Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Citadel Broadcasting

It's a happy day whenever wingnuts suffer...and especially when their businesses suffer. That adage definitely holds true today with the news that notorious right-wing radio conglomerate Citadel Broadcasting will be filing for bankruptcy. Merry Christmas and Happy Bankrupt New Year, you Citadel clowns!

Citadel is expected to file in a deal supported by many lenders collectively owed $2 billion, known as a "prearranged" deal in bankruptcy parlance.

These lenders plan to swap a big portion of their debt for equity in a reorganized Citadel, effectively handing them control.

The deal would reduce Citadel's debt load to about $762.5 million, the people said. The company will need to solicit more creditor support in court to get its reorganization plan approved by a judge.

Citadel's board approved the filing in recent days.

Citadel Chief Executive Farid Suleman is likely to remain at the helm once the company emerges from Chapter 11 protection, people familiar with the situation said.

Citadel representatives didn't respond to requests for comment..

Citadel's fall is emblematic of the troubles ravaging radio broadcasters, which took on loads of debt during boom times and now face a harsh advertising climate.

Of course, the economy isn't the only reason these wingnut gasbag outlets are facing a harsh advertising climate. Just look at the concerted efforts by the netroots to deprive Glenn Beck of the advertising dollars that fuel his ongoing campaign of hate and bigotry: nearly 100 advertisers to date have elected not to align themselves with Beck's idiocy any longer.

Citadel, though, has been one of the leading purveyors of wingnut ideology for years. Hatemongers like KSFO's Melanie Morgan and syndicated fossil Don Imus have relied on Citadel to dish out their vomitous spew to the mouth-breathing masses. Now, while Citadel apparently will survive in a streamlined form, the days of whine and roses appear to be over.

And that's good news for Americans who value truth and abhor the kind of disgusting garbage that Citadel airs. So, congratulations to Citadel Broadcasting and its CEO, Farid Suleman -- there's a special holiday gift under your tree now, because today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

Blast Off! Radio today at 4:00 pm EDT: Why do wingnuts still control American discourse?

Considering that the United States is pretty clearly split more or less evenly on ideological grounds, while polls repeatedly show that Americans -- even many right-of-center ones -- favor health care reform, same-sex marriage, and other so-called "liberal" ideas, it's somewhat puzzling to me that the Radical Right still controls so much of what we see and hear on a daily basis. In the past -- the ever-more-distant past -- the minority would be able to state their positions, but more often than not a pat on the head and a "that's nice, dear" would be about the only response needed. In 2009, though, the minority controls nearly every major media outlet and their often-insane rantings (against ACORN, gay rights, and the Scary Black Man in the White House, among others) not only are given credibility, but indeed they get their way far more often than they should (why the President is even giving them the time of day on ACORN is beyond me -- so much for socialism).

So, today on Blast Off! Radio, we'll take another look at the right-wing noise machine, locally and nationally, and talk about how they have turned what once might have been reasonable debate into the hate-and-fear-mongering prevalent today. In a saner time, there wouldn't be any dispute about the constitutionality of a court order banning organized prayer in public schools -- today, it's not only disputed, but the Christianist side is winning. In a saner time, people wouldn't shout in the faces of members of Congress on the issue of providing health care to the less fortunate among us -- today, it's encouraged. In a saner time, nutjob fringe radicals like Glenn Beck would be writing for some underground fascist rag -- today, he's the face of a major cable news network and the cover story in Time magazine. In a saner time, wingnut douchebags (self-loathing and otherwise) who ought to be in jail end up on reality TV game shows or with their own radio talk shows.

I really want to hear your thoughts on this today. Tell me your thoughts and whether or not you think sanity ever can be restored to political discourse in America.

It's very easy to be a part of the show. Here are the details:

TIME: 4:00 pm Eastern TODAY

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Call in number: (646) 716-7543

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So, please get your thoughts together, on this or anything else that's on your mind, and I'll catch you this afternoon on Blast Off! Radio.

Blast Off! Radio today at 4:00 pm EDT: Taking deranged wingnuttery to the next level

In a litany of outrage over the last decade or so, this one may take the prize as the most outlandish, most nonsensical, most hateful campaign of idiocy I've ever seen from the radical right-wing loons. I'm talking, of course, about the rhetorical detritus that is these wingnut protests against President Obama's speech to schoolchildren tomorrow.

Yes, the Right has managed to embarrass the country yet again, this time by a systematic propaganda effort to label a president's speech as "indoctrination" and "socialist" -- they've even demanded that schools seek parental permission to allow children to listen to the president of the United States! And, this being the Wingnut States of America, many schools and districts are caving to the Glenn Beck-led crusade against patriotism and decency, either refusing to show the speech at all or allowing parents to insist that their kids be given an "alternate activity" during the address. Talk about polarizing a student body ....

I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. And yet, this is the level to which the right-wing in this country has sunk: their abject fear and hatred of the Scary Black Man in the White House somehow makes it acceptable to hinder the entire public education system with their ludicrous claims.

Well, I have plenty to say about this lunacy, and I'll deliver the ranty goods in a truly epic way (if I do say so myself) this afternoon on Blast Off! Radio. And you're cordially invited to partake. Here are the details:

TIME: 4:00 pm Eastern TODAY

Click here to listen

Call in number: (646) 716-7543

E-mail: blastoffradio-at-gmail-dot-com

I want to hear what you have to say about all of this, too -- so please make plans to call in, chat, or otherwise participate. Hell, if you're on the other side of the ideological aisle from me, please feel free to tell me how far off I am on this, and how President Obama is only using this as a way to, à la Hitler, push his destructive agenda on the impressionable minds of our youth. Or whatever.

Oh, we may have time to cover some other topics, but I don't know. I'm feeling pretty ranty. Stay tuned, and buckle up ... this could be a bumpy ride.

(cross-posted at FPC Blog)

Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Glenn Beck

Following the summer/bar exam hiatus, today Blast Off! brings back its popular barely tolerable series, the "Daily Schadenfreude," with a regular honoree: ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the most execrable person on television, a cretin among cretins, the one and only Glenn Beck!

Poor Glenn is finding that advertisers aren't taking to his customary lies and hate very well anymore.

GMAC Financial Services has "ceased advertising on the Glenn Beck program"

That's the word this morning from spokesperson Sue Mallino, who confirmed to Media Matters that the company recently pulled its ads off the Fox News program. Mallino would not comment on whether the move was made in response to Beck's claim that President Obama is a "racist," an allegation that sparked a grassroots campaign by ColorofChange.org to get advertisers to stop supporting Beck's program.

Mallino said only that the company has final say over which programs are "not appropriate" to advertise on, and that GMAC Financial Services will continue to advertise on Fox News. But she reiterated the company "has ceased advertising on the Glenn Beck program."

GMAC Financial Services joins a growing list of advertisers who have recently abandoned Beck's television show, including ConAgra, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, RadioShack, Men’s Wearhouse, State Farm Sargento, LexisNexis-owned Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, and Progressive Insurance.

Yes, as noted, GMAC will continue to advertise on Fox News generally, as will, undoubtedly, many of the other advertisers who have ditched Beck. So they'll still be supporting the lies and distortions of the rest of the so-called news network.

However, this is definitely a step in the right direction. In the media, money talks, and seeing this mass exodus from Glenn Beck, whether directly because of his lies or because no one wants to be associated with such an odious person, is both refreshing and long overdue. And the more that the remaining advertisers see their own bottom lines affected through boycotts and other such actions against them in response to their support of this pustulant purveyor of propaganda, the more likely that Fox will see that continuing to employ Glenn Beck is damaging to their bottom line. And while they surely want to spread his message of filth and foulness, further defections by advertisers could mean they simply can't afford to do so anymore.

So, Glenn, you despicable pile of excrement, enjoy the desertions, because no one deserves to be shunned more than you. In the meantime, perhaps you can salve your wounded pride with this meager award, because today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

UPDATE (8:30 pm 8/18/09): Eight, count 'em, eight more advertisers pulled their ads from Beck's show today, deciding that they, too, couldn't countenance his disgusting racism and hatred. And one of them is, believe it or not, Wal-Mart.

Dude, if you're a wingnut and you've lost Wal-Mart, well, you might as well just give up.

On health care reform

I've been back blogging for a few days now, post-hiatus, so I figure I'm probably overdue for a good old-fashioned Blast Off! rant. And since the Sotomayor nomination went off with nary a hitch (despite the bleatings of Jeff Sessions, et al.), Al Franken finally is seated in the Senate where he's deserved to be since January, the tea party "movement" (I use that term loosely, in the sense of "bowel") increasingly is marginalized on the far-right fringes where it belongs, and Sarah Palin seems to be consigned to well-deserved semi-obscurity (for now at least), perhaps the most rantworthy topic at present would be the suddenly volatile issue of health care reform.

Now, I admit I'm no expert on the subject, and I don't necessarily even understand the nuances of the president's plan (other than the disappointing reluctance by the White House and congressional Democrats to support a single-payer plan that the country so desperately needs). But the shit-slinging we're seeing from Republicans in Congress and the hate-filled rhetoric and violent (or, for now, near-violent) behavior from wingnuts systematically invading and disrupting congressional town hall meetings (like that of Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) last week) just reinforce the point that Republicans have nothing but anger instead of answers.

The health care debate also has bolstered my thesis that conservatism is a fundamentally selfish ideology. As with the tea party fiasco (morphing into a Glenn Beck-led "9/12" movement in a flailing-yet-ultimately-futile effort to find something -- anything -- that makes their position seem plausible to sentient Americans), these right-wing extremist douchebags are shrieking about taxes and invoking the spectre of socialism as supposed justification for their "I've got mine, screw you" mentality. These nutjobs, at least those not primarily motivated by disgust at having an N-word president, remarkably broadcast their haughty indignation without the slightest hint of irony, even though many of them are retired military who have spent their entire adult lives suckling at the government teat, or they are the wealthiest Americans who stand to see the greatest increase in their tax burdens under the Obama administration (so you won't be able to afford satellite navigation for your yacht if you have to pay for poor people's health care? Well, boo-fucking-hoo, assholes), or they are the unintelligent bigots and fundies who consistently vote GOP against their own economic interests just to try to legalize their prejudice and/or Christianist craziness.

You know what I'd just love? I'd love to hear one of these anti-Obama, anti-government, anti-health care bozos just once get up and say, "I'm uninsured, I don't have health care, and I still don't want health care for me and my family for free from the government." Why don't we hear that? Because all the protestors have health care: it's all about "I've got mine, screw you."

I confess that I do not understand how anyone who doesn't have health care can oppose the government on this. Anyone who has ever gone without health care for themselves and their family who nevertheless supports the insurance moguls and opposes health care as a right for all Americans might as well be speaking a foreign language to me, because I don't get it. How is that even possible? Seriously -- I want to know. Is it just that they don't place a high value on health care? I really don't understand ....

I've also heard that there are doctors and patients in countries with socialized medicine who hate it. Well, that's the old "some say" argument -- hell, I can find you someone who will say or believe just about anything. For example, there are people who believe the Holocaust never happened, but that doesn't prove the Holocaust didn't happen, any more than merely finding "some" doctors in Great Britain or Canada who dislike their system "proves" that it's a bad idea for the U.S. To that end, a commentator on BuzzFlash yesterday pretty much makes my point for me, but far more skillfully and (as usual) concisely:

Questions Should You Find Yourself at a microphone at a 'Town Meeting':

1. If Canada's single-payer system is so god-awful, why have repeated Conservative governments at the provincial and national level in Canada never touched it? Canada is a democracy. If Canadians don't like their health care system, why haven't they gotten rid of it in 35 years? Since the system there is run by the separate provinces, many of which are very politically conservative, why has not one province ever tried to get rid of single-payer?

2. Why is rationing by income, as we do it here, better than rationing by need, as they do it in Canada?

3. Wouldn't single-payer mean that companies could no longer threaten working people with the loss of their health insurance? Why is this a bad idea?

4. The bigger the insurance pool, the better. So doesn't having a national pool, as with single-payer, make the most sense?

5. Why should we be allowing politicians who are taking money from the medical industry to write the new health care legislation?

6. How can the Congress be developing a health system reform scheme and not even invite experts from Canada down to explain their successful system?

7. If Medicare--a single-payer system here in America--is so popular with the elderly, how come it's no good for the rest of us?

8. Isn't it true that Medicare currently finances the most costly patient group--the elderly and infirm--so that extending it to the rest of the population--most of whom are young and healthy--would be much cheaper, per person?

9. The AMA, the Pharmaceutical Industry, and the Insurance Industry all bitterly opposed Medicare in 1964-5 when it was being debated in Congress and passed into law, with the right, led by Ronald Reagan, calling it creeping socialism. It became a life-saver for the elderly and didn't turn the US into a soviet republic. Why should we give a tinker's damn what those same three industry groups and the Republican right think of expanding single-payer now?

10. The executives of Canadian subsidiaries of US companies all support Canada's single-payer system, and even lobby collectively to have it expanded and better funded. Why does Congress listen to the executives of the parent companies here at home, and not invite those Canadian execs down to explain why they like single-payer?

Anyway, the point I set out to make is that these protests, like the tea parties, are being astroturfed, blown way out of proportion, and completely lacking in any factual basis. And as the violence steps up thanks to the bloviating encouragement of mainstream corporate media fucktards like Limbaugh and Hannity and Beck, it's all going to be on their hands. Pity that their lack of compassion and human feeling means they won't feel a shred of remorse, though.

Mocking the teabaggers, part deux

So before all the video hubbub happened, I was having some fun on Twitter with all those crazed teabaggers. I've edited out the Twitterese and compiled some of the entries in the series for you here. Maybe it's worth a chuckle or two ...

---

Tea Party Etiquette, by Sinfonian

• If you teabaggers happen to see a nonwhite person nearby, it's not polite to point and gawk.


• Help your fellow teabaggers at a long rally by bringing a lotion or salve for scrotal chafing.


• Beware of teabaggers with tubes of Ben Gay. A silly prank? Sure, unless you're the victim.


• Two words: breath mints.


• It's OK to lie to fellow teabaggers about your name and profession. (Thanks to Joe the Plumber for the tip)


• Considerate teabaggers don't neglect the taint.


• Three words: Bring Extra Kneepads. (Or is that four words?) Fellow teabaggers will go nuts thanking you.


• Smart teabaggers are prepared teabaggers. Have a good supply of toothpicks handy. (Thanks to Dick Armey for that tip!)


• Armey adds another tip: Good teabaggers always go shaft deep. This isn't the time to be conservative.


• Polite teabaggers always cuddle afterwards.


• Smart teabaggers will keep a towel handy for "premature Beckgasms." Hey, it can happen to anyone.

---

Again, you can read 'em all -- if you can stomach it -- here.

Blast Off! Radio PRIMETIME: Teabags and pirates and whiskers on puppies

NOTE SPECIAL TIME FOR TODAY'S SHOW: 7pm EASTERN

I knew the rightwing nutjobs were angry because Obama and the Democrats spanked them (electorally, of course -- even though some would have preferred literally) last November, but their behavior is landing them somewhere between "ridiculous" and "dangerous" on the scale of douchebaggery. I mean, laughing and pointing is great and all, but when Glenn Beck pours faux gasoline on an actor and pretends to be President Obama holding a lit match, well, a rather broad line has been crossed.

So on this Tax Week, we have a lot to discuss on Blast Off! Radio, which moves to a special evening time just for today (real life interferes sometimes with blogging -- yeah, I know it's hard to believe). Besides the Beck fiasco, we'll get ready for some teabagging ... wait, that came out wrong ... um, we'll look at the latest from the wingnut "Tea Parties" in Florida and around the country, we'll laugh at the Predictable Outrage from the Right over Obama's handling of the Somali pirate situation and the addition of a puppy to the First Family (preview: Fox News' Brit Hume thinks the puppy is "girly"), and we'll talk about the latest corporate slap in the face as Amazon.com summarily removes rankings from gay-related books. All this plus, as always, your calls, emails, and chatting.

Space and time do not permit me to share with you all the excitement, snark, and substance that will be part of tonight's special primetime show. So, I guess you'll just have to tune in and hear it for yourself:

TIME: 7:00 pm Eastern TONIGHT

Click here to listen

Call in number: (646) 716-7543

E-mail: blastoffradio-at-gmail-dot-com

If you listen to one webradio show this week, make it this one. Hell, even if you listen to a bunch of them, don't miss this special edition of Blast Off! Radio. It's going to be one to remember!

(cross-posted at FPC Blog)

Blast Off! Radio today at 4:00 pm EDT: When wingnuts attack

It's been a ranty week at Blast Off!, and today's Blast Off! Radio is likely to be no exception. Whether it's the rank stupidity of Glenn Beck, the oft-frightening silliness of fundie whackjobs, or the idiocy of certain Republicans in Congress, we've been confronted with more than our fair share of wild-eyed wingnuttery over the past seven days.

The best way to deal with these morons is to face them head-on (apply directly to the forehead) and dismantle them point by point ... and that's exactly what we'll do on today's show. If you're tired of wingnuts, if you're wondering why they receive the attention they do (why, for example, was Dana Perino on my teevee over the weekend?), if you're just ready to go all Howard Beale on the crazy people who want to go Galt, well, spend an hour this afternoon with me and I promise you'll feel better ... because you're not alone!

You know, listening to Blast Off! Radio is as easy as looking at Internet porn (and a lot less expensive ... or so I'm told):

TIME: 4:00 pm Eastern TODAY

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Call in number: (646) 716-7543

E-mail: blastoffradio-at-gmail-dot-com

Help me battle the scourge of wingnuttery or, in other words -- let's surround them! Catch you this afternoon ...

Random thought

What's the over-under on when Glenn Beck is discovered in bed with an underage boy?

The stupidest fucking morons on the planet still ♥ Glenn Beck

Predictably, the mouth-breathing contingent was out in force yesterday in Brevard County, as Glenn Beck graced their TV screens (amazing they even knew how to turn on a television!) for an hour-long festival of tears and verbal entrails. And once again, Florida Today somehow finds this newsworthy, even though no sentient being really gives a shit other than us dirty fucking hippie bloggers. (Okay, fine, I'll pay attention ...)

"Throw me some beads, mister!"

First of all, behold the diversity of the crowd (right) in Melbourne at the Mighty Mushroom!

Wait ... they're all white? And mostly over 45 or so? How is that possible? Oh, yeah, the selfish, entitled contingent of American society would never allow younger people or -- perish the thought! -- minorities to be a part of their little rally. (Gee ... Hitler and Jesus had rallies, too. Beck ought to recognize that comparison ...)

Hang on ... there are 13 pictures in that photo gallery. I'm sure there must be one showing the diversity of the folks at the Mighty Mushroom! Hmmm. Well, look at the gallery yourself and tell me if there are any minorities present. (Here's a hint: THERE AREN'T.)

As usual, though, the Beck fans are as ignorant as a fence post:

“We want to get out that we are not sitting back and doing nothing. We may be a minority, but that doesn’t mean we have to be silent. We still have a voice,” said Republican Barbara Chandler, 59, of Palm Bay, who attended the viewing with some members of her family.

Chandler said she thinks personal freedoms are under threat, and that the government is “on the wrong path” and heading toward socialism.

As an example, she cited the bailout money being provided to many banks. She is worried about the government nationalizing some of the country’s failing banks.

“Democracy is being put aside,” she said.

Goddammit! Don't make me tell you again! IT WAS THE REPUBLICANS WHO GAVE THE BAILOUT MONEY TO THE BANKS!!!! All you fucking racist assholes who want to blame the Obama administration are just being willfully stupid. President Obama's stimulus plan gives money to the people who need it most -- homeowners, the unemployed, and so on ... not to corporate CEOs! That was the Bush plan, much of which already was implemented under then-Treasury Secretary Hank "Pay-my-Pals" Paulson before Obama even took office! Jesus, you people are fucking dumb!

As for democracy being "put aside," no, actually, democracy is in fine shape for the most part, as demonstrated on November 4, 2008. That day showed that democracy actually works and that the people got what a majority of them wanted. "Democracy" means a majority of people generally get their way, Ms. Chandler, and it isn't endangered just because you can't sit on your ass and make sure you get yours and no one else gets any assistance anymore, like it was with the Bush crime syndicate.

Meanwhile, a smaller yet equally batshit crazy gathering took place in Titusville:

Naomi Johnson of Cocoa, a registered Independent, sat expressionless amidst the crowd, but her opinion was full of passion.

“America needs to return to people being governed by people,” Johnson said. “We have a voice. Washington is not the be-all and end-all. They need to be held accountable.”

As the crowd began to disperse, Hardeeville resident Bob Hoffman, a former Washington political action committee member, reminded residents to “burn up their phones in Tallahassee. Call them, e-mail them, write them. Let them know where you stand.”

Seriously, your idiocy is embarrassing. Go back to your cheez doodles and watch those hunting shows on TV from now on, because whenever you try to discuss grown-up topics, you just end up looking like a fool.

Hopefully this Beckmania will die down as quickly as it sprang up ... probably so, given that 95% of the people who were all fired up yesterday will get back to parking their beat-up pickup trucks in their yards and firing their shotguns at anything that moves (especially if it has dark skin) again soon enough. But for now, it's enough to cement Brevard County's place as the home of the stupidest fucking morons on the planet.

UPDATE (10:29 am 3/14/09): Wow. Re-reading this a few times, it may be my most profane and insulting rant yet. And having posted it on Facebook means that a lot of my friends are reading it and wondering, "What happened to him?" Well, I apologize if I offended anyone (other than the batshit crazy wingnuts from Brevard who might read this). But sometimes I just gotta rant.

More proof that Brevard County is home to the stupidest fucking morons on the planet

Having lived in Brevard County, Fla., I thought I knew firsthand just how batshit crazy people are there. (Okay, not everyone, but damn near everyone ...) Little did I know that they would continue to exceed my expectations at every turn.

The latest is the super-duper-megafantastic Glenn Beck watch parties that are all the rage in Brevard. I don't know what's sadder: the parties themselves, or the fact that the wingnutty Florida Today thinks they're newsworthy. Either way, it's completely fucking sick ...

Local conservatives are hoping that a mighty movement will spring from a viewing party Friday night at the Mighty Mushroom.

The Melbourne restaurant is one of four Brevard County locations hosting groups set to watch the Glenn Beck television program as the popular talk show host unveils the nine principles and 12 values of his “We Surround Them” theme.

He has asked viewers nationwide to set up viewing parties to be able to watch the show together and then discuss it.

More than 500 people are expected to pack the Dairy Road eatery. Other Brevard locations hosting parties are Beef O’Brady’s on Wickham Road, The Old Spanish Mission Inn in Titusville and the Depot Café on Merritt Island.

“It’s amazing that the government does not fear the people anymore,” Beck said Wednesday morning on the Bill Mick radio show on WMMB in Melbourne. “You have to be men and women of integrity and you have to put your country before your party.”

Beck says it’s time for the American people – regardless of party affiliation – to end the corruption in Washington, the kowtowing to special interests and to regain integrity and honesty that’s been lost. He said there is no reason to fear the government since “we surround them.”

The values and principles in his plan stress honesty, hard work, responsibility and courage among others.

Where to begin?! Honesty, hard work, responsibility, and courage indeed might be needed in Washington, but (1) the Republicans in Washington haven't been within spitting distance of those values for decades, if ever, and (2) Glenn Beck is just about the last person who should be touting those qualities, since he lacks each of them in equal measure. Special interests practically funded John McCain's campaign all by themselves, and I don't think any commentator whose preferred political party includes Mark Foley, Larry Craig, and Blowin' Bob Allen ought to be pontificating about integrity and honesty.

Lest we forget, Glenn Beck is the commentator who favorably compared Hitler and Jesus. His old show on CNN Headline News regularly was the first- or second-lowest-rated program on cable news, before Fox cunningly predictably added him to their stable of brownshirt dickweeds. Of all the douchebags in the mainstream corporate media incessantly spouting GOP talking points, it would be hard to dispute that Beck is the douchebaggiest.

But this post was intended to be more about the utterly ignorant cretins who infest Brevard County than about the patent stupidity of Glenn Beck, a Mormon who is just as aptly described without the second "M" in that word. I mean, 500 people cramming into a restaurant to watch Beck? Maybe they think it's Beck the musician. Or perhaps it's Pork Rinds Night at the Mighty Mushroom. Surely there can't be that many idiots in one place at one time -- it might tear the fabric of the space-time continuum!

Actually, there can be that many idiots around -- when it's Brevard. (And don't call me Shirley.)

A few weeks ago, Joyce Arbic had no idea who Glenn Beck was. But after looking at the principles and values associated with “We Surround Them,” she agreed to host the viewing party at her restaurant of 27 years.

“I’m tired of being beaten upon,” said Arbic, owner of the Mighty Mushroom. “I’ve worked a lifetime building up my restaurant and then last year hit. I’ve never seen anything like it in 27 years.”

Arbic, who said her business has dropped 50 percent, wants people to start speaking up because things are not getting better. While Wall Street is getting bailed out, small businesses like hers suffer, she said.

Holy. Fucking. Shit. People like this think Glenn Beck is their messiah, to lead them out of economic ruin ... but who was in charge last year, Ms. Arbic? Who's bailing out Wall Street, or more accurately, who wanted to, before the grown-ups stepped in and ratcheted that little scheme way down? Why, it was the Republicans -- Beck's pals on the right! Go figure ...

"We Surround Them." A more vapid, meaningless phrase has never been foisted upon a viewing audience, even one as vapid and meaningless themselves as the wingnuts of Brevard County. Hope they enjoy their pork rinds ...

Mister Sinfonian's Neighborhood

I've mentioned before that Palm Beach County attracts some real winners -- I share my home county with Ann Coulter, Mark Foley, and Rush Limbaugh, for example -- but I didn't realize until yesterday that it also is the center of a talk radio battleground of sorts. Not only does Limbaugh live here, but so does Randi Rhodes, formerly of Air America Radio.

For example, Rhodes, who calls Lake Worth home and worked for WJNO locally for 10 years before she signed with Air America in 2004, just brought her newly syndicated show to satellite broadcaster XM Radio this week.

[...]

Consider that other nationally syndicated talk host who lives in our back yard: conservative pundit and Palm Beach resident Rush Limbaugh (heard midday locally on WJNO). He not only commands a weekly audience of 14 million-plus, largest in the industry, but he also is widely credited with helping to bring the conservative cause to the fore in the post-Ronald Reagan era.

Limbaugh's latest effort: "Operation Chaos," a plan to encourage Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton in states and territories where they are eligible to participate in Democratic primaries. The goal is to keep the Democrats divided for as long as possible, thereby boosting Republicans' chances in the fall.

If Limbaugh represents the old guard of talk radio, there's a sizable new guard, and many of them are branching out beyond radio.

Take Glenn Beck, a conservative who's heard weekday mornings on WJNO. He hosts a show on CNN's Headline News. He has written two books, including the recent best-seller An Inconvenient Book.

[...]

But talk radio has remained strong. In many ways, the format can credit its existence to the 1987 repeal of the FCC "fairness doctrine," which meant opinions could now run wild without a need for a response.

In an instant, the big-mouth era was born.

Beck, who started as a music DJ, says the most successful talkers understand that the format is driven by the need to entertain, not necessarily to inform. "It's got to be bigger than politics," he says.

Rhodes agrees that talk radio is more about provocation than promoting a cause.

"People listen to me even if they disagree with me. ... It has to do with the question of can you evoke emotion?" says the controversial host, who came under fire from New York-based Air America for referring to Hillary Clinton as a "(expletive) whore."

(Rhodes resigned after being suspended, but she insists her problems with the network were related more to contract discussions.)

The best two reasons for reinstituting the Fairness Doctrine? Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

Any questions?

Why Glenn Beck is a fucking lunatic

I just had the misfortune of watching about five minutes of Glenn Beck's trainwreck of a "show" on Headline News. And the reason his show sucks and his ratings are in the toilet are quite simple: Glenn Beck is a fucking lunatic.

He was on with two pundits: one, a former Gore advisor, and the other, some African-American woman Republican (hell, if she's a lesbian, she'll hit the self-loathing trifecta) who was, in a word, shrill. And what they were going on about was the Florida primaries, and specifically Hillary Clinton's recent quote (today? Not sure ... I couldn't tell through the pundits' hysterical bleating) blaming Florida's Republican governor and Republican legislature for the primary debacle.

Beck and the Republican woman were beside themselves, incredulous that Sen. Clinton could blame Republicans (a Clintonian trait if there ever was one, according to Beck) for the mess than the DNC and the Florida Democratic Party caused -- they said. The Republican woman shrieked that "there were absolutely no Republican fingerprints on [the January 29 primary date] decision whatsoever!!!one!1!!" (she was quite shrill, as I said). Naturally, the guy there representing the Left -- Beck said to him, "you're one of my favorite Democrats, because you're not afraid to say your party sucks when it does" -- couldn't, or wouldn't, counter their argument, and so anyone watching is left with the incontrovertible conclusion that the Republicans had nothing to do with the Florida primary mess.

Of course, those of us who pay attention to facts realize that while the Democratic Party at both the state and national level do bear some culpability, none of this would have happened had the GOP legislature and Gov. Crist (R-Confirmed Bachelor) not shoved the January 29 date down the Democrats' collective throats. And that, in a nutshell, is why Glenn Beck is a fucking lunatic.

I can't wait till he's off the air. There's going to be a schadenfreude-fest on that day here like none you've ever even imagined before ...

And people ask me why I was glad to leave Brevard County

This is why:


I took that picture last night in Melbourne, Florida. Brevard County is a place that tolerates, nay, welcomes these batshit crazy right-wing fundamentalist assholes. Indeed, Hagee undoubtedly will be speaking to "his" people, the people who believe every last word of his deranged, xenophobic, jingoistic bullshit.

Who is John Hagee? Well, for starters, you might recognize his name from a post Atrios put up last week. Hagee has written a book called "In Defense of Israel," and last Friday he was a guest of the odious Glenn Beck on CNN, where he said some truly bizarre and borderline insane things. For example:

BECK: OK. So what is the -- what is the next sign? I mean, you know, I believe it's getting warmer. Science tells us it's getting warmer. I don`t believe man is causing it. I don't believe that -- maybe man is causing it. I'm not convinced of that. I definitely don't think we can solve it.

But I mean, the earth is constantly cycling. We've seen forever that it gets colder and warmer and colder and warmer.

HAGEE: I'm certainly for clean air and clean water, but I have books in my library written by very responsible people up into the middle 80s were talking about the ice age, where Canada was supposed to be a block of ice right now.

And now we're talking about global warming, and I think the Kyoto Treaty is really nothing more than something to manipulate the economy of the United States.

BECK: It's global -- it`s global socialism. Quickly, we've only got a minute. So give me the next one.

Ah, yes, the "very responsible people." Not like us dirty fucking hippies, right? But wait -- there's more:

HAGEE: Ladies and gentlemen, the radical Islamic army is not coming to America. It's here. With Iran's nuclear power and Russia's support of Iran, Iran intends to attack Israel and America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: We're back with mega-church pastor John Hagee, author of a new book, "In Defense of Israel." I want to talk to you about current-day politics and how it is all shaping up. Let's start with Russia.

HAGEE: All right.

BECK: Russia is -- unbeknownst to a lot of people that don't look at old maps and new maps -- Russia is actually mentioned in the Bible, and so is Iran.

HAGEE: Yes.

BECK: And they are the real linking for the End Days, right?

HAGEE: Yes, they are.

And, as Atrios noted:

BECK: Let me ask you one of the most -- you were on, I don't know, four or five days ago on the show for a quick segment, and you had mentioned that America's not in the Bible in the End Days.

HAGEE: Yes.

BECK: It doesn't play a significant role. E-mail went crazy on this. Why is America not in the Bible? Then it can't be the End Times. How could we possibly not play a role in the End Days?

HAGEE: America's not in the Bible, because of these things. One, we are a brand new country. When the Bible was written, God knew that we would be and only refers to us as the young lions of Sheba and Dedan. Now, we came out of England. England has the symbol of the lion. We also -- we came from England. So, therefore, we, by stretch, could say that's referring to us.

Go read the whole transcript if you must.

This Hagee guy is a complete lunatic. And he's using the forum he's been "blessed" with to advocate war with Islam in order to glorify and "protect" Israel.

Lest you have any doubt about whether Hagee is batshit crazy or not, read this:

BECK: End of the world as we know it in five years, 10 years, 20 years?

HAGEE: I don't think we'll get past 20 years.

BECK: Putin, is he part of the biblical prophecy?

HAGEE: I believe that he's the man that's going to cause Russia to unite the Islamic nations against Israel.

BECK: I think he's done most of it already. Worst U.S. president in history?

HAGEE: Jimmy Carter.

BECK: I just want to shake your hand on that one. Most evil world leader aside from Ahmadinejad?

HAGEE: Oh, I'll pass on that.

BECK: OK, divide Jerusalem if it would guarantee Middle East peace?

HAGEE: Absolutely not. I would not give Jerusalem -- giving Jerusalem to the Palestinians would be like giving it to the Taliban.

BECK: Is there more evil today in the world than any other time in history?

HAGEE: I believe that Israel -- that evil is more apparent today, and I think that it is more practiced in our society than ever. Yes.

BECK: What is the single most important rule in life to follow?

HAGEE: I believe that every person must come to a saving knowledge of the lord, Jesus Christ, because the Bible and the lord, Jesus Christ, are the foundations of faith.

BECK: What TV show would Jesus watch?

HAGEE: He probably wouldn't.

BECK: Wrong answer. I mean, wrong answer.

HAGEE: GLENN BECK!

BECK: There you go, and you heard it.

And the folks in Brevard will just eat it up; talk about "preaching to the choir." Thank Dog I'm out of there ...

Imus continues with fundraiser while "mutiny" causes MSNBC to dump him

Nice to see that Don Imus still feels charitable:

Don Imus raised nearly $1 million in the first five hours of his annual radio charity fundraiser Thursday, but it was only by voice - MSNBC pulled the plug on his talk show's television simulcast amid the uproar over his racial slur.

"This may be our last Radiothon, so we need to raise about $100 million," Imus said at the start of the event, which has raised more than $40 million since 1990.

[...]

Tony Gonzalez, supervisor of the Radiothon phone bank, said volunteers were getting about 200 more pledges per hour than they did last year, and most callers were expressing support for Imus.

As of 10 a.m., $850,000 had been pledged, he said. Last year's Radiothon raised a total of $2.9 million for three charities - Tomorrows Children's Fund, CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch.

"We haven't had much of a negative at all," Gonzalez said. "Most of them are very, very supportive, think it's a terrible situation."

Well, sure they're supportive -- after all, the callers are his base.

It emerged Wednesday that a key to pulling the plug on his MSNBC simulcast was an internal mutiny within NBC. About 30 angry NBC News employees, many of them black, met with news division president Steve Capus and said they'd had it with Imus' brand of coarse ethnic humor.

"Within this organization, this had touched a nerve," Capus said Wednesday. "The comment that came through to us, time and time again, was `when is enough going to be enough?' This was the only action we could take."

That's the precise point that all the Imus apologists are missing or obscuring, as is Imus himself. Perhaps if this had been an isolated incident, viewers and critics might be more willing to forgive and forget (note I said "perhaps"). But it's not -- Imus long has been known for his often-virulent racism, which I'm sure is one of the reasons that his "fans," who undoubtedly share his views, have stuck with him. He's being punished not just for his comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team, but rather because those comments were the proverbial back-breaking straw. It's just a shame it took those comments to rouse the networks and advertisers to action.

He should have been gone long ago, or at least marginalized. The idea that people like Imus, who repeatedly display their intolerance and narrow-mindedness (see, e.g., Beck, Glenn) for all to see, have a forum on national media for their bigotry, disgusts me.

Al Roker weighs in on the Imus controversy

It's always interesting when network personnel start eating their own (no pun intended; remember, Al's a mere shadow of his former self).

Al Roker says Don Imus should exit stage right (wing):

I cannot tell you how many people have asked me about my thoughts on Don Imus. As a student of broadcasting, I know Don Imus was one of the original “shock jocks.” I listened to him growing up in New York City in the late 60’s and early 70’s.

He is a radio icon.

That said, it is time for him to go.

I, for one, am really tired of the diatribes, the “humor” at others’ expense, the cruelty that passes for “funny”. Don Imus isn’t the only one doing this, but today he’s the one in the hot seat.

What he said was vile and disgusting. It denigrated an entire team and by extension, a community and its pride in a group that had excelled.

[...]

Don Imus needs to be fired for what he said. And while we’re at it, his producer, Bernard McGurk, needs to be canned as well. McGurk is just as guilty, often egging Imus on.

The “I’m a good person who said a bad thing” apology doesn’t cut it. At least he didn’t try to weasel out of this by hiding behind alcohol or drug abuse. Still, he said it and a two-week suspension doesn’t cut it. It is, at best, a slap on the wrist. A vacation. Nothing.

The general manager of Cartoon Network resigned after a publicity stunt went wrong and caused a panic in Boston. He did the right thing. Don Imus should do the right thing and resign. Not talk about taking a two-week suspension with dignity. I don’t think Don Imus gets it.

After watching and listening to him this morning during an interview with Matt Lauer, Don Imus doesn’t get it. Maybe it’s being stuck in a studio for 35 years or being stuck in the 1980’s. Either way, it’s obvious that he needs to move on. Citing “context within a comedy show” is not an excuse.

He has to take his punishment and start over. Guess what? He’ll get re-hired and we’ll go on like nothing happened. CBS Radio and NBC News needs to remove Don Imus from the airwaves. That is what needs to happen. Otherwise, it just looks like profits and ratings rule over decency and justice.

Honestly, when you stop to think about it, this is pretty remarkable. You've got an NBC on-air personality advocating the departure of another NBC on-air personality on NBC's news website. No one's being thrown under the bus here, which might seem to be the case under slightly different circumstances. No, what you have here is a voice of reason saying what needs to be said, and a network that very well might be mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

Now, how long until we see someone at CNN speak out against Glenn Beck? (Yeah, right.)