Hyperventilating Over Nothing

OK - so I have had a wealth of material to work with today and then Mitch hands me yet one more piece that begs to be written.

How uncanny that exactly 40 years after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated during the Vietnam War (and some think possibly because of his opposition to the Vietnam War), we would turn on our radios to hear a Twin Cities radio host re-applying the principles of Hermann Goering to plans for the upcoming anti-war march on the Republican National Convention (RNC). If you listen (here), you won't hear anything resembling "Minnesota Nice" on Chris Baker's show yesterday, the program that comes on before Rush Limbaugh's. His vitriolic, denouncing rants came in bursts between interviews with a Minneapolis Assistant Police Chief and Minneapolis Police Federation President John Delmonico as to how the right-wing radio host "can't stand these protesting varmints", "these spitting, frothing at the mouth lunatics", including his opinion that "protesting is an industry funded by billionaires and communist organizations (and) they are well coordinated and incredibly dangerous."

Weep oh citizens of the 2nd District....this could have been representing you in DC this year instead of Congressman John Kline!

Seriously folks, Ms. Rowley....take a chill. I listened to the program in question. Yes, Mr. Baker was over the top however, if you take a look at what some of the websites that are organizing the anarchists activities in both MN and Colorado, you would understand his concern! All of these organizations are already advocating violence against the police and the convention or have a history of doing so!

The absolutely worst tirade, however, comes towards the end of the program after the interviews with the police, when KTLK host Chris Baker lets go with this ostensible incitement to violence: "So we've been talking about police protection during the upcoming convention when all those stinky protesters are coming. There seems to be a big debate over whether or not police officers will be able to wear helmets, carry shields, use pepper spray and tasers on this crowd. You know, I'll tell you what works on a crowd like this--a machine gun, that always works very well." "Mow 'em down, baby!" excitedly adds Baker's co-host "Jordan".

Now I know that Jordan is not Baker's co-host....I want to say he is Baker's producer....but then again why let a few minor things like facts get in the way of a good spittle flecked rant.

It doesn't take an expert on the First Amendment to recognize that suggesting the "good ole boy network" hand out ax handles and machine guns be used to mow a crowd down comes close to inciting violence. This inflammatory rhetoric looks no different than the reason we are not allowed to falsely yell "fire" in a crowded theatre. I can also speak from personal experience--having worked almost 24 years as an FBI agent--that such remarks would almost certainly elicit investigative concern if the tables were turned and such speech came out of the mouth of someone critical of the government.

I'm just curious what Ms. Rowley's remarks were when "progressive" talk radio host Mike Malloy called for the "physical torture of the Bush crime family" or if she waxed poetic in outrage when Randi Rhodes of Air America suggested that someone "Like Fredo, somebody ought to take him out fishing and phuw. ”Rhodes then imitated the sound of a gunshot." Or maybe she spoke out against Sen. Dick Durbin's quip "Judge Marovitz used to say that his mother believed that President Lincoln was Jewish, Durbin said. After all, his first name was Abraham, and then, to confirm it, she learned that John Wilkes Booth shot him in the temple."? Somehow I suspect not.

Seriously, Coleen...honey....this is talk radio. The hosts that don't go over the top as Mr. Baker, Ms. Rhodes and Mr. Malloy did usually end up getting fired. They don't bring in ratings and they don't get callers and advertisers.

Lighten up Coleen.....it's just talk radio....

UPDATE: I sent a link to this post and Coleen's post to Chris Baker last night. This morning I got the following response from Chris.

Somebody forwarded that to us and I had to laugh. Thanks for the response which is dead on by the way.
This type of stuff comes with the turf, it's an opinion based medium so this is not the first and it will not be the last time someone decides to be offended.
Let's not forget that it was me the hate filled talk host who has supported the right of these moon bats to protest at the convention, as long as they obey the law. It has been me who criticized the so called "protest zones" because it keeps the protestors and their targets so far apart.
I invited Coleen Rowley on the show but so far she has not responded.

Emphasis added. Again, why let a few inconvenient facts get in the way of a good spittle flecked rant eh?

I suspect that Chris will be waiting a long, long, long time for Coleen to respond to his invitation. Just call it a hunch.