re:randi rhodes suspension/quitting

[sabbat hunter]

I would like to know how many people here that are up in arms over Randi Rhodes being suspended over her use of vulgarities when describing Hillary Clinton, were similarly up in arms when Don Imus was suspended and eventually fired last year.

I have seen a few people saying her freedom of speech was violated. Was Don Imus's freedom of speech violated too ?

[DarienComp]

1. Nope.

Randi wasn't on the air. Imus was.

[sabbat hunter]

7. but it was at an affilate meeting

Affiliate conferences are pretty major deals. You are supposed to help keep them and perhaps entice more stations to join. She made inappropriate comments there.


It would be different if she was in a comedy club doing a stand up routine.

[LSparkle]

12. I heard it on Green960 (the sponsoring station) today -- NOT a conference

It was a station-sponsored "meet and greet" at a private club in North Beach,
San Francisco. It was for LISTENERS, not affiliates or network bigwigs.

Ironically, as you note above, it WAS more like a stand up routine at a comedy
club ...

[DarienComp]

14. Exactly.

Nightclub. Private function. Off the air.

That is all.

[bookman]

20. How ironic

Green 960 is picking her up starting Monday. It wasn't an Air America event it was a Green 960 event. They don't seem to mind.

Perhaps many of you need to go to their web site and view the whole appearance (not just the right wing youtube version).

You might want to look up the many definitions of whore. Hers was not the Imus one.


On edit:

Here it is: "A person considered as having compromised principles for personal gain."

[Lost-in-FL]

2. Two different issues and situations. n/t

[Amerigo Vespucci]

3. I posted a thread on that subject a week ago.

Imus "Nappy Headed Hos" = Randi "Hillary Whore."

It has nothing to to with gender.

It has nothing to do with sexual preference.

It has nothing to do with religion.

It has nothing to do with political affiliation.

Imus was fired.

Randi quit.

Do the math.

[MADem]

8. Randi quit, eh? I hadn't kept up. That makes a suit a bit problematic for her.

Not that she had much of a case.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

13. Legendary rock-folk ICON Richard Thompson said it best...

"Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed?"...



...and all that matters is that she called Hillary Clinton a "fucking whore" during a FILMED, corporate-sponsored event.

Free speech?

1st Amendment martyr?

She was on the clock. Over and over and over, Randi acolytes point out the fact that she didn't make the remarks on her show.

They're right.

SHE MADE THE FUCKING REMARKS AT AN AIR AMERICA-SPONSORED EVENT.

She's not a VICTIM.

The guy in that photo with the panties on his head and the dog snapping at his crotch at Gitmo was a VICTIM.

Randi's a radio personality. BIG difference.

The sponsors didn't like the fact that she called Hillary a fucking whore any more than the fact that the sponsors didn't like Imus calling the women of Rugers "nappy headed hos."

Anyone who doesn't believe me, post a thread ANYWHERE on Du in which you call ANYONE a "fucking whore" and count the seconds until you're tombstoned.

Randi's not a hero.

Randi's someone who called someone else a fucking whore and cut her options down to "no options."

:patriot:

[MADem]

23. Hey, I agree with everything you say.

Line for line, word for word, letter for letter.

I just hadn't kept up with the adventures of the Banged One. I'd heard she was

....threatening.....

a lawsuit, but I was curious as to how she'd be able to swing that, seeing as she wasn't even fired, only suspended. Now, if she's quit, well, that's on her, not AAR.

She's supposed to be on Larry King tonight, so says this board. They aren't advertising her in this NORTHEAST market....I guess she's sharing the bill with the latest Peterson (the cop) who killed his wife/wives. HE's getting the plugs.

I found Ms. Rhodes' remarks reprehensible. And even worse, they were STUPID. Not witty, not amusing, not funny. Rather like someone who's had a few too many and their "governor" has gone to sleep for the night, whilst they stumble on, saying everything and anything, no matter how inappropriate, that comes to mind.

[pitohui]

22. it has to do with calling influential women role models whores

as far as i'm concerned, i'm sick of this shit

it is so hard for a woman to achieve and when she does, she's still a whore?


i don't even expect anything better from shit like imus but from rhodes this is just mind boggling, she has got to know better than this

[newmajority]

4. Imus made racist statements on the air.

Randi made her comments off the air, in the context of a stand up comedy act, where such language is common.

I don't know if Chuck D is on Air America anymore, but when he was, would it have been appropriate to "suspend" him because some suit didn't like his Public Enemy albums?

[elocs]

5. AAR is a private employer and is free to set their own standards for their employees.

Randi made a free choice and had to face the consequences of her actions. So did Don Imus. I am not free to say whatever I like at my place of employment and that in no way is a curtailment of my freedom of speech.

[baldguy]

6. Imus: comments on public airwaves against private people

The Rutgers' Womens Basketball team did nothing to deserve those comments.


Randi: private comments made about a public figure - brought upon directly by that public persons' actions.

No comparison.

[sabbat hunter]

9. the rutgers basketball team

by being on national TV became public figures.

[Breeze54]

10. Don't worry! She's back on the air on Monday!! Woohoo!!

:woohoo: :woohoo:

Listen to Jeff Farias talking all about it right now! :D
http://www.1480kphx.com/DynamoPages.php?PID=22

http://www.green960.com/main.html

--------------------------------------------------------

BREAKING: NOVA M PICKS UP RANDI RHODES
http://www.green960.com/cc-common/mainheadlines2.html?feed=213008&article=3493425

ON LARRY KING TONIGHT, ON GREEN 960 MONDAY

Randi Rhodes will appear on CNN’s “Larry King Live” tonight (Thu, 4/10) – 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific

For Immediate Release
April 10, 2008


RANDI RHODES JOINS NOVA M RADIO

The Nova M Radio Network is thrilled to announce the addition of “The Randi Rhodes Show”
to its nationally syndicated talent offerings beginning this Monday, April 14, 2008.

Randi Rhodes is the #1 rated progressive talk radio host in the nation.

Nova M CEO John Manzo says, “I just can’t stop smiling - Randi is simply the biggest and the best.

Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy under one roof – talk about TALENT!”

Randi Rhodes adds, “With Manzo at helm of Nova M, I am truly going to work for the best of the best. He is radio elite…and I am too <laughs>. I’m home, I’m home, I’m home!”

“The Randi Rhodes Show” will air live Mon-Fri from 3-6pm Eastern on The Nova M Radio Network.

:applause: :applause:

[Nickster]

18. I wonder if that means they'll plug her into the Sirius lineup as well? That would be great.

[baldguy]

16. As a basketball team.

Playing basketball.

As spectators we weren't privileged to know about their beliefs, thoughts & personal feelings. Nor should we have been.

Imus took a group of successful student athletes and chose not to praise them or their abilities as a team. He chose to debase & degrade them.

They should have been held up as an example for other to emulate. Instead they were dragged through the gutter.

They did not seek such attention. And they did not deserve it.

[gort]

11. I was aghast at what Imus said

but I was against his firing. I love free speech so much that I can take being insulted by it every day.

I thought what Randi said about two very public figures was fair game.

If Clinton can't take being called a Fucking Whore than why should I trust her to be able to handle the stresses and demands of being POTUS?


GOD DAMN AIR AMERICA!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

15. He was fired because of the sponsors.

The K.O. "Countdown" episode about how MSNBC employees went to the guy in charge and expressed their disapproval was a real Kumbaya episode.

The sponsors killed Imus...TEMPORARILY...and as we all know, he's back on the air, and he's back to collecting a steady paycheck.

[libnnc]

17. In a bar. Not over our FCC regulated airwaves. Apples. Oranges.n/t.

[VotesForWomen]

26. she's free to say what she thinks; AAR is free to fire her. it's a free world you know.

[pitohui]

19. i was happy to see imus canned and i'm happy to see her canned

i have no use for people who use that kind of language to put down other women

as far as i'm concerned, rhodes and imus are two of a kind

there was no call for that kind of language aimed at our own, absolutely no call whatsoever

we have a once in a lifetime chance for a woman president and it just makes me sick that even other women are stepping on her face

what's wrong with people?


yeah my language is bad too BUT i'm not in the public eye and i'm not influencing people to turn away from hillary with my language

rhodes attacked one of our own and i just don't see the need for it

[PeaceNikki]

21. There are topics on which we disagree vehemently.

This is not one of them.

[ElkHunter]

24. I remain surprised and shocked...

...that when it comes to putting a chill on free speech there are actually Democrats who embrace tactics and arguments similar to those of the Bush administration. No, Air America Radio did not violate Randi's free speech rights. But did they add to a climate that puts a chill as to which kind of speech is to be considered politically acceptable? You bet they did.

Keep in mind that the difference between the Imus and Rhodes situation was not merely the fact that Imus spoke his words on the air while Rhodes did not; rather the major difference is that Randi's speech was POLITICAL in nature, which was not the case with Imus.

And now we apparently have Democrats willing to put limits on political speech. As lyrics of that song by the Who put it, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Pathetic.

[gort]

25. Or as Pogo put it

[Fleshdancer]

27. I have no opinion of the suspension one way or another, but....

I am pissed at AAR for screwing over Sam Seder yet AGAIN. He found out on the air through the Huffington Post that someone else has been chosen to replace Randi. He's too good to be treated like filler.

As for what Randi said, I don't like that she said it because I would prefer that we don't eat our own, but at the same time I have a hard time getting worked up over it. Perhaps it's a ridiculous double standard, but one woman calling another woman a vicious sexist word just isn't the same as a white man calling black women a viciously racist and sexist term.

I recognize my hypocrisy and I'm ok with it this time.