Expanding the Audience Base
I was traveling through Ohio and West Virginia this past Wednesday afternoon and took a moment to tune into talk radio, specifically WKKX (AM 1600). I later learned that three WKKX talk radio hosts accused Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) in July of threatening them with retribution after they called attention to his involvement with Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist who was indicted on five counts of wire fraud by a federal grand jury on August 11.
The host (I didn't catch his name and no one is answering the phone at the station) and a caller were slamming Rep. Jean Schmidt for her infamous remarks recently spoken on the House floor in reference to Democratic Congressman John Murtha, namely that "cowards cut and run, Marines never do." (The Ohioan she quoted has disputed the comments she attributed to him.) The caller went on to remark how nasty the Republicans had become with the name-calling and that the voters were bound to throw the bums out whenever the first opportunity arose. I figured it was time for some balance.
So I called the station number... and the station manager asked nothing more than my first name before putting me on the air. What about the Democrats and their continual use of the word "extremist" in reference to Republicans, I asked. As an example, I pointed out that the then-Democratic governor of Pennsylvania had signed into law abortion restrictions drafted by the legislature elected by the people of Pennsylvania. But Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito has been called an "extremist" for upholding the spousal notification provision within that Pennsylvania law... were Pennsylvanians extremists? Ted Kennedy recited the word "extremist" as if it were a mantra.
The host agreed that Kennedy was often out of bounds, noting that he didn't understand how Kennedy could dare show his face after the Chappaquiddick incident. He was not coming from the hard left, he assured me. "I'm against extremists on both ends of the political spectrum," he said, using the very word I had just condemned.
The host (I didn't catch his name and no one is answering the phone at the station) and a caller were slamming Rep. Jean Schmidt for her infamous remarks recently spoken on the House floor in reference to Democratic Congressman John Murtha, namely that "cowards cut and run, Marines never do." (The Ohioan she quoted has disputed the comments she attributed to him.) The caller went on to remark how nasty the Republicans had become with the name-calling and that the voters were bound to throw the bums out whenever the first opportunity arose. I figured it was time for some balance.
So I called the station number... and the station manager asked nothing more than my first name before putting me on the air. What about the Democrats and their continual use of the word "extremist" in reference to Republicans, I asked. As an example, I pointed out that the then-Democratic governor of Pennsylvania had signed into law abortion restrictions drafted by the legislature elected by the people of Pennsylvania. But Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito has been called an "extremist" for upholding the spousal notification provision within that Pennsylvania law... were Pennsylvanians extremists? Ted Kennedy recited the word "extremist" as if it were a mantra.
The host agreed that Kennedy was often out of bounds, noting that he didn't understand how Kennedy could dare show his face after the Chappaquiddick incident. He was not coming from the hard left, he assured me. "I'm against extremists on both ends of the political spectrum," he said, using the very word I had just condemned.
posted by The Libertarian Republican at 10:17 PM
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