Lee Rodgers Calls for Genocide of Iraqis, Radio Industry Honors Him

Sent to Radio Hall of Fame Inductees 9-28-2009 and other radio insiders.

Sometime during Lee Rodgers' acceptance speech at the Bay Area Radio Broadcast Hall of Fame, I'd like to interrupt him. The sound system would be hacked and instead of Rodgers' acceptance speech you will hear... Lee Rodgers. Only this time it will be what he broadcasts on the KSFO airwaves and to the world via the Internet. You would hear:

Rodgers calling for genocide of the Iraq people

"You people do what ever you want to each other and [Iraq] just don't give us a reason to come back or we'll massacre every last damn one of you." (audio link) longer link MP3

Would you honor someone who called for the massacre of everyone in the nation of Israel?

Rodgers calling for the death of millions of Muslims in Indonesia

"Indonesia is really just another enemy Muslim nation. ... You keep screwing around with stuff like this we are going to kill a bunch of you. Millions of you."
(audio link)

Would you toast someone suggesting millions of Christians be killed?

Rodgers talking about killing a person who disagrees with his political views.

"We'll trace you back, run you down and kill you like a mad dog." (audio link)

Rodgers calling for the torture and death of Kevin Holder.

"Now you start with the Sear's Diehard the battery cables connected to his testi cles and you entertain him with that for awhile and then you blow his bleeping head off."

Rodgers calling for liberals to be hanged (link)
Rodgers calling for politicians and bureaucrats to be hanged (link)

Rodgers, sponsored by BMW and Mercedes, thinks that torture and execution of convicted criminals is not only acceptable, but entertaining. (Oh, and he didn't apologize for calling for the torture and execution of Kevin Holder when he had a chance, he said he would say the same thing again. link)

This is who is being honored on Tuesday.

When Speaker Pelosi talks about violent rhetoric you don't need to watch Glenn Beck for examples, just listen to Lee Rodgers. Pelosi's talking about what's coming from inside her district, as much as what's being said nationally.

When you read stories about anger at tea parties or Census bureau workers hanged with FED written on their chest, instead of looking "out there" for a source for a violent rhetoric directed toward government workers, just check out the morning show on KSFO (or his fill in host Brian Sussman in the evenings).

If you want to capture antipathy toward all Muslims, his is as fresh today as it was years ago. Don't believe some "crack pot with a keyboard?" Download and listen to the first 37 minutes from Friday's Sept. 25th five o'clock hour from KSFO own podcast page (link) You will note that when he says something nasty about Muslims his retort is to hope CAIR is taking notes -- as if only Muslims care when their religion is being misrepresented and demonized.

Fomenting violence toward multiple individuals and groups is what KSFO and Rodgers' program has been about for years (that and name calling, talks about men's genitals, and "comedy" skits about the President having an al sex with his wife (link)

That is the modern KSFO brand.

Why do I care about what is broadcast over our public airwaves? Because I think that we have responsibilities as citizens to say something when we hear calls to kill an entire group of innocent people based on their religion, race or country. If ignoring this kind of violent rhetoric gives it tacit approval, what does active approval of it say?

Does hateful rhetoric really lead to violence? History gives us the clear answer: yes

You all know the power of radio to enlighten, engage or enrage. It can move people to action. To ignore that is to ignore it's power. As industry insiders you chose to induct Lee Rodgers into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame because apparently there is no Hall of Shame. As the violence of one group of Americans against another grows in the next 3 years, you might want to consider what role you are playing in encouraging this violence.


Enjoy your lunch.

Spocko

Conseratives: Skip Flu Shots. Gateway to ObamaCare

This just in!

Dear Fellow Conservatives:

Please don't get flu shots this year. Why? It's socialized medicine! Worse, it is the gateway to ObamaCare.

1) You can't trust the anti-virus. Remember, this is the federal government we are talking about, they can't do anything right. The FDA picks the strains of flu that might hit. Since the bloated government program known as the Federal Drug Administration doesn't let the private anti-virals makers decide they often get it wrong. Unless you incubated the virus yourself you can't trust it. You wouldn't want the DMV to create your flu vaccine, yet the Government basically does just that with flu shots!

2) You are healthy now. Getting a government flu shot is just like getting government health care insurance. Keep the Government out of your Body! The government has NO business mixing up a bunch of viruses in an egg, letting it ferment and then injecting the goo in you!

3) Like all things the Obama administration does, they aren't telling you the whole story.
The odds are that the swine flu won't reach you. You don't live in filthy close quarter conditions like some people. As long as you state away from those people you will be fine.

4) Unlike past administrations, the Obama administration will be giving out two flu shots. One filled with the FDA guesses and one with swine flu. Or so they say. Do you really think that a man who won't reveal his birth certificate (vs. certificate of live birth) would tell you the whole story? We don't think so Barry.

What they aren't telling you is that the flu shots will be used to start tracking people's health so that when ObamaCare comes around they will know who you are and where to find you for "end of life counseling"

In sum, flu shots are a waste of time for anyone who is a good conservative who wants smaller government. Protect yourself from being infected with "anti-virus" shots. Tell all your conservative friends. Let's ensure that Obama's first attempt at socialized medicine fails!

Remember, nowhere in the Constitution does it say the federal government can give you a flu shot.

God Bless America.

Be sure to ask your conservative friends if they are going to reject their socialized medicine flu shot.

Preparing for When Someone Shoots at Obama

Secret Service Secrets: Obama Threats Up 400 Percent

A new book by Newsmax Chief Washington Correspondent Ronald Kessler features startling revelations about current and former U.S. presidents, including Barack Obama.

"In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes With Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect," released Tuesday, discloses that threats against the president have increased dramatically — by a staggering 400 percent since Obama entered the White House.

Photos from Tea Parties in Modesto .

I'm quoting NewsMax, a rightwing news source so I can say, "Even the very conservative publication NewsMax admits the increase in threats to President Obama have increased 400 percent over previous Presidents."

I've been thinking about how to organize our media response for the next violent attack directed at one of our political leaders. Sadly nobody is doing this, and someone should, because the right wing has a strategy after every shooting. What is it?

After ever shooting the right wing media people get on the air and say, "Let's not politicize this!" (as they politicize it).

Then they scream, "The Gun Grabbers are going to try and take our guns!"

They will be quick to point out that all their violent rhetoric directed toward liberals and Democrats means nothing and liberals said the exact same thing about Bush! They will pretend that showing up with a weapon at a Presidential appearance is exactly the same as wearing a t-shirt against the war. They will say, "I don't know what Nancy Pelosi is talking about! Swastikas? At the tea parties?" They will just deny the reality of what they said and work to avoid any responsibility.

And mostly the media will buy it. As my friend David Neiwert from Crooks and Liars and Orcinus said in his excellent essay:

And what we know from experience about volatile, unstable actors like them is that they can be readily induced into violent action by hateful rhetoric that demonizes and dehumanizes other people. And thanks to human nature and those same freedoms, we will certainly always have fearmongering demagogues among us. But the purveyors of such profoundly irresponsible rhetoric need to be called on it -- especially when they hold the nation's media megaphones.

Then last Friday Brian Sussman and "Officer Vic" on KSFO were mocking Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi when she got choked up about violent rhetoric. She said:

"We are a free country, and this balance between freedom and safety is one that we have to carefully balance," Pelosi began. Then out of nowhere, startling the reporters gathered at her weekly press conference, she almost instantly teared up as she recalled the unnamed events long ago in San Francisco.

"I saw this, myself, in the late '70s in San Francisco," she said. This kind of rhetoric was very frightening, and it created a climate in which violence took place."

Read more:

I told Greg Sargent at the Washington Post for me it's not a question of if, but when someone gets off a shot at the President or a high ranking political figure. And at that point the right wing media in all its forms will do what they always do, pretend that they have nothing to do with it. But they will always bear the moral and ethical culpability involved in their irresponsible speech.

This show is on Wednesday Night. On Fox

Cheerios try out for the Glee Club. The song is "Say a Little Pray For Me"

What's Wrong with Brian Sussman?

I once asked my friend PTCruiser why he personally found Brian Sussman so offensive. He said he heard him making a horrific comment about Senator Paul Wellstone after he died in a plane crash. He thought to himself, "What's wrong with this guy?"

I don't have the exact quote that Sussman gave on the day Wellstone died in October 2002. But I do have his recent comment about Senator Teddy Kennedy right after he died. While talking about Kennedy's body as it was being prepared to be interred in Arlington as show in the photo above, Sussman said:

"So Ted was shovel ready and he, I mean it's over right?"

- Brian Sussman, KSFO/ABC Radio/Citadel on Senator Ted Kennedy following his memorial service. August 31, 2009 at 5:11AM
(audio link)

Sussman, show above holding the Holy Bible, in a discussion with "Officer Vic".

There is old brand persistence with Sussman because most people saw him doing the weather on TV in the Bay Area. When I repeat some of his actual comments to people who remember him from TV they are shocked and can't believe it.

Liberals don't want to believe the guy who did "Brian's Kids" could be capable of such cruel and sick comments. I show them evidence of multiple cruel and sick comments and they say, "It's just an act. He's just doing it for the money." They can't imagine someone talking like this for free.

The desire to believe the best in people is a positive trait many of us liberals share. If I convince them that he actual says the comments and he actually means the comments the next suggestion is, "Well he's probably good to his kids."

All these attempts to find the good heart hiding under the vicious comments says more about them than about Sussman. I don't know about his personal life, I focus on what he says over and over again on commercially supported broadcast radio. This is the Sussman that broadcast radio listeners hear. This is the Sussman that advertisers associate with, not what he says at home to his kids.

Last week KNEW dropped Michael Savage. One of the groups I advised, Hate Hurts America helped make that possible. When hosts become a liability and not an asset it causes corporate America to re-examine their programming. Sadly, not because of what they say, but because of the revenue they generate.

A host with good ratings but no revenue is like a red shirt on an away mission. They serve a purpose but unlike the stars, they aren't going to make it to the end of the show.

But what about management that keeps supporting money losing "talent"? What is their excuse? How do they justify the support? Might it be because they agree with the host? If they can't hide behind the money, they need to look at their own culpability in supporting the sick comments from these people.

• This is who you stand with.
• This is who you associate with.
• Is this who you really are?
• Is this what you really believe in?

The question is no longer what is wrong with Brian Sussman, the question is, "What is wrong with you?"

Oh, if you want to get a mortgage from AccessBanc? Call 1 (800) 661-2765 or (408) 377-9909 or the Brian Sussman special number (on his ad) 866-666-6280. Ask for Greg Lucia. But don't expect to get one if you are a Democrat!

Glee! My new Favorite TV show

Funny. Fun. Happy.

Jane Lynch is great. "Your resentment is delicious."

If you want to check out some of my favorite musical scenes? 21:36, 30:00 and 42:10.
Enjoy.

There Are No Crazy People at My Tea Party

Photo by Zach Alexander

Euphronius' Top 5 list of the Numbers 1-5.

1. 3
2. 2
3. 1
4. 5
5. 4

euphronius |

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Top three things about having ADD:
1.
Iwonder

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Top three things about having ADD
1.
2. Oooh. Shiny!
Adam Hominem

Angry Mob confronts Senator Al Franken on Health Care

This is a WONDERFUL clip. I knew Al would be great at this kind of discussion. I listened to him talk with his self-proclaimed Dittohead friend for years. When watching the video, note how he addressed the right-wing talking points.

BTW, you will note the phrase "angry mob" I used that on purpose.
1) That is how the videographer described them, especially in the moments before he started filming.
2) As several people at boingboing pointed out this IS "Minnesota Nice" angry.

Abuse of Power In Radio

Radio is a powerful medium. TV has the glamor and the big bucks, print gets the intellectual respect. But radio is the hottest, most emotional medium. Ira Glass says, "Radio is our most visual medium." He's right. It can also be our most personal and powerful. I think that is why I find the use and abuse of a broadcast radio license so infuriating. I think that Ira would agree with me. (By the way Ira, call me.) People who abuse their broadcast license hurt the rest of the medium.

With power should come responsibility. I think a lot of people would agree with this. The right loves to talk about the rule of law. Submit to authority. When you break the law you should suffer the consequences. I've heard them say that on right-wing radio. They must believe it. Correct?

Nah. If you have money and smart lawyers you don't have to suffer the consequences. Especially if you can latch onto some "higher ideal" to defend your law breaking.

Image by Fish2000.

If I describe an action to someone on the right wing and ask them if this is breaking the law they might say, 'Yes. That is breaking the law." And if I then ask what the punishment should be they might say, "The person should be fined and fired for breaking the law." (They are very big on the right of corporation to fire people.)

But when this law breaking is about them? Suddenly the rules change. They will run to the lawyers and look for an out. Punishment is different for them vs. the generic (read liberal) law breaker. (This is so common we even have a phrase for it, "It's okay if you are a Republican" IOKIYAR)

And predicting what will happen in the future isn't really gratifying to me, it' s almost too easy. But I'll predict it anyway. I'm going to demonstrate right wing radio people breaking laws. In two areas. They will run to their lawyers who will defend them mightily. Previous one case in the same vein went all the way to the Supreme Court. Where they lost. Where their favorite Justice ruled against them and their view.

They see no irony in this. They are like Nixon that way. When the President Republican does it, that means it is not illegal.

They won't admit they have broken the law. But they have.

Alizee Smilling and Singing about Juliette

Here is a high quality video of her singing her new song Mademoiselle Juliette