Randi Rhodes suspended from Air America

Click on the YouTube video above, and you'll quickly see and hear why I despise most talk radio, on the right and the left. Randi Rhodes has joined a long list of both liberal and conservative morons who I cannot stand spending 10 minutes listening to - most of it is about attacking and name calling. I used to think that Air America Radio was above most of this, but my naïvetay has received a not-so-subtle dose of reality as of late with what passes for on-air talent at the liberal network these days.

Quite frankly, Thom Hartman, Bill Press and Ed Schultz are the only ones I have any use for. And Stephanie Miller.

Lynn Samuels would make a freight train take a dirt road - her voice is quite possibly the worst I have ever heard on any network, ever. I don't mean to play attack dog myself - she can't help how her voice sounds, but her pure obnoxiousness makes it all the more tougher to endure.

Alex Bennett is another one that drives me crazy, so I don't complain, I just don't listen. He goes out of his way to say that he hates Democrats as much as he hates Republicans. Well, good for you, Alex, but you are working for Air America Radio. Thinking for yourself is always a good thing, but I don't tune in to her his screeds against all politicians of any stripe. Please.

And now we have Randi Rhodes - what a sad example she's setting for liberals and progressives. I constantly am complaining about the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage and all the rest about their incessant attacks and demonizing of anyone even a nanometer left of center, much less everyone else who doesn't carry the GOP party line, 24-7.

Well, Rhodes is no better. I'd like to know exactly what she thinks she's accomplishing by attacking Hillary with so much gusto. She can't possibly be considering voting for McSame if Hillary is the nominee, can she?

I was just on Air America's Website, and I was reading the comments that follow the announcement of her suspension, and they make for an interesting read, no doubt. Sure, Rhodes is free to say what she would like - we do, after all, have a little something called the First Amendment. But, that doesn't mean that Air America is under any obligation to make her voice heard. There is a thing called standards, and what does it hurt for Air America to take a stand? After all, she couldn't get away with saying stuff like that if she were on terrestrial radio, and most agree it's a good thing that people can't go around saying "fuck this" and "fuck that" on radio that is available to everyone over public airwaves.

Yes, she was saying this during a comedy routine, but AAR is correct in discipling her; broadcasting personalities can't simply make comments like these and not expect to be reprimanded. How long do you think Wolf Blitzer would be employed if during a stand up comedy act he called Ann Coulter "a stupid c---"? Or how about Jonathan Alter of Newsweek, who is a political columnist - what if he called Condi Rice "a stupid bitch" during a comedy sketch? He'd be out of a job tomorrow. The reason is simple - Blitzer and Alter are both reflections of the very public media they work for, and inappropriate, hateful comments would probably be viewed in a very negative light by many of the viewers and readers of those respective media.

I do agree that free speech and censorship are both valid concerns and must be monitored closely, but there are standards that most media will abide by, and evidently, according to AAR, she violated them.

What's more, Rhodes' comments represent the kind of hate speech, as I've mentioned, that the right-wing talking heads engage in just about every day, and Progressive and liberal bloggers the world over (yours truly included) vilify them for it. Isn't it possible for any nationally known broadcaster of any political stripe to comment on a candidate or an issue without it turning into fifth-grade name calling?

Just a thought.

Alex Bennett, allow me to introduce you to the First Amendment

I occasionally listen to Alex Bennett on Sirius Left, but this morning the liberal commentator was over the top, even for him. He started out by saying that Scooter Libby should be set free.

Really? That's completely absurd, but I'll have more on that in a separate post in a minute.

What annoyed me even more than Bennett's Libby comments, though, was his take on Ann Coulter. Yesterday, three newspapers, The Oakland Press in Michigan, The Mountain Press in Tennessee and The Lancaster New Era in Lancaster, Pa. announced they were dropping Ann Coulter's column.

Bennett went on to say that "I'm not going to defend Ann Coulter's comment, but I'll defend her right to say it." Fair enough, and I agree with that point. Hold on, though.

He then proceeded to question the newspapers' veracity in removing Coulter's column from their pages. That's ridiculous and absurd.

Yes, we live in a free country with a free press, and Coulter has the right to spew her tripe, but the media is under no obligation to publish or disseminate her tripe. The media's refusal to do so is not censorship!

Bennett reasoned the papers were wrong by no longer publishing her column, using "freedom of the press" as a justification for his reasoning.

By that rationale, why isn't David Duke's column running The New York Times? (If, in fact, the bigot has one.) Papers and media outlets can and should have editorial standards. The three papers above, while minor, decided that Coulter's speech and beliefs weren't aligned with their own.

Coulter has plenty of other avenues to get out her messages of hate, including her Website.

Bennett doesn't understand freedom, democracy or the First Amendment.

What annoys me most of all is that this whole brouhaha is precisely what Coulter wants. Every time she says something stupid like this, her book sales go through the roof, and she laughs all the way to the bank.

The next time she writes a book, there will be plenty of conservatives who will ogle her, snatch up her book at $24.95 a pop, and babble, "You're right, John Edwards IS a faggot!"

Pathetic and sad.

Wishing Sirius Left would leave

I'm a big fan of Sirius Satellite Radio, ad most of you know by now. But, in one aspect, I wouldn't mind seeing Sirius and XM merge, because the Sirius Talk Left channel on Sirius is pretty much God-awful from top to bottom, with a few exceptions.

At the top of my list of peeves about Sirius Talk Left is Lynn Samuels (below right). She could be the worst radio talk show host I have ever heard. Ever. Samuels and Rush Limbaugh should mate to create the ultimate anti-Christ of radio.

From her voice (a dead on ringer for Linda Richman on Saturday Night Live's Coffee Talk), to her ridiculous opinions, she has no business being on radio, period. To wit, just today alone, she's laughing about a joke that Sarah Silverman made about Anne Frank's genitals; she also is whining and complaining about how several Mexican actors were waving Mexican flags last night at "the AMERICAN Academy Awards!" (emphasis hers) She later goes on to say, "They can take those Mexican flags and stick them up their f------ a----. Sniiiiiffffffffffff! Smell the diversity. This moron calls herself a Democrat?!?

Last week, Samuels said this about men, and she wasn't joking: "There isn't a man alive on Earth who doesn't hate women. Men would have exterminated women a long time ago if they could have gotten away with it - they would have just left a few of us around to make babies." Yea, sure Lynn. My favorite thing about Samuels is how she's always saying on the air, "Nobody likes me. I don't have any friends." I can't possibly imagine why. What a sick, twisted, bitter old maid.

Weekday mornings from 6-9, Bill Press (at left) is on, who's at least listenable. But, at times, I can understand why CNN fired him, too. His reasoning on the issues, whether I agree with them or not, is generally well thought out, but then he'll turn right around and revert to Sean Hannity-like name calling that gets old in about 15 minutes.

The Alex Bennett Show follows Press' show, and it's a close second to Lynn Samuels' blabbering as the most annoying show. Bennett (left) has a cohost, Garrett, argues with Bennett about everything he brings up. Nothing is out of bounds for argument between these two. When I listen to talk radio, I want to be informed, not annoyed. Some good-spirited debate is one thing, but listening to this show is akin to listening to a three-hour battle royal. The commercials during Bennett's show are like islands of reality in a sea of diarrhea.

The Thom Hartmann Show is a good one, but unfortunately, he's mostly on Air America now, and he's only on Sirius from 12-1, right before the Lynn Samuels train wreck. I like him, but I'm never around to listen to his show at noon. And, what's worse, Air America Radio has an exclusive deal with XM. Figures, too - when Air America first launched, it was on both satellite networks, but right before I get Sirius, it goes to XM. Again, that's one good thing I can point to about the proposed Sirius-XM merger - getting Air America.

The Ed Schultz Show is on from 3-6 in the afternoon, and he's my favorite. I flat out love his wit, banter, realism, and properly controlled and articulated anger. I could listen to him for six hours. I do wish he'd get more air time, but 3-6 is good, too, because that's generally when I'm driving home.

The Stephanie Miller Show follows Schultz's. So far, from what little I've heard, she's pretty good - she seems like an Ann Coulter, but more attractive, even tempered and intelligent. Basically, she's everything Coulter is not, and that's about as ringing of an endorsement as I can give.

I guess this ended up going long, but my whole point was to riff on Lynn Samuels. She's God-awful, but there aren't any other liberal channels on Sirius, and when I'm in the mood for politics, I put it on. Sometimes, however, when Samuels sends me over the edge with her absurdities, I switch over to NPR.