But the idea that God's tears over Ted's passing caused rain in Manhattan might just take the cake. From libtalker Stephanie Miller's program, here's the exclusive transcript and clip:
STEPHANIE MILLER (28:25): Perhaps God crying over ah Senator Ted Kennedy, I think you’ve seen the pictures; it’s been a sad day. It’s been a sad week for liberals in America.
JOHN FUGELSANG: It’s been a sad day unless your idea of a drinking game is watching Fox News and taking a slug of Jack (Daniels) every time you hear the words Chappaquiddick. Those are very drunk and happy people. I was watching the Chappaquiddick News Channel all day yesterday and listening to Chappaquiddick Radio all over the AM dial and those guys are having a lot of fun right now.
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How fast could Ted Kennedy's death be used to smear conservatives? As expected, liberal talk radio set out to find the answer.
And sure enough, in record time, Mike "Violence Fantasy" Malloy has stepped up to the challenge:
MALLOY (1:30): Good evening, truthseekers, Mike Malloy here, thanks for tuning in…you know as well as I know that the death of Senator Ted Kennedy is the death of a man, absolutely, and everything he was to the people in his extended family, but we also understand it’s the death of an era, one of the remaining, if not THE remaining lynchpin of liberalism in this country is gone.
Aand you know what the term lynchpin means. So with the death of Ted Kennedy last night, liberalism in this country has lost its champion; the person who, in the modern era, personified liberalism to a greater degree than anyone in Congress; I think that his death heralds the beginning of a very, very very dark period in this country.
I remember feeling that way in 1963 and in 1968-when his two brothers were murdered by the right wing in this country.
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WRKO-AM withheld its standard midmorning and early afternoon lineup of Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh, replacing it with a special show hosted by convicted felon / former House Speaker Tom Finneran, a Democrat best known for circumventing a voter-approved cut in the state income tax.
Known as "Tommy Taxes" for that legislative maneuver, Finneran is normally heard in morning drive.
A choked-up Finneran told listeners that Kennedy's passing was much more difficult to experience than he'd believed and discussed "the positive economic impact" of Ted K's reign. Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh fans tuning in at noon were denied their opportunity to hear his take on the day's events.
According to an inside source within Entercom / Boston's cluster of stations, WRKO has been "inundated" with angry callers objecting to the censorship of Limbaugh.
Meanwhile, at WTKK-FM, the timeslot normally occupied by conservative Michael Graham was given to local liberal advice talker Mel Robbins, who used the time to deliver syrupy tributes to Kennedy. She also asked callers for their "positive experiences" dealing with the senator. Criticism of his tenure was not heard.
It's possible that Graham was already off for the day (though that isn't indicated at WTKK's site), but the slot could have been filled by a like-minded host and wasn't.
Given the unexpected actions by WRKO and WTKK's respective corporate owners, it's hard to consider this anything other than a form of self-censorship that could make a number of foreign tyrants proud.
UPDATE: yes, Graham is apparently out of town, but his liberal fill-in choice was the issue, as indicated above in our original post. His conservative audience expected a conservative sub but didn't get one. Listeners were looking for an alternative to the onslaught of Saint Ted state-run media coverage, but were instead sent away by WTKK.
In just over 30 seconds, libtalker Stephanie Miller has revealed everything we need to know about today's "progressive" left.
Watch and learn:
Now, imagine for a moment the state-run media's reaction if a conservative were to equate the FOX News Channel studios with any major religious site or institution. The mere mention of "licking the chair" of a FOX host would bring months of ridicule.
Thanks, Steph, for defining liberalism as it exists today. We couldn't have said it better.
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In January, could anyone have guessed that by August, even some of the most loyal liberal Democratic stalwarts would be openly criticizing Barack Obama in public settings?
The latest example is lefty legend Mario Cuomo, who told a libtalk radio audience on Friday that the president's priorities to date have been out of order.
Here's the caught-on-tape clip:
While we're not going to pretend Cuomo has suddenly become a harsh presidential critic (elsewhere in the interview, he indicated support for ObamaCare and chastised opponents as too stupid to understand the issues), but there is simply no question that even a month ago, this type of candid response would have been unthinkable.
A lot has changed this summer, hasn't it?
Of course, he's correct: the strategy of simply "cheerleading" the economy into recovery mode, employed aggressively by a wildly supportive CNBC over the past five months, merely delays the inevitable. Remember "it's the economy, stupid"? Obviously, at the White House, it's been forgotten.
Is Barack Obamareally extending an olive branch to the opposition by inviting a conservative radio talk host to broadcast from the White House?
If they've come away with this conclusion, readers of the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times can be forgiven. After all, the Post used the word "conservative" four times between the headline and opening paragraphs to describe Philly talker Michael Smerconishin this story, as did the Times:
(WaPo)Conservative Radio Host Smerconish to the White House
By Garance Franke-Ruta
President Obama has invited conservative Philadelphia talk radio host Michael A. Smerconish to broadcast his nationally-syndicated radio show from the White House Thursday afternoon, a first for radio during his administration.
Smerconish, who unusually among conservative radio hosts endorsed Obama for president in 2008, teased the move on his Twitter account Wednesday morning, writing, "Haven't tweeted for a while....but this is big...making major announcement on air at 730am....clue: fireside chats"
A major topic of discussion on the show, which will involve a call-in component, will be the president's health care reform efforts, which have draw increasing criticism from conservatives and independent voters. "There are no ground rules. I am not prescreening with the White House on what the subject matter will be," Smerconish said in a statement announcing the show. But he used the last portion of his morning program Wednesday to seek out listeners with "pointed direct and substantive questions about Health Care," he said.
(LA Times)
Michael Smerconish to interview Obama in the White House
The president will talk with the conservative radio host, and his listeners, about the healthcare overhaul in an effort to confront criticism. The show airs live on Thursday.
By Peter Nicholas
August 20, 2009
Reporting from Washington - In a bid to confront criticism of his healthcare overhaul, President Obama has invited conservative talk-radio host Michael Smerconish to do his daily show from the White House. The president will appear from 1:10 to 1:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, with some cable networks expected to carry the program live and the conservative-leaning audience likely to pepper him with pointed questions.
"There has been a lot of misinformation that's been spread, particularly in conservative circles, about this plan," said Joshua Earnest, a White House spokesman. "It's an opportunity to set the record straight, and hopefully he'll have an opportunity to confront that misinformation head-on."
But is he really conservative? Let's ask Michael Smerconish that question. From his own website:
Q: Why radio?
A: Initially it was all ego. I was totally taken. I would have paid them to let me do a show. … I was already politically interested and involved. I can do more as a person in front of a microphone than I could holding a public job. … I can effect change by having the microphone in front of me. Q: You’re a pretty conservative guy for this area.
A: I’m not that conservative.
Only by reading further in the Times and WaPo stories is it revealed that Smerconish actually supported Obama last year, an endorsement your Radio Equalizer covered at the time. Also keep in mind that Smerconish's syndication deal is overseen by the same libtalk suits (and liberal DC insiders) that brought you Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller and others.
What the stories do make clear is that Smerconish isn't there to take Obama to task. Instead, his presence is meant to "educate" and "enlighten" misguided conservatives who need to understand why ObamaCare is the best thing that could happen to them.
Howard Dean Says Senate Republicans Want Obama Dead
A QUIET SCREAM
Former DNC Head Plays Games With Incendiary Language
Apparently, libtalkers aren't the only ones asserting that conservatives want Obama dead. After a week of reckless rhetoric from the left side of the dial, along comes Howard Dean to show them how it's really done!
As Dean suggests Senate Republicans want to "kill the bill and kill the president", listen for the former DNC chairman's less-than-sincere effort to step out of the dog-doo. Is this Dean Scream Volume II, the quiet version?
STEPHANIE MILLER (1:29): I saw you (Howard Dean) on Keith Olbermann last night. You really do believe we’re going to have a public option.
HOWARD DEAN: At the end of the day, I think we will. First of all, the president is a very smart guy and he knows very well this can’t work without a public option. Secondly, you know he’s run into a rough patch in the Senate, mostly because of Democrats, honestly.
The Republicans, they have no interest in this Bill. They’re using the 1994 playbook. Let’s kill the bill and kill the president...... or, kill the president’s term. Although there are sort of angry people out there I get very nervous about this stuff. I don’t like it at all.
DEAN (5:02): I’m an optimist. I think the president is gonna get a bill on his desk. I think it is going to have a public option in it. He’s going to sign it in December, his numbers are gonna turn around and we’re not going to lose a lot of seats. In fact I think we’ll pick up seats in the Senate and lose just a couple of seats in the House.
Listen to the clip: did Howard Dean really trip over his words, or was it a sleazy attempt to claim Republicans want Obama dead? Does his backtracking sound contrived?
What does "kill the president's term" mean? And why follow up with comments about angry people?
Has a clear explanation for the bizarre rantings of MSNBC's Ed Schultz finally emerged? Thanks to Mark Levin, the mystery may be solved.
Meanwhile, using a brief quote taken wildly out of context, Schultz has attempted to shift the blame for his recent smears to FOX News Channel Contributor Dick Morris. That's Big Ed's radio response to last week's assertion that conservatives "want Obama to get shot".
After that rant generated an angry response, Schultz resorted to cheap editing in order to suggest Morris was promoting terrorism.
SCHULTZ (01:56): You mean you're having a hard time with freedom of speech? Conservatives are having a hard time when someone's speaking their mind?
[...]
SCHULTZ (04:35): Oh, it's only good to say on one side, I get it! Listen, the very people that Dick Morris and the rest of these right-wing broadcasters are encouraging to go out, the very people they are encouraging to go out are the folks that are holding up these signs of hate.
SCHULTZ (07:00): And what is the response of the White House? The White House can't grow enough olive branches. That's their philosophy.
SCHULTZ (07:46): Is anybody calling these dogs off at any of these town hall meetings? No! They're not denouncing this. Hell, they love it!
Another Libtalker Claims Conservatives Plotting 'Assassinations'
TEAM TOTUS
Libtalkers In Echo Chamber Over 'Assassination' Theory
We've all heard about Obama's TelePrompTer, TOTUS, without which the president is seemingly unable to function.
That may be missing the larger picture, however: is TOTUS heading up a network of similar units that dictate thoughts directly to left-wing talking heads and state-run media reporters?
Several libtalkers have spent the week pushing the idea that conservatives and other opponents of socialized medicine, known as ObamaCare, are planning hits on politicians. Never mind the complete lack of evidence, their mere assertions should be good enough for America.
MADDOW (06:50 in segment on Maddow MSNBC titled "The health care fight turns hazardous"): Are we now operating in a political environment which is not just politics as usual, which is not just a rowdy debate? Has enough kerosene been poured on the flames that the possibility of violence, even assassination, is being posited as a real political tactic in the United States?
Other than the usual handful of nuts that exist during any presidential administration, there isn't a shred of evidence to support these wild claims and the fact that a moron like Joe Biden would replace Obama doesn't seem to strike the left as the ultimate deterrent against such an action.
Maddow and Schultz both work for a network, NBC, which wildly supports Obama. But while network suits may enjoy this kind of reckless rhetoric, it doesn't mean the public is going to buy it.
MSNBC Libtalker Ed Schultz: Opponents Want Obama Dead
THE 'ED' POOL
Schultz Claims Conservatives 'Want Obama To Get Shot'
*** EXCLUSIVE TO THE RADIO EQUALIZER ***
With ObamaCare running into enormous public opposition, the effort by Democrats to demonize both concerned citizens and political opponents has moved into high gear.
Between accusing town hall participants of Nazi sympathies and other smear tactics, the left is utilizing everything in their rhetorical armory before their socialized medicine plan sinks like the Titanic.
Proving he can outdo all of his colleagues in the field of over-the-top oratory, MSNBC's Ed Schultz has contributed his own reckless, incendiary language.
SCHULTZ (Tuesday 11 August 2009 - 01:42): It's almost as if every one of these town hall meetings is turning into "The Jerry Springer Show". And there are many Americans right now who are starting to fear for the safety of the president of the United States. All over health reform. Folks, these people are psycho, that's what they are.
SCHULTZ (04:53): Sometimes I think they want Obama to get shot. I do! I really think that there are conservative broadcasters in this country who would love to see Obama taken out. They *fear* socialism, they fear Marxism. They fear that the United States of America won't be the United States of America anymore.
Beyond Schultz's "dead pool" predictions, the oddest aspect of his on-air rant is the tacit admission that Obama's policies are socialist and Marxist in nature. Isn't that supposed to be a secret, Ed?
And wasn't Jerry Springer a liberal talk host for several years? How quickly we forget.
Most importantly, while CNN's Lou Dobbs continues to take heat on cable for comments made during his radio program, isn't it time to apply that same standard to everyone else performing that dual role?
Left-Wing Host Calls Nancy Pelosi A 'C---', Says Obama Will Go 'Psycho'
'PELOSI'S A C--T'
Libtalker, Caller Excoriate Obama, Pelosi
For several weeks, we've been watching in fascination as longtime liberal firebrand Lynn Samuels forges an independent leftist path that features increasingly harsh criticism of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the Democratic Party.
Make no mistake: Samuels has NOT moved to the right. Instead, she's simply calling out phoniness when it is apparent. Many conservatives are still regularly singled out for scorn during her program.
But the former WABC / New York talker, now heard on Sirius Left, has really outdone herself this time. First initiated by a caller, Samuels joins right in as he calls House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "a c--t."
SAMUELS (22:15): You know what it is to me? What it is to me is he slid through his whole life on a smile and a glibness – he just smiles and says something that, you know, because people are so stupid they think he’s intelligent, and he gets whatever he wants. And suddenly he can’t get what he wants anymore just smiling and being Obama.
[Caller makes Pelosi remark]
SAMUELS (24:42): She was a c--t from “impeachment is off the table.”
Beyond the shock value of referring to Pelosi that way, Samuels has especially keen observations regarding Obama. Barack is used to getting his way in life, so how will he react when America revolts? Samuels predicts Obama will go "psycho" as opposition grows to his rule.
Clearly relishing his rare moment in the spotlight, longtime libtalker and former WLS / Chicago host Mike Malloy has repeated his call for Glenn Beck's (right image) televised suicide, saying he "absogoddamnlutely" stands by what he said earlier in the week.
The latest comments come from his most recent program and have been captured by your Radio Equalizer:
While there's no doubt Malloy (and virtually any other desperate libtalker) sees this kind of attention as a career booster, your Radio Equalizer chooses to highlight it nonetheless.
At a time when conservatives are repeatedly being accused of hate speech, it is necessary to point out that the most disgusting rhetoric almost always comes from the left. If the price of that is the promotion of Malloy's career, then so be it.
Proving that liberal talk radio still has new frontiers of bad taste to explore, syndicated host Mike Malloy has openly called for FOX News Channel host Glenn Beck to commit suicide, something he hopes will occur live and on the air.
MALLOY (3:50): I have a good news to report; Glenn Beck appears closer to suicide - I'm hoping that he does it on camera; suicide is rampant in his family, and given his alcoholism and his tendencies towards self-destruction, I am only hoping that when Glen Beck does put a gun to his head and pulls the trigger, that it will be on television, because somebody will capture it on YouTube and it will be the most popular video for months.
To our "progressive" friends, what's more dangerous than good ol' Rush Limbaugh? How about a thin Rush Limbaugh.
After years of grade-school level taunts directed at the talk titan's weight, El Rushbo has taken their key "issue" off of the table. Of course, that won't stop the smear merchants completely, but it does undermine what little credibility they previously had.
Suddenly placed in a difficult position, however, the broader mainstream media has managed to maintain a negative focus on Limbaugh by denouncing his diet. How's that for spin?
Dangerously overweight Rush has now become dangerously thin Rush. Don't try his diet at home, they warn, it'll kill you!
East Texans say Rush Limbaugh's diet isn't healthy
By Holley Nees
LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - There's always a new diet out there, but this one has an outspoken radio talk show host talking it up after loosing quite a bit of weight.
Rush limbaugh doesn't let much slide, but now, he's letting go of his weight.
Limbaugh is reportedly 90 pounds lighter after only six months on a diet that combines a low-calorie diet with office visits and supplements.
A way that one East Texas dietician said is not practical.
"Diets that promote rapid weight loss I don't recommend because for one thing, we don't gain weight rapidly," said Dietician at Memorial Health System of East Texas Tim Scallon. "If we gain weight gradually why should we expect to lose weight rapidly."
RUSH: All right. So I don't know what I'm doing. In fact, I cannot do what I've done. I didn't really lose the weight -- and, by the way, it's 80 pounds. Now, that's five months times 30 average days in a month. Five times 30 is 150 rebuke right? Eighty pounds in 150 days is not a pound a day. What I said was, "Up until about 30 it was pretty close to a pound a day," and I was amazed by it.
So I can't do it what I've done. What I've done that I can't do won't work -- and even if it does work, it won't last 'cause I'm going to not exercise enough to satisfy Dr. Savard. And so I'm going to regain the weight. It's just automatic. This also came up on The View today. Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd and Joy Behar have this exchange about the diet.
GOLDBERG: Rush has dropped 90 pounds in less than six months thanks to the Florida-based Quick Weight Loss Centers. That's a short amount of time to lose that much weight. SHEPHERD: He's taking appetite suppressants.
BEHARD: Yeah, which are dangerous. It screws you up.
GOLDBERG: Looks good.
SHEPHERD: Thing is you don't keep that weight off.
RUSH: Not taking appetite suppressants. But anyway, there you have it. They wish I was dead anyway! All these people wish I was dead anyway so why aren't they celebrating here? I'm going to die! I'm starving! I'm not going to be able to keep the weight off. I'm engaging in terrific health risks here -- and since they all do want me dead I think it maybe would be good if they were just happy about all this. As I say, folks, it kinda... In all seriousness here, these people... I'm going to be repetitive. These people, whoever they are -- be they in the media, be they in the medical community -- are really focused on obesity how much it's costing us health care-wise how unhealthy it is. They're out there urging people to do something about it and then when somebody like me goes out and does something about it, "Bah, it won't work! He won't keep it off. It don't work, that diet!"
They say that about every diet. I have yet to hear a medical person on television tell me the diet that works. I hear 'em say, "Well, reduce your calories and exercise." Well, I'm doing half of that, and it's not like I'm sitting around vegging. (laughing) At any rate, what bothers me about this is that these poor people at Quick Weight Loss Centers are having their diet maligned and I just want to reiterate to you -- and I'm not being paid for this. This is one of the reasons I didn't mention this at all during the whole process of being on the diet was that I didn't want to have any official tie-in, and I don't. I'm just telling you -- and I've done every diet that there is. I have done every diet there is. I'm 58 years old. This is the first diet that I have not felt deprived, have not felt sorry for myself because I feel like I'm in denial because I've been satisfied. I've lost weight faster than I ever have at age 58, and I think it's probably the healthiest I have been eating in years.
A thin Rush Limbaugh takes a key element of demonization away from the left, causing a shift in their longtime smear narrative. That they were so quickly able to twist the issue shows just how threatening a more appealing El Rushbo could be to their cause.
The longtime syndicated libtalker is at it again, heard earlier this week exhibiting an especially touching display of affection for one of his political enemies:
MALLOY (34:54): I hope that Limbaugh chokes to death on his throat fat...
The fact that Rushhas recently lost 80 pounds apparently means nothing to the peaceful, tolerant world of liberal talk radio. You are what we want you to be!
But hey, what could be expected from a guy whose previous "violence fantasies" have targeted Dana Perino, Matt Drudge and most likely the guy ahead of him driving just a tad bit too slowly. And just imagine Malloy calling someone else nutty, perhaps it takes one to know one?
Though we've been furnishing examples of "progressive" hate speech for several years here at the Radio Equalizer, you won't see any of them cited in the mainstream media. In their twisted world, criticizing Democrats is a threat to public safety, while liberal violence fantasies are perfectly rational.
Between Emily Rooney's assertion that virtually no other politician's death would warrant the attention given to Kennedy and the praise being lavished all over Vicki Kennedy (who may be handed his US Senate seat by Governor Deval Patrick), there are strong contenders.
Between Emily Rooney's assertion that virtually no other politician's death would warrant the attention given to Kennedy and the praise being lavished all over Vicki Kennedy (who may be handed his US Senate seat by Governor Deval Patrick), there are strong contenders.
