he loves HIS dog, it is Morgan's dog he is joking about burning.

KSFO Hosts Recommend Accused Criminals be Hog-Tied and Set on Fire

As sick and unfunny as that was, Rodgers and Morgan weren't joking back on October 27 of last year when they talked about an accused arsonist. They seriously talked about this,

Rodgers: I say they catch the person, tie 'em to a post and burn 'em. Set 'em on fire,
"Officer Vic.": Yeah.
Rodger: let 'em know what it feels like.
Morgan: Hog-tie 'em first, that would be good.
Rodgers: Yeah, yeah.
Morgan: Campaign finance reports...
Rogers: I'm a compassionate conservative.
Morgan: So am I, so I agree with you. (audio link)

If you wonder why I bring up this old clip, I include it because Rodgers and Morgan never apologized for that either, so one could conclude that management approved of that comment. There was a chance to denounce it on January 12, 2007 during their special broadcast, but they didn't, I will note that apparently the Disney lawyers were in the room and management was listening that day, so if ever there was a time to distance themselves from these comments, that was the time. But they didn't.

I also bring this up because in a sick coincidence in San Francisco on Jan. 12, 2007 "... two women allegedly kidnapped [Jill] May off the street, took her to Candlestick Point, doused her with gasoline and burned her alive -- a slaying that made national news for its utter depravity. " (SF Chronicle Link, Link)

I'm not saying that Morgan and Rodgers' suggestion that people accused of a crime be hog-tied and set on fire had anything to do with the burning of Jill May alive, but when you listen to how casually they talk about and all agree on burning someone alive, you have to wonder how many advertisers would want to have their name associated with these people and this station.
I also like to point out that there is a REASON that responsible broadcasters still say allegedly, some have learned from the Richard Jewell case.

But Mercedes Benz is a sponsor of KSFO. Could you imagine this being printed in a paper? "KSFO hosts recommend accused criminals be hog-tied and set on fire, this comment brought to you by KSFO advertiser, Mercedes Benz." This kind of association passes on the radio because people can't see the connection, even though they can hear it. Yet the hearing connection is just as powerful as the seeing connection.

Finally, for those of you writing advertisers, use your own words and remember, suggesting someone stop sponsoring this kind of talk is very different than telling someone to stop saying what they are saying.

(9-27-2007 5:52 pm Edited typo and extended quote on burning alive alledged arsonist.)

Defending Those who Can't Defend Themselves

One of the coolest kids I know, Allison Hantschel, has a column in the DailySouthtown about the regular attacks on journalists by folks like Rush Limbaugh.

I agree with Allison (Athenae at First-Draft) in her response to USA Today founder Allen Neuharth, who said he thought the idiotic things Rush says were amusing. As I was discussing with the brilliant and media savvy volvodrivingliberal the other day, the power of right-wing talk radio over the public airwaves is not something to dismiss as only fodder for the weak minded. Rush's heuristic techniques and language seeps into the popular culture on both sides. Some of Rush's phrases become anchor phrases that can frame an issue so that we see the phrase but not the underlying deeply disturbing premise.

What do I mean? Here's one example, Rush constantly calls the media "The Drive By Media"

Now what image does that bring up?

Criminals. People with guns who drive by and shoot people. Criminals who should be in jail, not allowed to roam the streets.

And what race of people are the current drive by shooters?

They aren't white mobsters are they? He is comparing them to the current violent murderers who do drive by shootings. This is his casual "joke". In one phrase he compares the media with cowardly, murdering thugs. And he is never called out on it.

When over 108 journalists and 39 media support people have been killed to cover Bush's war, calling them killers is disgusting and disrespectful of their sacrifice.

Here's part of Allison's column.

Limbaugh and his lesser lights, imitators like Mark Belling in Wisconsin and Melanie Morgan in California, have made their bones on mocking, attacking and denigrating.

Ignoring such slights -- laughing them off -- has led us to what New York Times columnist E.J. Dionne called "the rightward press," in which constant pushing from the right-wing end of the political spectrum so intimidates the so-called objective press that it attempts to pre-empt criticism by feigning docility.

Treating hatemongers and advocates of violence (Morgan memorably called for New York Times editor Bill Keller to hang) as performance artists who shouldn't be taken seriously -- respectfully interviewing them as fellow travelers -- is what has led to this state of affairs in which there is literally nothing a conservative can say that will get him or her in trouble.

Ignoring these people -- acting like they don't matter -- allows their influence to grow in the dark like mildew, unchallenged, uncontested.

Read the rest here (link)

OH, and before she explodes into a flurry of, "I never said that!" Here is the audio proof of Morgan saying "Hang 'em". You will of course note there is no, "If tried and convicted and then found guilty" (which is what she and her colleagues have now be trained to say as there legal talisman after I busted them on their violent rhetoric. Listen here. (link)

Melanie Morgan's history of attacking the press is well documented. Criticizing the media for not doing their job is one thing, saying "Hang 'em" is another.

Lee Rodgers Likes that the Chinese Poisoned Your Cat or Dog

This is an actual quote. Listen: audio link

Are some people so black hearted and cruel that they come out in favor of the poisoning of your pets? Yes. Are these people paid by the pet food industry to promote their products? Yes.
Who are these people? One is Lee Rodgers at KSFO, and today, June 12, his new boss, Citadel Broadcasting closes the 2.7 billion dollar deal with Disney.

When confronted what do people like Rodgers say? That they were joking? I've heard sick jokes and I recognize the cadence. Doesn't sound like it to me. But if it is, is calling it a joke really enough cover for this sickness? And is the excuse, "Well I have a pet myself! So clearly I didn't mean it!" Going to fly? So I guess he really doesn't want all cats and dogs dead, just yours and not his.

Purina is a major sponsor of KSFO's Morning program. And if you think that Rodgers will apologize think again. He does NOT apologize for talking about blowing the brains out of humans. (link) audio of Rodgers not apologizing for suggesting the torture and execution of a Lincoln Nebraska man. Link

He never bothered to apologize for saying someone suspected of a crime be burned alive (Melanie Morgan added the hogtied to the burned alive bit). So this isn't just a one time deal.
I'm sure the excuse that the humans did bad things works for some people, but what did a bunch of innocent pets ever do to him?

I do hope that Karen Crawford, the Director-advertising and relationship marketing at Nestle USA or Kathie Day, the Director, Marketing, Purina One, Nestle Purina Petcare understand that associating with these kind of people isn't' really good for their brand.
People with dead pets don't need to buy Purina.

A friend put the email contacts in encrypted form to make it harder for screen scrappers to get the email. You must have javascript enabled to get the info.

Nestlé Purina PetCare Company	Keith Schopp	Public Relations	Checkerboard Square	St. Louis	MO	63164	314-982-1000		Contact
Nestlé Purina PetCare Company	Jim Radt	Marketing Director	Checkerboard Square	St. Louis	MO	63164	314-982-1000		Contact
Nestlé Purina PetCare Company	Karen Crawford	Director-advertising and relationship marketing, Nestle USA	Checkerboard Square	St. Louis	MO	63164	314-982-1000		Contact
Nestlé Purina PetCare Company	Kathie Day	Director, Marketing, Purina One Nestle Purina Petcare	Checkerboard Square	St. Louis	MO	63164	314-982-1000		Contact

Thanks to Special Place in Hell for the javascript encryption!
update 6-12-07: correctly pointed out the NON-apologies and added audio clip

Lee Rodgers' Legacy at KSFO, a Disney ABC Radio affiliate

Farid Suleman
Citadel Broadcasting

Dear Farid:

I know you are super busy this week closing the $2.7 billion dollar deal with Disney for ABC Radio, but after your third glass of Tranya you might want to play a quick game of: Meet Your New Radio Talent!

Today's Talent? Lee Rodgers of KSFO in San Francisco.

I think the most relevant fact to you personally is that Lee Rodgers thinks that "[For Egyptians and other Arab cultures], lying is as natural as breathing" (audio link)

Since you were born in Egypt, I'm guessing that you have heard this kind of statement before. What do you call a person who makes that kind of statement about Arab cultures and Egyptians?

By the way, if you ask Lee about that comment, don't expect an apology. Lee thinks apologies are for other people, not him. Maybe he'll get the program manager to say he regrets Lee said that.

It's not just Rodgers pronouncements about lying Egyptians you should look out for Farid, it's his unrepentant violent rhetoric toward journalists, liberals, and democrats and his anti-Muslim comments that are the most troubling. He now represents YOU to the world.

When confronted with a truly repugnant comment, Rodgers has said he'd say the same thing again. Remember Imus? At least he didn't suggest the losing basketball team be tortured and executed. Yet Rodgers wanted a common thief tortured and executed. What kind of person talks about this kind of violence on publicly broadcast commercially-supported radio? Lee Rodgers does. And with the approval of management, since he never apologized.


Listen to Rodgers as he talks about torturing and blowing the brains out of Kevin Holder, 41 of Lincoln Nebraska. (Audio link)

When I first heard him say those things I looked up the story at the ABC affiliate in the area, KETV channel 7 in Omaha Nebraska. Here is the story link and a screen grab from the story.



Kevin Holder looks like a black man to me Farid. So that is why I wrote that Rodgers talked about torturing a black man. Rodgers said later that he didn't know he was black then, "and I don't know now." It is possible that he didn't know the first time, but after all the advertisers leaving, I find it hard to believe that no one alerted him to the fact that the man was black.

Do Citadel's guidelines cover how to respond to hosts who talk about torturing a specific person and blowing his brains out? Maybe that kind of talk is fine on satellite radio but on commercially supported broadcast radio?

Here is the audio clip from January 12, 2007 where they attempt to explain away their own words. Audio clip.


Rodgers says he'd say the same thing over again. You will note that he characterizes his comment as "hyperbolic" and thinks he is making a "valid point". Which is what? If you were a teacher listening to a student making these kind of comments might you suggest he undergo counseling? Are these the warning signs of someone who will act on his violent rhetoric? Is there a history of violence with this employee?


Two other notes on the audio clip Farid. Rodgers' non-sequitur about the left-loving Castro came out of nowhere, but Morgan's comment was her feeble attempt to ameliorate her own violent rhetoric directed toward Bill Keller and other editors from the New York Times, The Washington Post, LA Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Morgan's specific wording about "if tried and convicted" had nothing to do with Rodgers comment. I recognize the legalese weasel words which demonstrates that she has been warned repeatedly about her violent rhetoric yet continues to act as if only her words on TV or in the newspaper count.

Later, when advertisers heard Rodgers' comments and started leaving, instead of addressing the problem of the hosts, your ABC Radio legal team decided to shut down my blog using a bogus copyright claim.

(BTW, now that you have access to the KSFO's books, you should have your operations people check to see how many advertisers their outrageous comments cost KSFO and ABC Radio. By my count it's 28 major advertisers. I don't know how to calculate the damage to Disney's Brand, but I'm sure you do. Won't it be fun to calculate how much brand equity these people will cost you? )

Rodgers also threatened advertisers with retaliation if they pulled their ads because they didn't want to be associated with his comments. I suppose that is one way to hold onto advertisers, but in my experience advertisers don't like to be threatened.

Finally Farid you may have been told (as I'm sure advertisers were) that KSFO management has dealt with the problem of those nasty bloggers (which is not the real problem, it's the hosts). Yes, KSFO did have a one-time special show, but as I've just demonstrated, rather than use the event to moderate his future rhetoric, he boasts of his violent comments, refuses to retract them and --since there are no consequences -- he will continue to put your advertisers in jeopardy of being associated with future verbal transgressions.

And since some people want new examples, here is a current example of Lee Rodgers wanting the death of others. This time innocent cats and dogs. Listen as he supports the Chinese in their acts of poisoning our pets.

(Audio link)



I can't imagine that advertisers want to be associated with a man who LIKES that China is poisoning our kittens and puppies.

What do you call a person who makes these kinds of statement about innocent animals?

I call him Citadel Broadcasting's newest radio representative to the world! I'm sure you are proud to have him as part of the Citadel family.

Have a great week,
LLAP
Mr. Spocko

39,000 pets may have been hurt by tainted food

How many pet effected by tainted food? Possibly up to 39,000.

So it looks like we have some new data, but want to know what is REALLY interesting. Below is the FIRST AP story.

The Associated Press April 9, 2007, 8:31PM EST

Tainted food may have hurt 39,000 pets

By ANDREW BRIDGES, WASHINGTON

Pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical may have sickened or killed 39,000 cats and dogs nationwide, based on an extrapolation from data released Monday by one of the nation's largest chains of veterinary hospitals.

Banfield, The Pet Hospital, said an analysis of its database, compiled from records collected by its more than 615 veterinary hospitals, suggests that three out of every 10,000 cats and dogs that ate the pet food contaminated with melamine developed kidney failure. There are an estimated 60 million dogs and 70 million cats in the United States, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

The hospital chain saw 1 million dogs and cats during the three months when the more than 100 brands of now-recalled contaminated pet food were sold. It saw 284 extra cases of kidney failure among cats during that period, or a roughly 30 percent increase, when compared with background rates.

Snip: Go to full story here.

Now note and compare it to THIS version (link)

Apr 10, 1:53 AM EDT

Tainted Pet Food-Kidney Illness Link

By ANDREW BRIDGES
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cases of kidney failure among cats rose by 30 percent during the three months that pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical was sold, one of the nation's largest chains of veterinary hospitals reported Monday.

Compare:
Tainted food may have hurt 39,000 pets vs.

Tainted Pet Food-Kidney Illness Link.

Now what is THAT about? The headline didn't just change, the whole first paragraph is different.

Who's putting pressure on whom? I'd ask Media Matters to look into it but they are busy with the whole Imus deal.

Speaking of that, thanks to JP at Welcome to Pottersville for talking about my case on the Kincaid Show today.

The Big 8 Peace Firms vs. The AEI and the Heritage Foundation

Have you noticed that none of the Big 8 peace firms are funding the push for a diplomatic solution in Iran through their multi-billion dollar infrastructure. Why?

Because their are no Big 8 peace firms! There is no multi-billion dollar infrastructure pushing peace.

You have a billion dollar think tank industry hammering the media and co-opting an entire broadcast medium because it is seen as a profitable way to keep their business growing. And EVEN if it turns out that MILLIONS of people are damaged by their views and policies, they are still seen as a success by the people funding them because their donor foundations and corporations are doing better. The funders of AEI and the Heritage Foundation are getting more money and since they are the ones paying for things, life is lush.

War. Pushing it. Big Time.
Check out this AEI and Heritage Foundation info from the good people at Sourcewatch.
Donate to the Center for Media and Democracy or join them. I've been a member for years and I love Stauber's and Sheldon Rampton's books.

AEI Funding

Between 1985 and 2001, AEI received $29,653,933 from the following funding sources:

• Carthage Foundation
• Castle Rock Foundation
• Earhart Foundation
• John M. Olin Foundation, Inc.
• Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
• Philip M. McKenna Foundation, Inc.
• Scaife Foundations (Scaife Family, Sarah Mellon Scaife, Carthage)
• Smith Richardson Foundation

Amounts contributed by the Coors Foundation are not included.

Funding has come from many other sources, such as Amoco, the Kraft Foundation, and the Procter & Gamble Fund. AEI, unlike some think tanks, has no endowment - something which has led the organization into financial embarrassment in 1985 when its operating budget outstripped its donations by 25 percent (Newsweek, 1984).

Corporate donations are not public, but it is known that during 1997, Philip Morris contributed $100,000 to the Institute [90]; and during 2005, ExxonMobil contributed $252,500 (including an estimated 50% of ExxonMobil's donation to the AEI Brookings "Joint Center".) [91].

Heritage Foundation Funding

The Heritage Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation. In its annual report it states that "we rely on the financial contributions of the gemeral public: individuals, foundations and corporations. We accept no government funds and perform no contract work." [2]

[edit]

2004 Budget

In calendar year 2004 the Heritage Foundation spent over $36.3 million on its operations. That year the foundation raised over $21.3million from individual contributors and $8.46 million from foundations. [3]

While corporations provided only $1.98 million - 6% of Heritage’s contributions in 2004 - they none the less have significant interest in the foundations policy output. There's defence contractor Lockheed Martin, finance companies such as the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America and Merrill Lynch, auto companies including Honda and Ford, drug and medical companies Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, America’s Health Insurance Plans, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Pfizer, PhRMA, the oil company ChevronTexaco, United Parcel Service and, chipping in over $100,000 each, Talk Radio Network and Microsoft. [4]

[edit]

Historical Funding

Between 1985 and 2003, Media Transparency reports that the following funders provided $57,497,537 (unadjusted for inflation) to the Heritage Foundation [5]:

• Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
• Scaife Foundations: Sarah Mellon Scaife, Scaife Family, Carthage
• John M. Olin Foundation, Inc.
• Castle Rock Foundation
• JM Foundation
• Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation
• Philip M. McKenna Foundation, Inc.
• Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation
• Roe Foundation
• Rodney Fund
• Ruth and Lovett Peters Foundation
• Orville D. and Ruth A. Merillat Foundation
• Bill and Berniece Grewcock Foundation
• Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
• William H. Donner Foundation
• Walton Family Foundation
• Armstrong Foundation
• John Templeton Foundation
• William E. Simon Foundation

Right Web says of the Heritage Foundation:

"The foundation received $2. 2 million from the Federation of Korean Industries in the early 1980s. Initially it was believed this donation came from the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (which would make the Heritage Foundation a foreign agent of Korea), but the Federation later stated that the donation came at the encouragement of the KCIA."

"The Heritage Foundation's income has increased every year since 1981. The progression has been: 1981--$7. 1 million; 1982-$8. 6 million; 1983--$10. 6 million; 1984--$10. 7 million; 1985-$11. 6 million; 1986--$14. 0 million; 1987--$14. 3 million; and 1988--$14. 6 million. In 1988, foundations provided 38 percent of Heritage's income, individuals provided 34 percent, and corporations gave 17 percent; the remainder came from investments and sales of materials."[6]

[edit]

Case studies

• Heritage Foundation: Capitalizing on Hurricane Katrina

Talk Radio Wants War in Iran

When I talk about inciting violence on the radio it was often focused on individuals as well as groups. Stories about individuals as targets of violence was something that people could grasp as just plain wrong. But equally disturbing is the constant drum beat to use violence as the first and ONLY option in dealing with all foreign policy issues. Violence is THE knee jerk reaction of neocons and talk radio hosts. It makes them feel "manly".


Do they not feel the impact of this war? They must not.

Why else would they want to whip up the people for yet another war?

I'm getting really sick of this "who is a real man?" question. Calling Edwards "The Breck" girl as a slur. (I wonder how many overweight balding pundits would love to have Edward's good hair and looks?) And how would a "real man" respond to a hostage crisis?

They will bring up Jimmy Carter and misrepresent what happened and HOW it happened and WHO did what when. They will forget the REAL role their god Ronnie played in that affair.

It really is all about THEIR "masculinity" or their idea of what it takes to be a man. People who think that bombing people is the right response to any situation are not strong.

Do you care more about getting the 15 people out of harms way or do you care more about "looking weak"? Do they care more about "sending a message" than saving the messenger?

What if you knew that you had a solution that would make you look weak to the pundits but would definitely guarantee that those people would live AND you wouldn't have to deal with all the mess that a bombing run would start? Would you take it?

And WHO are you afraid of calling you a coward? Rush Limbaugh? Sean Hannity? People who have never served, who have to use chemicals to get it up and get off?

You want to prove you are strong and SMART? Figure out a way to get them out without getting into another war. That is what a real man does.

A real man worries less about what Chris Matthews thinks of him and more about the lives of his troops. A real man cares more about effective action that being called weak by some entertainer.

Only the people who are REALLY insecure care more about the opinions of some chattering class than real lives.

McCain Brand Slippage on "Straight Talk Express"

A good friend of my bragged about how the ties he bought were all silk but he only paid 2 dollars a piece for them. They looked 100% polyester to me and I wondered how they could be all silk at that low price. He flipped the tie over and showed me the brand name label on the tie.
"All Silk"®

Of course the tie was made out of polyester, but the large brand name label said "All Silk"®

I think about that story and the John McCain Straight Talk Express.®

How do you know that he's giving you the straight talk? Well, you are ON the Straight Talk Express®, so you must be getting straight talk!

Media Matters shows ABC's Tapper gushing about McCain as a straight talker because he's back on the Straight Talk Express® Bus.

And as worrierking from the Media Matters comments section points out:

Straight Talk My Ass.

[link to thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com]

Just because you name your bus the Straight Talk Express"® doesn't mean anything, except to people who are easily lead by apperances. You need to ask "Is the outside appearance consistent with inside?" If it isn't, stop referring to the outside as if it reflects the inside, unless you are being sarcastic.

If you call your self a Pro-Troop group but you really are the, "Get Cindy Sheehan, Stalking Tour" then the media should ask you, "Why the anger at Cindy Sheehan. Did she kill your son? Why the promoting of potential conflict with Code Pink? Are you really more concerned with supporting the troops or making Cindy Sheehan and Code Pink look like criminals?" I hope the media asks THESE questions of the Move America Forward "pro-troop" rally on Saturday.

And if they don't ask those questions maybe they should check their ties, they are probably "All Silk"®

"Drive by media" is what Rush calls 'em

What does he mean when he says "Drive by media"?

What is Rush saying with that phrase? Simple: the media are criminals. They will shoot you and run away. They are killers and cowards and they are to be caught and prosecuted.

Also, who are the typical drive-by shooters in our current world? Are they 1930's white gangsters? No. When you answer that question you see yet another Rush Limbaugh bias come out. 15 million Rush listeners are now calling people (including excellent journalists like Dana Priest) the "drive by media". Are they really criminals, cowards and murderers who shoot people with automatic machine guns and drive away? No. But that is the association Rush wants people to have.

When you look at how the right looks at and works with the MSM and the left does, you can see a difference.

They want them hanged, we want them to do their jobs. They view them as the enemy and use analogies of killers and thugs to describe them.

The role of journalist is important. Dana Priest, who is one of my new favorites, was quickly attacked by talk radio. Think about what she (and the Salon editors two years before) did on that Walter Reed story. That is important work that will help make changes that will positively impact a lot of lives. (It also negatively impacted a few, but sadly, not the people who continued to let it happen while they were saying, "We support our troops!")

But as Jane Hamsher mentioned, the right wing half wits like to attack the media especially when they are picking on their authoritarian Daddy.



Note: Update for minor spelling edit by Interrobang.

Melanie Morgan of ABC Disney Radio Uses Parent's Grief to Sell Mattresses

Yesterday Melanie Morgan and ABC Disney Radio station cynically used the anger and grief of a dead soldier's parent to sell more Sleep Train mattresses, mortgages, carpet from Home Depot, cars from Mercedes Benz, pick-ups from Dodge, and fast food from Burger King and McDonald's (all current KSFO advertisers).

How? By using the TV media's need for visual conflict narratives about the war and the personal cost to people and twisting it to show anger at peace activists who created a memorial in Lafayette to the dead soldiers in Iraq. I have to hand it to them, it was perfect for TV. ( If only that burly activist had smacked down that gray haired senior citizen! BTW, I wonder what Yellow Elephant unit he serves with?)

The TV media lapped it up. Link to ABC coverage of the "Cindy Sheehan Stalking Posse"
Kind of sick eh?

You can really hear the smugness in the KSFO ABC/Disney employee's voices over their media "coup" this morning.

They are SO PROUD of themselves. You see folks, when the right uses the anger and grief of parents over the death of a son to attractive media attention they MAKE MONEY ON IT! They really showed Cindy Sheehan how it was done! Way to go ABC/Disney!

NOTE: ABC/Disney is neck deep in this stunt, the rally was at the ABC studios, it's all over KSFO's website and Morgan promoted it in her dual role as ABC Disney radio employee "talent" as well as Move America Forward's Chairwoman.

• I wonder if Morgan's constant begging for donations for MAF during the show counts as a trade-out? Did the "charity" MAF pay for that air time? Or since this is clearly sponsored by ABC/Disney and Morgan is both the MAF chairwoman and an ABC employee, is the promise that revenue will be realized after the promotion results in media coverage which will supposedly lead to hirer ratings? I'm sure the financial wizards will figure it out.

This morning Lee, Mel and OV were simply GIDDY over how they pulled one over on the TV media coverage of the "Cindy Sheehan Stalking Posse". Of course two seconds later they showed their contempt for TV media. (Note to TV news directors: they only say th