Randi Rhodes, an afternoon host for the progressive Air America radio network, was suspended Thursday after repeatedly insulting Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at an event last month. Ms. Rhodes used vulgar language that likened Mrs. Clinton to a prostitute at an event sponsored by KKGN, the Air America affiliate in the San Francisco area, on March 22. A video of Ms. Rhodes’ remarks was published to the video-sharing Web site YouTube on Tuesday, prompting condemnations by some bloggers. In a statement, Charlie Kireker, the chair of Air America, said the radio network “encourages strong opinions about public affairs but does not condone such abusive, ad hominem language by our hosts.”…. The network called Ms. Rhodes’ suspension “indefinite” and did not elaborate on the fate of her daily three-hour radio show. “The Randi Rhodes Show” is normally broadcast from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays. Sam Seder, another Air America host, was scheduled to fill in for Ms. Rhodes on Thursday.
Let’s just get this out of the way right off the bat, shall we? Meanness is not exclusively a Republican/Conservative trait, though you might not realize it if you watch these folks in their native habitat.
Unfortunately, everyone now and then one of our Liberal brethren goes off the deep end and demonstrates that ignorance and intolerance cuts both ways. In this case, it’s Randi Rhodes from Air America, who went WAY off the reservation in ridiculing Geraldine Ferraro and calling Sen. Hillary Clinton “a big f—king whore”. Now, Sen. Clinton may well be what Rhodes accuses her of, but that still doesn’t give Rhodes license to go off on her in such an insulting, mean-spirited fashion.
For years now, I’ve ridiculed and denigrated Conservative bullies who have engaged in this sort of gratuitious douchebaggery directed at Democrats and those they perceive as Liberal. It would be hypocritical of me to pass off Rhodes’ abusive language as appropriate political discourse…because it’s anything but. There is nothing that justifies this sort of mean-spirited disrespect, and it certainly doesn’t do a thing toward trying to bridge the almost unbridgeable ideological gap in this country. We as Americans deserve better. Rhodes’ assessment of Ferraro and Clinton may be spot, but airing that sort of dirty laundry in public accomplishes nothing even remotely positive.
Geraldine Ferraro turned out to be David Duke in drag. She’s such a fucking whore! Hillary is a big fucking whore, too. Oh, fuck you, Hillary.
Yeah, THAT really adds something to the public political discourse, eh? If Rhodes was a Republican, I’d be all over her for her mean-spirited self-righteousness. The fact that she’s a Liberal Democrat shouldn’t mean that she shouldn’t be expected to refrain from gratuitous and pointless douchebaggery. WE DESERVE BETTER.
I applaud Charlie Kireker for standing up and immediately doing the right thing. Would that those responsible for foisting Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, etc., ad nauseum, ad infinitum could see their way clear to doing the same thing
