How to Lose Your Job in Talk Radio

[candy331]

I suppose this really no secret but it is worth the read I think.

Feb 2 2004 issue
Copyright © 2004 The American Conservative

How to Lose Your Job in Talk Radio

Clear Channel gags an antiwar conservative.


By Charles Goyette

“Imagine these startling headlines with the nation at war in the Pacific six months after Dec. 7, 1941: “No Signs of Japanese Involvement in Pearl Harbor Attack! Faulty Intelligence Cited; Wolfowitz: Mistakes Were Made.”

Or how about an equally disconcerting World War II headline from the European theater: “German Army Not Found in France, Poland, Admits President; Rumsfeld: ‘Oops!’, Powell Silent; ‘Bring ’Em On,’ Says Defiant FDR.”

It seems to me that when there is reason to go to war, it should be self-evident. The Secretary of State should not need to convince a skeptical world with satellite photos of a couple of Toyota pickups and a dumpster. And faced with a legitimate casus belli, it should not be hard to muster an actual constitutional declaration of war. Now in the absence of a meaningful Iraqi role in the 9/11 attack and the mysterious disappearance of those fearsome Weapons of Mass Destruction, there might be some psychic satisfaction to be had in saying, “I told you so!” But it sure isn’t doing my career as a talk-show host any good.

The criterion of self-evidence was only one of dozens of objections I raised before the elective war in Iraq on my afternoon drive-time talk show on KFYI in Phoenix. Many of the other arguments are familiar to readers of The American Conservative.

But the case for war was a shape-shifter, skillfully morphing into a new rationale as quickly as the old one failed to withstand scrutiny. For a year before the war, I scrambled to keep up with the latest incarnations of the neocon case. Most were pitifully transparent and readily exposed. (Besides the aluminum tubes and the trailers that had Bush saying, “Gotcha,” does anyone remember those death-dealing drones? Never have third-world, wind-up, rubber-band, balsa-wood airplanes instilled so much fear in so many people.) Still, my management didn’t like my being out of step with the president’s parade of national hysteria, and the war-fevered spectators didn’t care to be told they were suffering illusions. So after three years, I was replaced on my primetime talk show by the Frick and Frack of Bushophiles, two giggling guys who think everything our tongue-tied president does is “Most excellent, dude!” I have been relegated to the later 7–10 p.m. slot, when most people, even in a congested commuting market like Phoenix, are already home watching TV.

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[brainshrub]

1. This is what I wrote on a blog about this story:

http://www.indiemediamagazine.com/article.php?story=20040110230201215

Sorry that CC is screwing with you, but Liberals have been drummed out of talk radio for years, and I'll bet you've never complained about that. You only whine now that right-wing corporate control of the media is starting to effect you.

I am certain you are aware of who Niemoller is, so I won't bother quoting his poem here...but the people who would have supported you the most on this issue would have been *gasp* LIBERALS!!! To bad they are all gone & won't be able to help you.

Enjoy the political wilderness! You won't make as much money, but you aren't alone and it's a lot more fun.

[Woodstock]

2. Exactly. I wouldn't mind listening to his show, either

The propaganda shows are worthless. If he was reasonable, it would be interesting to listen to another perspective. That's the thing about us evil liberals - we like to give everyone a fair say. Too bad he couldn't have backed us when we wanted to have ours.

You are spot on right in what you said.

[Cat Atomic]

3. He still doesn't get it.

He touches on the real problem here and there, but doesn't seem to take it any further than "Clear Channel is extremist".

Charles, you were out of step with policies that provided maximum profits for Corporate America. It's not just your program manager. It's not just Clear Channel. It's not just talk radio.

It's all major media outlets. That "liberal media" you've been bitching about for years is one big corporate propaganda machine.

Welcome to the unemployment line- go to the back.