Civility seems to be on the march everywhere these days.

Feel better now, guys?

GOOD

Wow . . . it is spreading.

What happened to "Saddling up for an argument" ?

Thank God! The progressive left doesn't need its very own Ann Coulter.

Much deserved.

Damn!

Yep. one of the very few liberal radio talkers out there and she gets suspended!

But, Rush Limpballs and Faux News is a-OK, right?

I just saw that myself and was getting ready to post.  It appeared after I sent off my letter.

Randi Rhodes does a great deal of harm to the cause of liberalism. She should not just be suspended she should be shunned by any decent human being.

However, I must say that given the nature of her audience, I am not surprised that she was wildly applauded as she derided Hillary Clinton in the most obscene manner possible.

Alright.  Now we can move on to the next strawman argument for voting McCain over Obama.

She should be fired just like Imus was. Unless we have some sort of double standard here?

It shows that arguments such as she made [sic] about 2 prominent female citizens being redacted for the sake of civility is wrong and has consequences.

Seriously that kind of stuff shouldn't come from a progressive, we should not touch that with a 100 foot poking stick.

Good.  It couldn't happen to a more deserving person.

While we have the Freedom of Speech, she can go peddle it to a demographic that is hopefully, slowly dwindling in this country of ours.

The demographic she spoke to - the Progressives - is not the demographic of sexists, racists or those who revel or partake in squashing others rights through rhetoric better suited to the Fox News Channel or white Aryan resistance sites.

I know we have sexists and racists amongst us. I see it in our language and some of us do it not to be mean or bitter but because it is so ingrained in us. But I believe that is a minority. And while it may be prudent and politically expedient to say Senator Obama is a sexist or that Senator Clinton is a racist, neither are true.

Thank goodness she was suspended; better would it be she fired and that we continue the barrage of e-mails and complaints that likely got this accomplished.

As an Obama supporter good riddance to bad rubbish.  Such comments were stupid and offensive and were obviously, I hope you'll agree, not shared by the vast majority of Obama supporters.

Wonderful news! This suspension must have been brewing ever since her venom speech in San Francisco!

I have listened to her for years, and I really believe that she has flipped out.  Something is wrong with her mental state.  Hope she gets help!

One down and many more to go.

Calling anyone a whore, public figure or not, is crass and insulting.  As a woman I am insulted when I hear it used in any way.  The fact that it came from a woman disgusts me even more.  I am all for freedom of speech and I don't think she should lose her job but I think a public apology to Clinton and to all women is in order.

To be clearly followed by her Imus-style termination.

I think she should stay suspended until she issues a formal on air apology for her hurtful, spiteful words. How in God's name can anyone think that insulting a democrat in the most vile way will build the party unity that we need to win in November?

Good decision on the part of that organization.

The weird thing about the Rhodes routine is how far removed from reality it is. Even if Obama is your choice, reality would demand that you recognize that Clinton is a genuine progressive - based on her voting record and her lifetime of actions. And her platform. But so many Obama supporters have turned her into some Sam Nunn caricature. I had someone arguing with me the other night about whether she was pro-union or not. How uninformed to do you have to be to claim that Clinton isn't pro-union? You might as well say that Spielberg doesn't like making movies.

That's what I find so offensive about so much of the rhetoric and so disheartening about the left. I thought we were the reality based community. What's Gore/Bradley and 2008-anyone-but-Clinton has taught me is that many on the left are just as prone to projection and mythology as almost everyone on the right.

I'm glad Rhodes is gone, because I don't think the left should be tolerating this kind of rhetoric about someone who has served the party and the movement faithfully for decades - someone who could be mindbogglingly wealthy had she chosen a different path decades ago. If Rhodes can't recognize the work that Clinton after school, and in Arkansas on behalf of children and the underprivileged, if she  can't recognize the work Clinton did as First Lady and the trails she blazed there, if she can't recognize Clinton's voting record as one of the most progressive and aggressive in the Senate, then why listen to her? What value can her opinion have if she's not fundamentally truthful and informed?

As for Limbaugh and such, they don't reflect the left. They aren't paid by the left, and their audience isn't the left. Yes, what they say is offensive, but they aren't speaking to us directly. Rhodes is.

And for the record, Ferraro said the EXACT same thing that Kerry said a week later.

Air America is a business.  I actually bought satellite radio initially to hear Air America.  When they moved from Sirius to XM, I actually switched from Sirius to XM to hear Air America (yes, that means going to the trouble of closing/opening accounts, buying a whole new radio, etc.)  I bought Air America's product not once, but twice.  Why?  They had some decent shows then.  I enjoyed listening to Al Franken, Ring of Fire, and some other reasonable, intelligent, civil shows hosted by adults.

But in the past year, I have listened to Air America two times.  Why?  While I am aware there are still a couple of decent shows, I am turned off of their brand because of shows like Randi Rhodes.  I don't want to listen to Rush Limbaugh Left.  So I just stopped tuning in channel 167.  I found other interesting things to listen to.  That's how these things work, and AA execs know it (or should).  (Ed Schultz is not their fault, XM is to blame for that, they preempt Thom Hartman for him.)

A bit off topic, by what the hell did they do with Lionel in the morning?  The last few days its been some geriatric health talk show.

Glad they suspended her. Too bad they didn't fire her. I used to listen to Air America every day and she was my favorite. Now I think she's trash.

I guess the genius at Air America who thinks it's a brilliant idea to bash Clinton so much that they lose a large segment of their listeners is the same genius who thinks it's great for other Democrats to bash Clinton so that they lose all her voters in November.

Good. Could not even bear to listen to her increasingly mindless rants against Bush, and God knows I am not a fan of Bush. Randi Rhodes is actually talented but she has been stuck in a rut for the past few years while watching considerably less talented people like Rachel Maddow rise. Unfortunately Randi took her frustrations out on that all purpose favorite MSM punching bag otherwise known as Hillary Clinton. Rhodes probably thought there would not be any consequences. She was wrong. I agree she should apologize.

Clinton hatred seems to be a compulsive activity for some people, it rather strikes me as similar to torturing insects, the perpetrator is all powerful, but the act is ultimately corrosive because the perpetrator needs an increasingly bigger high, abuse escalates until it just gets out of control and eventually consumes the perpetrator.

I used to love Randi, but when she went off the rails with her love for his holiness, and hatred of all things Hillary I felt betrayed.  She was constantly lying about Hillary in an outrageous manner on the air.

I actually sent her an email telling her that she was alienating about 50% of her audience, sent a copy to her boss too.  I would think that her superiors were getting deluged with emails complaining about her hyperpartisanship--she had to be on thin ice.

This was an insane decision on her part, bad for business, and self destructive.

She should be fired.

They haven't said how long the suspension is for. Is it gonna be just a day or two? Haven't heard any response from Randi yet.

come from?  Perhaps I'm missing something, but first I heard "chill out it was not political, it was stand up comedy, which she's not good at, so give her a break."  Now, I'm reading that it was an appearance on behalf of Air America, which would suggest it was not stand up comedy where one could possibly argue this was acceptable, but a political speech where it would be clearly unacceptable.  Can anyone clarify?

Thank you, it (update)worked.  sorry, I've stopped tuning in to AAR, so I don't know....even thought I always used to love Sam.  

She gives progressives a bad name. Calling Democrats whores and using the word "gay" in a derogatory manner, just to get a laugh, is pathetic. I'm happy to see some of the Obama supporters around here speaking out against this. I certainly spoke out against Ferraro's remarks and said she deserved the boot. Calling the first viable female candidate for president a "f***ing whore" is despicable. If a liberal radio personality referred to Obama as an affirmative action candidate or anything of the sort, I'd be after his/her head, too. We shouldn't tolerate this trash. That sort of behavior is an embarrassment, particularly when it comes from one of our own.

Maybe Rhodes can form a support group with Michael "Kramer" Richards.  

I finally watched the clip of Rhodes over at Taylormarsh.com and I was disgusted. Calling two stalwarts of the Democratic party F**king Whores is abominable and should be denounced by everyone.

She didn't just say it once, she said it several times and then made derogatory statements about Ferraro, her husband and eliot Spitzer re prostitution.  Ferraro has cancer for goodness sake and is a good Democrat. Clinton is a former first lady and a sitting Senator.

I would decry this if this was a Clinton supporter doing this. It's amazing that the 'politics of hope' produces politics of dope.

over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, to calling her a fucking whore?  

What's next?  I suppose the four letter "c word" is all that's left in her arsenal of hatred towards a progressive Democrat.  

Perhaps Randy can join Roger Stone's right wing Republican group, Citizens United Not Timid (CUNT).  

http://mediamatters.org/items/2008022000 09

Taylor Marsh should replace Randi Rhodes.

Unlike Imus, there really isn't a good second option for her.   I'm sure that she will come back as a guest host at some point.  It will be a while if ever until she has a show of her own again.   She has only herself and her blind partisanship for Barack Obama to blame.

She has only herself and her blind partisanship for Barack Obama to blame.

She allowed herself to get so personally invested in a total stranger's political campaign, that she ruined her own career in the process.  

Obama supporters should be upset with Randi Rhodes, because by her actions she provided fodder for people to claim that they are "obsessed" and "cultish" about their candidate.  

although I agree what she said was wrong I don't feel she should be fired I am a strong beleiver in free speech as a african american I supported Imus during scandal and even that right wing hypocrite Bill O'reilly comments racially insensitive remarks about the restuarant in harlem. I don't beleive they should be fired. what she said was awful and stupid. But I don't think its right to be fired because she said something that offends us.

You people are all wrong.

This was a stand-up routine done at a comedy club.  Guess what?  Cursing goes on there.  Has for decades.  Deal with it.  You don't like it, don't go there, and don't watch the video, you Hillary loving masses.

Randi Rhodes was hired by Air America to hold and express HER opinion, and she is very good at doing that.  You disagree, great.  That's what talk radio is all about.  You call her up and argue with her, sweetheart.  That's not going to get her taken off the air, that's going to keep her on the air.

Same thing with complaining to your local station, or complaining to Air America.  That's going to increase her ratings and keep her on the air.

AA did what they had to do.  They had to "discipline" her for "offensive behavior."  But I am sure they are loving all the free publicity they are getting right now.  She'll be on the air again, because unlike Imus, she did NOT say any of these things on the air, she said them in a nightclub in the context of a "stand-up routine."  Whether or not you think it was a good one, that's what it was.  Different rules apply to that and her on air rants.

I'm getting sick on this YouTube "gotcha culture" we're building.  If Randi was a public official or candidate, that would be a different story (like "Macaca" Allen), but she is just an entertainer and a pundit doing a routine.  And for the record, she called Ferraro and Clinton a "F'n w" in metaphorical sense, not a literal sense, so these were attacks on their actions, not ad hominem attacks, as the statement from AA management contended.

Give me a break with all this, and stop listening to AA if you got so bent out of shape.  Who needs you.  Sorry all your delicate little eardrums were hurt, but this is politics, even if she is just a pundit, and people get to say whatever they want.  Randi did exercise restraint by saying these things off the air.  She will be back and her ratings will only go higher.

@swedie:

She was standing in front of an audience, in a nightclub, holding a microphone, telling jokes.

That means she was doing stand-up comedy.

Whether or not it was good stand-up or not is a separate question.

But her "history" of ever doing stand-up comedy before is TOTALLY IRRELEVANT.  So, she didn't do any until she's 48 years old.  That doesn't mean she's not doing it now.  She IS doing it.  I even saw her reading her notes, just like every other hack at every comedy Open Mic night I've ever been to.

What kind of "experience" does she need in your book before you will deign to accept that she's doing a comedy routine?

She has the right to her opinion and she has the right to criticize Clinton and Ferraro, even to HATE THEIR GUTS if she feels justified in doing so.  The end.

Rhodes is no loss. She has been a blowhard from day one. I live in a part of the country where I was desperate for progressive, dem thought and contact, so I listened to Air America avidly. But I had trouble with her from the outset. Half the time she got her facts wrong, she exaggerated everthing and she was often rude and hostile to people who called in. She was the worst representative of progressive thought and speech. I am delighted Air America had the cojones to dump her.

Lakersfan, your update was just right--as far as I know. I think you just wing it :)

Randi's video will go viral. There is now a link on Drudge to the NY Times Caucus Blog and other outlets are picking it up. Leaving aside the question of whether her "comedy routine" was an permissible exposition of her first amendment rights or a vicious unwarranted slur on two Democratic pioneers who have done more for the party than Randi could do in 100 lifetimes, there is the question of what an appropriate punishment would be.

Suppose you are running Air America Radio. One of your hosts has just gotten 1 million or so hits on YouTube. Great publicity. All publicity is good publicity. Unless of course you're an advertiser looking to promote your product with as little contoversy as possible. So Mr. or Mrs. Air America President, when would you put her back on?

Have you seen Ann Coulter on TV recently? Nuff said!

I don't think that she should be fired but she should be suspended w/o pay for at least 2 wks. This was foul.

Gerri is saying that she should be fired. She is saying that Obama people are inciting this and she has gotten lots of hate mail.

I think suspension, not firing but this is seriousl

and I had AirAmerica on in my car on my way home from the gym this afternoon.  During a commercial break, an announcer came on and said "The Randi Rhodes Show will not be aired today, tomorrow, or the next day.  For an explanation, please consult our website."

That was it.  Here is the link to Green 960.  They are going to be discussing the suspension at 3 pm PST, minutes from now.

I, too, have really cut back on my AirAmerica listening.  I used to occasionally listen to Ed Schultz in my car, but I can no longer bear him since he has become best buddies with Chris Matthews and the whole Hate Hillary gang at MSNBC.  Fini!

"Ring of Fire" is still cool and I do enjoy Bill Press when I have insomnia.  I like his sense of humor and he is not a Clinton basher.

If a man did this in an effort to be funny, he would be considered mysognistic and sexist.  Randi shouldn't be viewed or treated any differently.  It is a shame that liberal women, who you would hope have their own desire to be treated and refered to as a human being in mind, wouldn't push the same disgusting disresect and hate on to anther woman.  Women can be their own worst enemies, and Randi apparently is her own.  This election exposes women and men who disdain the female gender.  I was just never aware that there was so much disdain around.  Even if she was trying to be funny, she picked a really dispicable way to do it.  

While there are several programs on Air America that are truly great, Randi Rhodes is basically just Rush of the left.  I lost respect for her years ago and would love it if she were replaced by someone else.

That said, Rush has helped the right and I assume Randi helps us, as hateful as she often is.

BTW, I'm an Obama supporter and my opinion has nothing to do with the primary.  I actually haven't listened to her for a year or so.

She should use the time to go to a weight loss spa and a platic surgon.

Green 960 took down the link to the entire video on their site (not the short youtube version, but the 19:20 second version).  An indy friend of mine captured it before it went away as a wmv file.  I'll get it and figure out where to post it.

Suspended Rhodes for commercial reasons only.

I was surprised by Randi's hateful outburst on stage. It was just sleazy. Let's hope she learns her lesson.

I'm so glad!!

She'll blame it on the booze, check into the Betty Ford Center, do an hour of penance with Larry King, and be back on the air before you know it. And that's if they fire her, which I doubt, even though I hope they do.

So sad about Air America. I used to really enjoy them before they went nuts.

damn this is getting silly. Here we are trying to choose a President and all everyone wants to talk about is whores, racists, and wacky preachers......I wonder if it gets this bad in Sri Lanka..

LOL!  What injustice!  Suspended for calling a presidential candidate a whore.  Write letters, make calls!

No actually, I hope the woman never sees the air waves again.

Why is Sam Seder defending her?  Or is he too an Obamabot?