Randi Rhodes suspended by AAR

[lazyriver]

Just saw it on their home page...

http://www.airamerica.com/

[Maine-ah]

1. wonder what she said.

[FredStembottom]

17. Probably this thing.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x113908

[Maine-ah]

42. ah, thankyou.

I didn't watch the video (BB sleepin, need to be quiet) but read the post.

[niceypoo]

64. Sadly, the last time I listened to her she sounded like Ann Coulter

Hatred just destroys a persons soul

I haven't bothered listening to her since

Unity my ass

[krkaufman]

65. You know she's not affiliated with the Obama campaign in any way, right? n/t

[IndianaJones]

2. is that the one that got mugged by a door or something? nt.

[Syntheto]

37. No, actually it was more like...

...The Liquor Fairy shoved her from behind, facilitating an intimate encounter between her face and the sidewalk. One Irish Pub/Sports Bar too far...

[bdamomma]

3. oh geez, what happened??

[liberaldem4ever]

4. Wonder what she could have said

To get her suspended? I haven't listened to her in a while because of the time of day she is on where I live, so I don't know what she has been saying. Anybody know about this?

[lazyriver]

7. I don't listen to her anymore. Sam Seder sat in for her

yesterday at the last minute because she was "sick". That's all I know.

[bdamomma]

Sam is sitting for her today too.

[lazyriver]

28. No complaints there. Love Sam Seder.

[MorningGlow]

9. Apparently it wasn't something she said on the air

This is the whole press release (bold is my emphasis):

Air America has suspended on-air host Randi Rhodes for making inappropriate statements about prominent figures, including Senator Hillary Clinton, at a recent public appearance on behalf of Air America in San Francisco which was sponsored by an Air America affiliate station.

"Air America encourages strong opinions about public affairs but does not condone such abusive, ad hominem language by our Hosts," said chair Charlie Kireker.

Curiouser and curiouser...

[Winterblues]

55. All I can say is it's about time

She was abusive to her callers and IMO a very poor representative of Liberal views. :shrug:

[jgraz]

14. The vid is up in Political Videos

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x113908

[lazyriver]

31. This illustrates the difference between a progressive

radio operation like AAR and whatever souless demon swine run the right wing noise machine. What would Limbaugh or O'Reilly or any of those other pieces of filth have to say or do to get suspended by their parent company?

Randi wasn't being broadcasted on AAR at the time but still said something at their event that seemed to cross some people's line. AAR took action and I think it was the right thing for them to do.

[AngryAmish]

5. What did she say about Ms. Clinton?

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. I wonder when exactly she crossed the line

regardless that means more seder, Hopefully Sam will get the spot

[Supersedeas]

53. that'd be my vote

[loveable liberal]

8. oops.... so Seder fills in for a week and Randi comes back...

No biggie....

[lpbk2713]

10. I'd like to see Sam in her place but not at the cost of her suspension.

:shrug:

[bdamomma]

16. me too, love Sam, Randi, Randi, Randi.

so outspoken huh?

[JoDog]

11. She called

Hilary Clinton and Ferraro "f-ing whores" at an AAR event in San Francisco.

[lonestarnot]

15. ummmmmmmmmmmm. naughty naughty naughty

[lazyriver]

18. Seems like that would get her the hook for a while.

That's out of line and something I would only expect from Limbaugh or his ilk.

[bdamomma]

19. you'd think she would know better than that.

Randi very outspoken indeed.

[dbonds]

22. That would be crossing the line.

I support Obama, but would never support Randy for saying that. I do 'think' clinton has probably sold out to corporate interests (which might be the origin of her remark), but that is taking the slur too far.

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. Yep, she crossed the line

[Rageneau]

26. Her name-calling show she is sexist as well as hotheaded.

Randi should know better than to use female sex workers as an epithet.

[peace frog]

33. Not that it wasn't a true statement

and not that I disagree with her, but she might have used less vulgar language to get her point across.

[Dorian Gray]

34. What an awful

thing for a woman to say about two other women. Horrible!

And I'm not even a Clinton supporter. It's infuriating and beyond the pale.

[Political Heretic]

43. Doh. Too far.

:(

[emilyg]

12. Good.

[Cooley Hurd]

13. It must've been the comments about Senator Clinton and Ferarro...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x113908
:wow:

[JDPriestly]

20. I have been wondering about whether Randi may be experiencing

some emotional difficulties. As an Edwards supporter, I was often offended by her extremely dismissive attitude toward candidates other than Obama in the past few months. She did not seem to be balanced in her approach.

I hope that Randi gets back on a more even keel (part of her charm is her emotional commitment) and comes back to AAR after she gets some rest. She has opened my eyes to many facts that I did not know. I wish her well. I'm going to give Randi a big internet motherly hug.

Here is my message to Randi:

Sit down, dear. Have a cup of tea with someone you love, someone who is quiet. Put your feet up, relax and just talk your heart out. You are wonderful. Everything is going to be fine.

[lazyriver]

27. I used to listen to her but something changed about her since

the primaries got heated up. Primaries seem to change a good number of people and some dramatically. I hope she takes your advice because there was a time when I really liked listening to her. She used to be much more informative and dug into issues that didn't get much air play anywhere else. She approached those issues passionately and gave it to you straight...no BS. That's the place she needs to find again and I really hope she does.

In the meantime, I love listening to Sam Seder every day.

[silverweb]

21. What she said was really bad.

The context and a video are at HuffPo _here_ -- but I can't seem to find out how long she's been suspended for.

Personally, I think she deserved it. She's lucky she wasn't fired because she was representing AAR at a station-sponsored event.

[riverdeep]

23. Wonder if it was the 'whores' part?

What if she had called them 'fucking pigs', or 'fucking centrists'? Or maybe it was the 'fucking' part? With Randi, you gotta expect a little blue.

[cynatnite]

25. Good n/t

[whistle]

29. This is speculation on my part, but perhaps AAR wants to give Rachel Maddow

...that time slot :shrug:

[bdamomma]

32. love Rachel

she is so good.

[whistle]

35. Yes, I do also, but she may just go over to the dark side where the mega dollars reside

[bdamomma]

47. I hope she remains a cool head

[liberal1973]

48. Maddow is not getting that spot

[liberal1973]

49. Maddow is not getting that spot

[mmonk]

30. Well she said she was going back to Florida

in her house.

[MonkeyFunk]

36. She deserved it

I used to love her, but got sick of her rude shtick long before this primary season got underway. She just seems unable to exercise any self-control whatsoever.

[Windy]

40. Randi has been very vocal about HRC and her dirty tactics. Mark Green no doubt was irritated

to start with as he is a Clinton supporter. Green brought Bill Press on in the morning who is also for Clinton.

While what Randi said in San Fran was over the top, my guess is that Green and frankly, Clinton and her crew have been gunning for Rhodes of late because she is stating truth about clinton and her campaign.

[MonkeyFunk]

41. I don't think anybody had to gun for her....

using the words she did made it pretty self-evident that she lacks self-control.

[FredStembottom]

62. Yes. I dropped her ast summer

She was pointlessly mean to friendly callers. Increasingly. I just didn't like it.

[baldguy]

38. They hire talk show hosts for their opinion

Then they lose control of their bladder when that opinion is expressed.

[Peace Patriot]

39. What ever happened to free speech? nt

[lazyriver]

44. This doesn't seem like a free speech issue to me.

She wasn't prosecuted by the law for her speech but rather disciplined by her employer. It was an AAR sponsored event and she's on their payroll. I could stand on a chair and proclaim the Bush administration to be a bunch of f'ing fascist pigs with the blood of millions on their hands at a sales meeting with one of of my company's customers. I wouldn't be arrested for it, but would expect my employer to be less than pleased and probably take disciplinary action against me. I would still have the Constitutional right to speak my mind but since I also represent my company when I'm on their time, I would have to respect their rules. It sucks, but if we collect a check from somebody, we have to answer to them on some level.

[Political Heretic]

45. Nothing "happened" to it. The government didn't suspend her. A private company did

...which has the right to dictate certain codes of conduct for representatives of its company at public functions - in this case an AAR function.

[nadinbrzezinski]

51. Private company on their dime

The same rule applies to rules here and toombstones

She must have violated company poilicy

[Peace Patriot]

61. All workers should belong to unions, or own the business collectively--and

all should have the 100% guaranteed by the Constitution right of free speech, which ESPECIALLY includes the right to express your political opinion to anyone, at any time, whatever you are doing. And if the bosses don't like it, they can eat it. We either have a First Amendment or we don't. There is no in between.

So I DON'T AGREE that AAR bosses have any right whatsoever to punish Randi Rhodes for something she SAID--especially something she said in a political vein. If they don't want her to represent them at a public function, fine, they can hire somebody else to speak for them. But if they DO hire her to speak for them, they had better respect her right to speak freely. Maybe it gets her passed over next time, speaking for AAR in public. That's a fair consequence. But to take her off the air, no way. They have no right to do that. None!

And I've just been informed by somebody downthread that Randi was NOT speaking at that event in any kind of official way for AAR. So their behavior towards her was purely repressive of her right of free speech, with not even the excuse of being "the boss" in this upside down, corporate-crazy country.

It's time we looked at PRINCIPLES. It's time we STAND UP for principles. The right of workers to be FULL CITIZENS at all times. None of this toadying to the Boss. No Boss should have the power to require toadying. If they can't take free speech by their workers, they can go do their business in Pakistan.

And there really is nothing uglier than so-called leftists pulling this Boss & Toadies number. Shame on AAR! Shame on them!

Was what she said impolitic? Was it unwise? Was it unfair? You can have an opinion about that, without concluding that AAR has any rights over what she says. Free speech is ABSOLUTE. It may be the only principle of democracy--or principle of anything--that I would say is absolute--except maybe transparent vote counting. The corporate culture has managed to encroach further and further on all of our Constitutional and human rights. Free speech is one of them. Privacy is another. PUBLIC counting of our votes is another. The right to a living wage is another. The right to organize is another. We must put a stop to this. Corporations and private businesses have no rights. Only people have rights. And when peoples' rights clash with corporate/business rights, peoples' rights must prevail. And the first of them, and the most important of them, is FREE SPEECH.

[liberal1973]

46. This is bs

Randi is the best of what's left of AAR. She will be back.

[bbgrunt]

50. i love Randi, but frankly, I think she is having

some problems with AAR.....and her break out a couple of weeks ago for Obama was really brave given that the Greens are pro Hillary. I say, go Randi! She will always be a truthseeker.

[Gold Metal Flake]

52. Vid at Huffpo (link)

Funny!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/03/air-america-host-randi-rh_n_94863.html

Loves me some Randi.

[LaurenG]

54. I think they were wise to let her think about what she said

I wasn't thrilled with it myself. :shrug:

[Kitty Herder]

56. I'm no fan of Ferraro or even Clinton, but Randi went too far.

And it's not just that incident. She's been a little too vitriolic for my tastes lately. At least, when she's attacking Democrats. She can be as vitriolic as she likes when attacking Repubs as far as I'm concerned.

I think it's good that she's having a little time-out to think about what she said. But I do hope they bring her back. She annoys me sometimes, but she's informative.

[Matariki]

57. Good.

Hated her tactic of pausing long enough to let a person talk, only to interrupt and talk over them. Couldn't stand her show.

[Nutmegger]

58. R&K

What's even more sickening is seeing some Obama supporters defend her words.

[nadinbrzezinski]

59. Ok folks now listening to the station manager for the San Fran station

she was not... I repeat she was NOT acting as an AAR agent.

This changes this completely

[Mezzo]

66. yes she was. They paid for her airfare, they paid for her hotel at this fundraiser for Obama.

and she was not promoted as a stand up comedienne for the event.

[Liberal In Texas]

60. I generally like Randi. But some random thoughts...

1) For the last few months she's been grumbling under her breath about the management at AAR; jabbing at them like a disgruntled employee, and it wasn't in jest like a lot of radio personalities engage in.

2) As to her free speech rights I see some DUers posting about: After having worked in the broadcasting industry for over 30 years, I'll tell you that your employer expects that you represent the company when your on the clock or off; whether or not your an air personality or the guy who schleps sets around the studio. If you embarrass yourself or the station (in this case the network) in public, it is generally understood you could be fired. I don't see that it has anything to do with any perceived Clinton political leanings of the AAR ownership or management.

3) I watched the video. I am no Hillary fan, but I thought it was over the top. Especially since Clinton is a Democrat and is possibly going to be the Democratic nominee in the next election. As far as "comedy" goes, I didn't even think she was very funny. Besides, do we really need liberal radio voices doing the job of trashing Dems that hundreds of RW hate radio talkers engage in every day?

4) Indefinite suspensions have a habit of becoming permanent. Witness Rebecca Aguilar who was put on indefinite suspension about the way she handled the story about the man who shot the bugler at his junk yard/home: http://unclebarky.com/dfw_files/3e64c705d460bf76ce5ee3a44b19ac0d-583.html
Since Randi has obviously been having differences with AAR managers, I wouldn't be surprised to see a parting of the ways over this.

[mucifer]

63. She's a drama queen.