Randi Rhodes FIRED from AAR?

[npincus]

Lisstening to Steph Miller, and a few references made to Randi getting "fired". She's only susp[ended, isn't she? I'm enjoying Sam Seder while she's away.

[bdamomma]

1. Sam is always there when we need him.

Love Sam.

[patrice]

2. I love Sam!

I like Randi, but don't listen to her. I think there is some static about "balance" in Randi's attitudes toward Clinton and Obama.

I REALLY wish this part of the struggle were OVER!

[OmahaBlueDog]

3. The AAR site still has the "suspended" press release

[SoFlaJet]

4. there's a lot going on at her MB npincus

http://forums.therandirhodesshow.com/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=159

[madinmaryland]

5. That looks like GD:P

:scared:

[RB TexLa]

28. Did you make sure that is a site that can be named?

How do we go about finding out what sites can and can't be named?

[mmonk]

6. She'll be on the air again in some capacity.

[Red Zelda]

7. Sam is so much better

Randi has never gotten over Rachel Maddow's rise.

[liberal1973]

11. WTF?

lol.. You sir are a moron.

[Red Zelda]

13. What erudition

Princeton, right? No, no ... you went to Harvard Law, right?

[patrice]

14. That's not erudite; it's terse. nt

[Cleita]

16. Where do you get that?

When Randi mentions Rachel it's always with praise and she seems to genuinely like her.

[Horse with no Name]

31. there was a little tiff last year

Rachel substituted for Randi and Randi came back and was less than complimentary about Rachel's performance. She even stated that Rachel would never substitute for her again.
Personally I thought it was jealousy.:shrug:

[Kitty Herder]

20. Well, Rachel is on to bigger and better things and can leave Randi secure in her title of

"Goddess of Radio."

I think Rachel absolutely deserves her success. I think she's incredibly talented. I just hope television doesn't corrupt her.

[Breeze54]

8. Some of the callers said 'fired'. They were mistaken.

I think she'll be coming back. They're still advertising her and her time slot.

[NashVegas]

9. Radio People Get Fired for Lesser Infractions All the Time

There's no security in this business. Calling a Democratic candidate a "fucking whore" on stage when you work for a Dem-inclined political talk radio station isn't going to win you any fans in management.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. The suspension is 'indefinite'

[americanstranger]

12. There are people actively working for her firing.

Other supposed 'liberals' are trying to pressure AAR to replace Randi with Taylor Marsh. There are other threads here that name who's trying to do it.

If AAR lets Randi go and puts a no-talent like Marsh in her place, that network will tailspin like you've never seen before.

JMHO.

- as

[riverdeep]

18. The network has been in a tailspin since day one, from what I understand.

I listened to Mike Malloy talk last week about AAR and his time there (sparked by the Randi suspension). He had some interesting stuff to say. Mike doesn't hold back! He said that AAR was formed by well-meaning and talented people but could only get financing from right wing asses because the liberals didn't want to pony up. So AAR, in effect, has had right wing leadership from the start. It's one point of view and I'd need to hear some others, but it sure would go a long way to explain some of their moves.

Oh, and he can't stand Ed Schultz or Al Franken. Don't know why on Schultz but he called him a hick from South Dakota. Franken because Al didn't want Malloy's promos played on Al's show because of Mike's stance on Israel.

[TTUBatfan2008]

35. Schultz...

took the pro-Israel stance at a public forum a while back and Malloy felt that Schultz was hinting that Malloy wants Israel wiped off the map because Schultz was stating his own opinion that we must protect Israel. Malloy felt it was a backhanded cheapshot at him. Here's Malloy talking about it on his radio show and the video clip of the forum argument.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kV6sZuK2pLo

[Frank Cannon]

33. Randi's working hard enough on it on her own

I used to listen to Randi religiously. Then I kind of got tired of the fact that she was rude even to callers that agree with her. Then I REALLY got tired of the fact that she was rude to callers that agree with her. Then I got tired of the fact that she has a tendency to make shit up if she doesn't know the answer to something (ala Ed Schultz) rather than just say she doesn't know and will research it (ala Thom Hartman). After a while, I just got damn tired of her.

I honor Randi for being a trailblazer, but there are now a LOT of people on the radio who are better at what she does than she is.

[TriggerGal]

15. EMAIL Air America

[e-mail]

With EVERY email address you have!!

[Tinksrival]

24. Thanks for the address

I sent off two messages.

[Xenotime]

29. Thank you. AAR Put her back on!

[warren pease]

17. Since when is what an employee does off-hours any business of the employer?...

And yes, I know that's all the rage these days, one of the more blatant invasions of privacy being random drug testing. Positive results can be used to get rid of employees they otherwise couldn't touch without getting sued for wrongful termination.

Same basic idea here. What the hell business is it of AAR that she did a political monologue 3000 miles from corporate headquarters before an apparently receptive audience? Was she there representing the network? Wearing an AAR logo? Speaking on behalf of the board of directors? Hell no. She was there as Randi Rhodes, leftist talk show host and veteran thorn in the side to the status quo, just doing a gig.

Who the hell gave them authority over what she, or anyone else, does off the job? Are we now expected to act at all times as idealized representatives of the great wave of corporate morality that gives our otherwise vacant little lives meaning and dignity and the rest of their blathering bullshit?

Plus which, I can think of a lot worse things to call Ms. Clinton and Ms. Ferraro than whores.

Like, in Clinton's case, warmonger and BushCo enabler and corporate tool and the poster child for the DLC. You could also call her an idiot for falling for the BushCo line that the Iraq War Resolution wasn't about going to war at all; they just wanted more leverage when seeking a peaceful settlement at the US.

You could call Ferraro a bigot and a racist for claiming that Obama is the affirmative action candidate. And an idiot for refusing to pull her foot out of her mouth when she had the chance to clean things up.

And speaking of whores, Rhodes' hypocritical employers would compel her to repeat her remarks all across America if they thought it would increase ratings and share without pissing off the sponsors. They're just the usual Wharton MBA corporate bottom-line pricks with no ideology but risks/rewards and no allegiance to anything but money.

Pretty tough to take them seriously when they pretend to take a moral stand.


wp

[EFerrari]

19. They don't need an excuse. I've been trying to say during this whole flap

THEY DON'T NEED AN EXCUSE.

Radio is the kind of business where you show up to work and you're gone.

:shrug:

[warren pease]

21. Well, that's true, but then it begs the question...

...why go through all this shuck and jive routine with suspension and hand-wringing and finger-pointing and all? Why not just fire her for conduct unbecoming?

You think they just recognized it as a great promo opportunity that just fell into their laps, and so they decided to hype it to boost ratings when they finally "let" her back on the air?

'Cause the one thing we both know for certain is that the idea of a for-profit corporation taking a moral stand is not only virtually impossible, it's at least as hilarious as the Marx Brothers at their best.

So whatcha think, Ms. F?


wp

[EFerrari]

22. Because no matter how self interested the firing

they need a cover just in case any is paying attention? :shrug:

[Mika]

23. A biz that's a lot like surgery.

;)

:hi:

[calimary]

32. More like sausage-making.

And yes, you can be fired from radio for all kinds of reasons, legitimate and not. Unless, of course, YOU own the radio station.

[Crabby Appleton]

25. Senators Craig and Vitter agree with you, I would guess. nt

[warren pease]

27. Meaning that you actually equate...

... a quasi-stand-up comedy/social commentary shtick with the epic hypocrisy of two of the smarmiest moralists in a party that's become an inspiration and guiding light to smarmy moralists everywhere as they a) find gawd in a whorehouse clad only in diapers, and b) find gawd in a public restroom while tapping and posing and knowing the whole routine so well that he got busted by actual police and admitted guilt? Then he found another gawd in the form of a criminal defense lawyer and recanted his confession.

Of course both cried a river over the pain and shame they've caused their families, asked gawd for forgiveness (which of course, being easily conned, she granted) and promised to sin no more -- at least until they do. I'm not sure if they mentioned rehab, but that's the usual routine.

So on the one hand, her employers are corporate money whores who will use this episode in whatever way they think is likely to generate the most notoriety and, therefore, additional revenue. But where's the hypocrisy? If she had spent a half hour praising Clinton and Ferraro, after trashing them on her radio show, that would have been hypocritical. As it is, she's continuing the same discussion about the more Rovian aspects of Clinton's campaign in terms that aren't allowed on the air.

And on the other hand, Vitter's and Craig's employers are private citizens and taxpayers who either believed these frauds' sanctimonious bullshit enough to vote for them or, at the very least, agreed with their political agendas and probably expected maybe a modicum of class and decorum thrown in for good measure. Is that too much to ask from two members of "the world's most exclusive club?"

Apparently so.

In any case, I don't see any equivalence whatsoever in these three episodes. She can't even budge the hypocrisy meter, while Craig and Vitter have it pegged in the red zone.


wp

[Canuckistanian]

26. Well, there's the rub. Was it an AAR-sponsored event, or wasn't it?

If so, then Randi has something to worry about.

If not, then why aren't we hearing her today?

[EFerrari]

30. It doesn't matter. If she said the same thing in a grocery store

squeezing a melon and it got bad publicity, she's still be in trouble.

I can't think of a single friend who works in radio who doesn't know that. :shrug:

[TriggerGal]

34. GREEN 960 Video

The truth - the whole truth - and nothing but the truth!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8aCay5e6lU