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.)

Bush Image Control. That is NOT a Beer!

U.S. President George W. Bush (C) is joined by President of the Washington Nationals' Stan Kasten (L) and Nationals' General Manager Jim Bowden as they watch the Washington Nationals' baseball team play in Washington, July 5, 2007. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES)

When Pansypoo over at First-Draft saw this image her question was:
A. "who does he think he's fooling?"

Q. The media. And 28 percent of the people all of the time.

I'm glad nobody asked him what it was. I'm sure we would have a logical explanation like the bump in his jacket, during the debate. And the media would just look silly asking the question, and it would be disrespectful, and not relevant. Because they really want to focus on serious stuff like haircuts. No, they don't care what an alcoholic is drinking out of a paper bag at a ball game. Because EVEN if it was beer, I'm sure that they would easily find a reason to excuse it.

WingNut Excuses if it was Revealed Bush was Drinking Again

1. It's not a crime to drink beer!
   
   
2. Prove it.
   
   
3. Show us the empty can.
   
   
4. You can't prove it can you?
   
   
5. State your sources
   
   
6. You have no proof.
   
   
7. It was near beer anyway. I'll bet you want to test the left over liquid to confirm it really was near beer. Tin foil hat time!
   
   
8. Just because the President occasionally has a drink doesn't make him an alcoholic. He never admitted to being an alcoholic anyway.
   
   
9. I suppose you want a special investigator to find out "the truth".
   
   
10. The AA method of never drinking again is not the only way to deal with alcoholism. Besides, the President never attended AA meetings.
    
    
11. I thought the liberals would have more sympathy, you are always calling it a disease, maybe your compassion only applies to people who are Hollywood liberals like Lindsey Lohan who go to rehab and get a free pass.
    
    
12. Hey didn't your beloved "San Francisco Values" Mayor have a drinking problem? You don't kick him out of office for it or his woman problems.
    
    
13. You are hypocrites if you don' t demand that Gavin resign for his drinking problem! Besides do you really think that they would let Bush drink in public?
    
    
14. This is a non-issue and the fact that liberals are focusing on it proves they have no new ideas or solutions.
    
    
15. They just hate our troops and many of the troops voted for Bush because he's their kind of guy, a beer drinkin' guy.
    
    
16. He's the kind of guy you could have a beer with, you are just jealous because nobody wanted to have a beer with Al Gore or John Kerry.
    
    
17. Hillary probably says she drinks beer, but really drinks Cosmopolitans or Mojitos like those gay men and women in Sex in the City.
    
    
18. A real Presidential candidate would drink American beer, or whiskey, neat. That's what Fred Thompson drinks.
    
    
19. In heaven, where Bush is going, there is no beer. That's why he drinks it here.
    
    
20. Bush is just getting back to his roots as a guy who drinks beer with other real men.
    
    
21. I don't see what the problem is, it's not like he is "on-duty".
    
    
22. He wasn't drunk! There were no breath tests! There was no proof of his BAC! Besides, in case of an emergency President Cheney would have acted.
    
    
23. It's not like there were any real US threats the week of the Fourth of July anyway. The US threats were vague and didn't tell the date, time, or methods of attack. The threats are all over in Britain, Iraq and Afghanistan because we are safe here because he's the President.
    
    
24. When Hillary is President we won't be safe and all the Presidential soberness in the world won't stop the terrorists from attacking once she is President and wants to "use her words."
    
    
25. I'm sure it's a one time thing.
    
    
26. Now I suppose you will bring up the pretzel incident, can't you people "move on" and get over it all ready?
    
    
27. Lots of sober people get a pretzel caught in their throat, pass out and hit their head on a coffee table. Alcohol had NOTHING to do with it.
    
    
28. On WorldNetDaily and in the Washington Times they have hundreds of stories about people passing out from pretzels, but the drive by media never report on it so you never hear about it. You only hear about it on Drudge, talk radio and Fox-- thank god they exist or we would never know anything.
    
    
29. There goes your Bush Derangement Syndrome!
    
    
30. You call Rush a drug addict all the time, where is your compassion for him and his substance abuse problems?
    
    
31. Rush was sympathetic to Al Gore III for his drug and speeding problem, where was your sympathy for Rush?
    
    
32. Shouldn't you give us credit because Rush has sympathy for Al Gore III?
    
    
33. Haven't you ever drank a beer on a hot day?
    
    
34. Let me guess, you drink a Pink Lady when it's hot outside.
    
    
35. I'll bet John Edward's drinks mint "jewlips" or Pink Ladies when he goes to polo matches, he wouldn't be caught watching a real man's sport.
    
    
36. Did you notice it was an American beer Bush drank, not some foo foo French beer?
    
    
37. The bag was there to cover up the near beer because the moonbats went nuts over the shot of him drinking the near beer in Germany. The White House just wanted to avoid useless speculation from crackpots with keyboards.
    
    
38. Why shouldn't the President be able to drink a beer like the regular guys at the park?
    
    
39. This will actually boost his ratings., everyone sort of likes guys who drink beer at the ball game, except for the real whack-jobs.

Police Baffled By Bottle-Shaped Paper Bag

April 21, 1999 | Issue 35•15

BRIDGEPORT, CT—Local police officials are "utterly baffled" by a bottle-shaped paper bag that local resident Jimmy Kilty held while sitting on an East Side strip-mall bench Monday.

"It's a real mystery," said Sgt. Ted Vittorio of the Bridgeport Police Department. "Judging from the way he kept putting the paper bag up to his mouth, you'd think he was drinking something out of it. But obviously he wasn't, since paper can't hold liquid. It would soak right through instantly."

Vittorio said he was making his normal patrol of the area when he noticed Kilty clutching the strange bag.

"It's part of my job to monitor for loitering and public intoxication, so when I spotted Kilty sitting on the bench, I slowed down to survey the scene," Vittorio said. "I thought maybe he was drinking, but, as it turned out, he was just repeatedly putting a paper bag up to his face. Such behavior may be strange, but it's certainly not illegal, so I moved on."

Enlarge Image

The mysterious paper bag that has confounded Sgt. Ted Vittorio (inset) and other police officers.

Read the rest of this Onion story here. The Onion, America's Finest News Source.

UPDATED 07/07/07: Added a few excuses I expect to hear and I formated them to be easier to read.
("They Moonbats edit the posts where they make up stuff because they can't handle criticism.")

Sen. Durbin Questions Duane Ekedahl, Pet Food Institute

Things I want you to notice about this clip are listed below: Click on any image to play or download link

Note how Senator Durbin lays out the case and then doesn't let incorrect statements or the redefining of critical words go unchallenged.

1. What does "regulation" mean to the Pet Food Institute? To the pet food industry? Is that the same as the public's understanding of what regulation means?
2. How does "regulation" happen in practical terms?
3. Who is doing the "regulation"? How often?
   
   
4. What are the penalties for failure? Consequences for failure?
   
   
5. How often does this "regulation" happen?
6. Who can effectively, without industry bias, oversee food safety regulation?
   
   

• Who dies when there is NO real oversight and NO real consistent regulation?
• Who profits?
  

Also note the simple questions that couldn't be answered.
Note statements of fact made by Ekedahl.

Keep that claim of 100% of the incoming wheat gluten inspected in mind in the days to come.

And finally, what is the difference between inspecting and testing?

On Civility and Blogging

In reading posts about me (because I really am that self obsessed) I came across David Allen at www.thoughtcrimes.org. His writing and the writing of his colleagues such as Pamela Troy are very rich and thoughtful. Their analysis is typically deeper and more thought provoking (there's that word again!) than most and I highly recommend you check them out.

Most recently David took on the topic of Civility and Blogging, specifically regarding the bloggers hired to help on the John Edwards presidential campaign. Warning, the link to the article contains vulgar language (for those who are pearl clutchers or are legitimately or seriously offended by such language). I'm considering my own post on the topic, but here is part of his post first.

What did these women do that was so offensive? They spoke the truth about some of the most vile individuals on the Right. Then those very same individuals clutched their pearls and got the vapors because these women used "vulgar" language expressed and themselves in a blunt fashion that these self-anointed guardians of civility deemed "uncivil".

As my friend Lex said, "Civility is the last refuge for the bully whose victim has started to fight back."

Civility is fine if everyone is going to play by the rules. But the rules were tossed out years ago. And there is a word for politicians who insist on being civil while their opponent uses every filthy, scummy trick in the book to win; and that word is LOSER.

Since I've been tied to talk radio and blogging I want to point out the DIFFERENCE in the venues and the various rules that apply or don't apply. One of us is in a regulated medium with obscenity and indecency rules not only at the FCC level but at the company and sponsor level. Hint, it's not bloggers.

But I understand the underlying point of all the pearl clutching. They are using it because it works, that they are hypocrites about it doesn't faze them. That they can drive the conversation in the media to where they want it is the goal. Instead of talking about two America's and the tremendous economic insecurity in the middle class and future impact of a massive deficit, we spent four days talking about "civility". Score one for the pearl clutchers.

We need to understand that there are multiple layers and players in this game, and that one of their goals is derailing the important painful topics with ginned up "controversy".

Jamison Foser Explains it All to You

An EXCELLENT recap and analysis of this week's news stories by Jamison Foser of Media Matters. The whole article is excellent, but I especially liked the second section: The media's blogger double standard. Did I say how excellent it is? No? Well it really is excellent.

I'm also waiting for Eric Boehlert's analysis next week on the radio, blog and main stream media's assault on Nancy Pelosi under the Clinton rules of journalmalism.